Total pages in book: 121
Estimated words: 113880 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 569(@200wpm)___ 456(@250wpm)___ 380(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 113880 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 569(@200wpm)___ 456(@250wpm)___ 380(@300wpm)
“That’s true.” I should get up to clean my teeth but two orgasms and too many shots of tequila have stolen my last fuck about oral hygiene. I’ll run my electric toothbrush for four minutes in the morning to make up for it.
I shove my jeans to the floor and yank off my shirt, and by the time I crawl into bed, Allie’s already asleep, her breathing soft and even. With her hair spread out across the pillow, she looks like a wild fairy, so peaceful but untamed.
Gathering her into my arms is an unexpected need I don’t resist. She moans softly but then snuggles her face into my chest. I don’t remember the last time I slept all night with a woman. If it’s a one-night stand, I never take them back to my place and I never fall asleep.
But it’s nice. More than nice.
It feels right, like all my manly protective instincts are primed and my role in life is fulfilled. Ridiculous but true. Even though I’m exhausted, I don’t sleep for the longest time, listening to the rhythm of Allie’s slumber and relishing the feeling of companionship that comes with sharing a bed.
In the morning, I wake to my alarm and Allie groans. Her leg is slung over mine, and her hand is pressed into the middle of my chest. It’s the sweetest feeling to be tucked up with a beautiful girl, even though the circumstances are a long way from normal.
“Time to wake up,” I say, brushing the tangled hair from her cheek. “Get your running shoes on.”
Allie groans again and snuggles deeper into my chest, wrapping her arms around me until we’re lying on our sides, fused together like a ying yang symbol. “Do we have to?” she asks. “Can’t we just work off our calories in other ways?”
Between us, I’m rock-hard and ready to go, but I’ve already overstepped the arrangement. The rules are one and done, although I guess Carson’s breached that part too. I don’t want to ruin it for Gabe and the others who are coming after me. Most importantly, I don’t want to make it bad for Allie either. She’s so little and we’re all so huge.
“Running. Then breakfast. I make excellent protein pancakes if we have the ingredients downstairs.”
“Anyone ever tell you you’re a machine?”
“It’s my job to be motivated. How would I motivate anyone else if I can’t do it for myself?”
She kisses in between my pecs, and I kiss the top of her head, trying to press all the affection I feel into her skin.
“How do you do it?” she asks. “How do you tell yourself to do the hard things and make yourself listen?”
The sudden shift in her tone makes me wonder if Allie’s talking about something deeper than running. “I guess it’s about looking further into the future and focusing on the outcome you’re seeking. Like, today’s run won’t improve your fitness very much. It’s one brick in the wall. But if you keep doing it…keep pushing and building…you’ll get to the top where you want to be.”
She nods and rolls away from me, lost in her own thoughts.
“And listening to yourself…well…that’s about trusting your voice and respecting it. If you tell yourself to do something, you listen as though it’s a friend telling you, and you do whatever it is. After a while, your internal voice goes from being a whisper to an order. And you only tell yourself things that are positive. No internal criticism. Just action-based thoughts.”
“Sounds very military.” She’s tugging her dress down and rubbing her hands over her face, still not fully awake.
“It is, in a way. At least, that’s how it feels. But now, I don’t break the commitments I make to myself. My own promises are the most important to me.”
“So, I need to promise things to myself?”
“In a way.”
I swing my legs from the bed and turn back, raising my hands over my head to stretch. Allie eyes me, her lips parting as she ogles all the way down my chest, over my abs and around my cock with her heated gaze.
“Don’t look at me like that.” I grab my aching dick and squeeze, but it doesn’t help. He’s expecting action, not to be stuffed inside my running shorts.
“I can’t help it. I mean, how do you get any work done with all the women falling at your feet? Like, do you train women? How on earth do they resist you?”
I rub the back of my neck, as heat floods my cheeks, and watch Allie stand and round the bed. When she’s in front of me, her cool fingers touch my abs. “How does a person even get this ripped?”
I take her wrist before she can reach my dick. “By not skipping my morning runs.”
“Okay. I’m going,” she laughs. “Give me five.”