Page 61 of No Need to Run
But I don’t believe myself.
For the first time in a long time, something feels out of place.
And instead of walking away from it… I’m leaning into it.
I should have saidno when Sebastian asked me to go with him.
That thought hits about thirty seconds into the run as my feet pound the pavement. Or rather… the sidewalk.
Sebastian, meanwhile, looks like he’s out for a casual stroll.
“Your pace is… aggressive,” I manage, my breathing uneven.
He glances over at me, completely unaffected. “This is just the warm-up.”
“The warm-up,” I parrot, even as my lungs seize in protest.
A warm-up for him, obviously. For me… I’m halfway to dying.
“I don’t… run,” comes out of me through a series of gasps and pauses.
“I know.”
“Then why… am I…here?” I huff.
He shrugs. “You said you were feeling off. Couldn’t concentrate.”
I narrow my eyes at him. “So your solution is attempted manslaughter?”
A faint smirk pulls at his lips. “You’re still alive.”
“That’s debatable,” I huff out.
We round the corner, and I swear my body is trying to shut down. My legs feel like they belong to someone else. Possibly someone elderly.
Sebastian slows slightly, glancing over at me again. “You’re breathing like you’re being hunted.”
“I might be,” I mutter. “Feels like it.”
“You’re not screaming. So that rules out being hunted.” He smiles, his breathing and pace steady.
Is the asshole even sweating?
Meanwhile, I’m drenched like I just climbed out of a sauna.
I suck in another lungful of air. “Are you sweating?” I rasp out.
He smirks at me. “Not yet.”
I hate him even more.
We fall into a rhythm—if you can call it that.
He runs. I survive.
By the time we turn down a quieter stretch of road, I’m one bad decision away from lying down on the pavement and accepting my fate.
“You could’ve warned me,” I say between breaths.
