AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Gerty, you’re going to get banned if you don’t quit this,” Georgiana warns to which Gerty sticks out her tongue in response. If you’ve never seen an eighty-year-old woman in a yellow bicycle helmet stick out her tongue, you’re missing out.
“This is ridiculous,” Adrian murmurs beside me, but there’s humor hiding in his tone.
“You mean highly entertaining,” I reply.
“I fund this whole night with how many cards I buy and you know I run this neighborhood. No one is banning me. So give me my money and go find someone to give your nasty pamphlets to.”
Georgiana’s face turns bright red as snickers fill the room.
“They areeducational, not nasty.”
“That’s enough, ladies. You may collect your winnings from Fiona on your way out. Bingo night is over.”
Both women go their separate ways, each grumbling and huffing.
“He stopped them before it got good.” I pout and hear one of my favorite sounds–Adrian chuckling.
I whip my head to the left and catch a half-smile that makes my heart skip. Goodness, he’s beautiful. Chiseled perfection, but with a softness in his eyes that makes my knees weak. Those very eyes meet mine as his laughter fades. The room shrinks and my mouth goes dry.
“You should laugh more,” I say in a quiet voice because my brain can’t function properly when those lapis lazuli eyes are on me. “It’s nice.”
“I’ll write that in my notes from tonight’s lesson,” he replies in a gruff voice and I smile at him.
“Good.”
And it is good,toogood. His laugh and teasing words are the kind of perfect you lose sleep over. The kind that makes your mind race, dissecting every way you could ruin it. My sleep schedule has been ruined since Adrian moved in anyway, which is rather inconvenient since I have to wake up before sunrise tomorrow to go on a run. Maybe that will ruin all of this goodness.
Adrian throws away all of our table’s trash, earning an appreciative look from Poppy. My heart feels warm and fuzzy in my chest. I think that somehow, even though I hate the idea of running, I’ll still enjoy tomorrow because I’ll be with Adrian. And that thought is both extremely exciting and overwhelmingly scary all at once.
Chapter fifteen
Adrian Carter
Runningismyalonetime. I started running for exercise in high school and I’ve always gone on my own. Even Grayson knew that he couldn’t come with me. And yet here I am, waiting by the lake for a woman who is already putting me five minutes behind schedule. If I arrive to work late Grayson is definitely going to harass me about it for the next six to eight weeks.
By the time I spot Juliette coming out of her back door, my entire body feels frosted over. Usually, I start running right away and the heat from exercising keeps me warm.
“Sorry!” Juliette calls out as she jogs down her steps.
She’s wearing brown leggings, a matching exercise jacket, and a soft pink beanie pulled low over her forehead. She looks adorable and tempting all at once and it steals the breath from my lungs. I’m attempting to regulate my breathing when she finally makes it to where I’m standing.
“I’m sorry I’m late, I woke up this morning and had to fight my inner dragon. She doesn’t like running.”
I bite the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing. “Inner dragon?” I ask, barely suppressing my laughter.
“Oh, yeah. She’s the one I blame for my late-night online purchases and my tendency to want to hole up in a cave during the winter.”
“Was she hard to beat?”
Juliette gives a sober nod. “She might still win if we don’t hurry and get this over with.”
I laugh, incapable of keeping it in. Juliette joins me, her giggles forming white puffs in the dim morning light.
“We better get going then,” I say once my laughter subsides. Juliette’s grin falls.
“I was really hoping you’d say this was all a joke and invite me up for tea.”
I shake my head at her. “A deal's a deal. I had to endure bingo night, you and your inner dragon can make it through this.”
