Page 142 of Run
“Yeah, you better be scared.” I throw the door open and stare at her.
Ari puts her hands up, palms out, in surrender. “OK! Truce!”
“Ohhhh, no. Nope.” I kick the door shut, turning to face her with my hands on my hips. “You ran from me.” She shakes her head. “Yes, you most definitely did. See this?” I point to my chest, which is rising and falling as I breathe heavily. “This is because I had to run after you.”
“You work out twice a day and you’re built like Arnold Schwarzenegger. How could you possibly be out of breath from a brief pursuit?”
“I was panicked.”
“Panicked?” Ari pinches her eyebrows together.
I nod and take a step closer to her. “Yes, panicked. Becauseyou ran from me.”
“No no no.” She bats at the air. “I was just teasing you. It was a misunderstanding. Let’s start fresh, yeah?” She reaches her hands out toward me, and I take a slow step closer to her.
“You’re not going to run?” She shakes her head, eyes wide. “Promise?” I take another step, and her hands land against my chest.
“Promise.”
I stand before her with my hands on my hips, her hands on me, as I contemplate. After a moment, I shake my head. “Nah, I don’t believe you.” Quickly, I dip down and grab Ari, throwingher over my shoulder. She yelps as I turn and toss her onto the bed. She lands on her back with a bounce, then immediately turns onto her stomach, attempting to crawl away from me. “Oh, hell no.” I dart out and grab her by the ankle and drag her toward me. Her jean skirt rides up her legs and I catch a glimpse of her black underwear.
She’s kicking violently as I try to get a hold of both her legs, but she’s squirming so much it’s impossible. “You’re a scrappy little thing,” I grunt out as we each continue to fight for the upper hand. “How are you so agile considering you couldn’t even walk a year ago?”
“You saw what I grew up with,” she says with a pant, getting her legs under her as she gets up on her knees on the bed. “I learned how to bounce back really quick.”
Breathing heavily, Ari is looking at me playfully, but my mood has sobered. I do remember how Ari grew up, and it’s nothing to laugh at. And I remember how she had to run—from everything, all the time.
I step up against the edge of the bed and cup her face in my hands. “I never want you to run from me.” I smooth my thumbs over her cheekbones.
Ari’s eyes soften and she sighs. “Ethan, I was just being silly.”
“I know.”
She places her hands on top of mine. “You are the only thing I’ve ever run toward. And I’ve been running toward you since I was ten years old.”
Bringing our foreheads together, I try to control my emotions. “Goddamn it, Red.”
“Don’t be sad, Ethan.” She runs her hands down my chest, my stomach, and slides them up under my shirt, scraping her fingernails across my tight skin. I hiss at the contact and the goosebumps it causes.
“I can’t be sad around you.” I nuzzle my nose against hers.
Ari starts to tug my shirt and I pull back enough to allow her to pull it up and off me, casting it aside. She dives down and gives me an open-mouthed kiss on my abs before making her way from one hipbone to the other, and I roll my head to the side as arousal floods me.
“I’m sorry I ran.” I feel her hot breath against my skin. Her hands move to the top of my jeans, and she undoes the button. “Please, don’t be mad at me.” Her tone is playful, and I know we’re back into lighter territory.
“I’m a little mad.”
She pulls my zipper and pushes my jeans down my hips. “A little mad?” She runs her nose along my erection, which is just begging to be set free from my boxers.
I swallow hard. “Just a little.”
“Mmmm.” She pulls my boxers down and my dick springs free. “What can I do to make you forgive me?”
“There’s something you can do.” I reach out and tuck a piece of hair behind Ari’s ear as she perches on her hands and knees on the bed in front of me, then cup my hand around her cheek.
“What’s that?” She leans into my touch and I rub my thumb over her jaw.
“Suck it, baby.”
