Page 62 of My Little Doe
“You’re right, you are out of shape, but you’re also quite fast.”
After several minutes, I was finally able to breathe normally again. I drank the entire glass of water.
“I don’t think I like running with you,” I said.
“Too bad… I quite enjoyed it,” he said.
“Well… now I need a shower,” I said, ignoring his comment.
“I thought you wanted to train?” he said.
“Isn’t that what we were doing?”
“No. We’re warming up. You’re catching your breath, and now we’re gonna get even sweatier,” he said, flashing me a smile.
“Okay… I did ask for this,” I said.
“Remember that in thirty minutes,” he said. He walked over to his truck and grabbed a large blue mat. My head tilted.
“Where did that come from?” I shot out.
“I went and grabbed it from my uncle's early this morning.”
“I didn’t hear you even leave,” I said.
“You went to bed much later than normal, too,” he said.
“Yeah… I guess.”
“Alright, I figured we could practice outside if it’s not too cold. If not, we can move the chairs to the kitchen.”
“Okay… and what exactly are we doing?” I asked.
“I’m gonna lay this out, and well, today, you’re gonna show me what you got,” he said.
“As long as you don’t laugh at me,” I told him.
“Never. You’re standing here asking to learn. That’s more than most people. Now go get your gloves,” he said.
He dragged the mat to the grassier part of the yard. I walked inside and grabbed the gloves from the box that sat atop my bed. The picture of Aspen lay next to it. I paused for a moment andstared at her. That ache in my chest hit me hard. I wanted to hold her as much as I wanted to hold Izayuh. I reached behind my neck and unclasped the necklace. I didn’t want it to get broken and lose him for good. That thought was unbearable.
He was standing on the mat outside, bouncing on his bare feet. He’d taken his shirt off. I paused on the porch.
I gulped.
Nope.
We weren’t having these thoughts. I hated this man. Hate was such a strong word. He did save my life after all. Okay, I didn’t like this man. He was part of my captivity. He also saved my life, just not soon enough. He was attractive. I couldn’t deny that part, but him standing there on the mat without shoes and a shirt—Lord help me. The stubble on his face had been growing since we arrived. Well, it was more than a stubble now. His hair had also grown out quite a bit from when we got here. My eyes trailed down to his chest. He was clearly in shape. My eyes paused on the wolf tattoo on his arm, the sun glistening off the sweat that ran over it. He had his grey sweatpants on, which he usually wore to bed. A ticklish sensation came over me—
“You coming or what?” he asked after a minute.
I didn’t say anything, just walked to the mat. I needed to get in control. I couldn’t like this man. He could be a friend and nothing else.
“Should I take my shoes off?” I asked.
“It’s ideal, but you don’t have to,” he said. I reached down, untied my shoes, and then slipped them off. I set them next to his. I stepped onto the mat with him. My stomach knotted.
“Feel the mat under your feet. Bounce on the front half of your foot a couple of times around the mat,” he said.
