Page 65 of Get Me to the Starting Line
“MAMAMAMAMA.” Levi’s loud cries pierce through everything else, dousing us in cold, frigid water. We freeze in our embrace, our chests heaving. My legs twitch, probably with the desire to stay right where they are. But Levi’s cry comes again.
Julien rests his forehead against mine and then slowly lets me down, making sure I’m steady on my feet. His gaze doesn’t leave mine the entire time, and his hands are still under my shirt, gripping my hips.
Holy shit. I almost let this man fuck me against my front door with my kid in the next room. I push away from him, and he releases me immediately, taking a step back, shaking his head as if trying to clear the fog. I know because I’m doing the same.
“I have to go,” I whisper.
“Of course,” he says, no anger or frustration in his voice. Something sad flickers in his eyes, but it’s gone when he gives me a small smile. Ever so gently, almost reverently, he cups my face with his hands, thumbs rubbing along my cheekbones. He places the lightest kiss on my swollen lips.
“Good night,mon rêve.” With another light kiss, he turns me towards Levi’s room, and then he’s gone.
“MAMAMAMA.” Levi is still crying.
I walk as though I’m in a dream to soothe my son.
The cock blocker.
Mydreamsleavemehot and sweaty. No amount of jerking off can quench the thirst inside of me. I don’t know what to do with this pent-up energy except run. I wake up earlier than usual and run as hard and as fast as I can before I’m set to meet up with Leah.
Leah.
My cock throbs again so I push myself harder. I’d like to think I’m flying, but I’m relatively slow. It’s my size—I rarely run faster than a six-and-a-half-minute kilometre. When I check my watch, the average time says 5:35.
Holy shit, no wonder I’m exhausted. I slow down, grateful for the cooler weather, though I can tell the sky is about to open any minute.
When I arrive at our usual meeting spot, Leah isn’t there. Worry slams into me hard and fast. First, for her safety, and then a small seed of doubt blooms. Did I scare her off? Fuck, the way I manhandled her.
I rub a hand over my jaw, my beard soaking up the moisture from my face.
“I’m here, I’m here!” Leah calls from behind me, panting. She doesn’t have the stroller with her.
“Where’s Levi?”
“That’s why I was late. Paige came over to watch him and offered to take him to daycare for me, so I had to get all his stuff together.”
My hands are weights at my side. I don’t know what to do with them. I know what I want to do, but we’re in public and that could get us arrested. With no buffer between us, it’s going to be difficult to keep my hands off her, especially now that I know what she feels like.
“Leah—”
“Julien—”
We say each other’s names at the same time. When I gesture for her to set the pace for us to start our run, she gives me a small smile. There’s so much vulnerability in one look, I want to wrap her in my arms and never let her go.
“Why are you so sweaty?” she asks after a minute.
“I was running,” I say.
She huffs. “Obviously. I mean, I know you run here but you’re not usually this tired.”
“I had extra energy this morning.”
Her head whips towards me, but I can’t meet her eyes. Under no circumstance can I get this woman arrested for public indecency. We’re quiet as we run for the next few minutes, my mind wandering to the scene around me.
The last of the red and orange leaves are falling, which, coupled with the overcast sky, gives the morning an eerie mood. I love it.
Grey clouds shelter us from the sun, swallowing the light and blanketing the world in a comfortable darkness.
With the cooler weather comes clearer paths, fewer people, and the space I so desperately crave. I can breathe freely and openly as my ribs expand and I relish the freedom to just be.
