See You at the Finish Line (Run, Love, Repeat #1)

42. Paige

“You couldn’t give me some warning? Put me out of my misery?” Adam says, climbing over top of me. I scoot higher on the bed and lay my head back on the soft pillow.

“I liked the idea of a grand gesture,” I say with a shrug.

He buries his head in my stomach and begins to laugh. “We really need to get better at communicating because I almost quit my job and moved to Utah.”

My jaw drops. “Seriously?” My eyes are closed as he presses his lips to my hip bone and then trails kisses up my rib cage. His fingers brush the tattoo on my collarbone.

“What do you expect, Paige? I’m not living without you again,” he tells me, and my body melts. Full on cartoon style, melting into the bed. I’m pretty sure my eyes have morphed into big pink hearts in my sockets. I’m still buzzing from the orgasms he gave me.

Holy shit. He really is perfect.

Well, not perfect. It seems we have to work on our communication skills.

“I’m really glad you didn’t do that. ”

“Me too.” He drags his naked body up mine and begins to draw random shapes on my skin. I’ve never felt so taken care of.

“Have you always had this tattoo?” he asks quietly, planting more kisses wherever his fingers touch.

“No. Leah and I got this one after our mom died. Daisies are her birth flower, April, and there’s one for each of us.”

He places a reverent kiss on each of the flowers. My poor heart can’t take any more of his sweetness.

“So what now?” I ask.

His brow furrows, and I wish I knew what was going through his mind. I guess there’s only one way to find out.

“How about you tell me what you’re thinking and I’ll tell you what I’m thinking, and maybe we can figure this out.”

He laughs at my joke. “Hopefully it’ll save us a few years of pining after each other.”

“You’ve been pining after me?”

He looks me square in the face. “You’re telling me you weren’t pining?”

“I asked you first!”

“Yes, Paige. I’ve been pining for you for two years. I actually stalked you for a while and was really irritated when you stopped posting to social media.”

“I couldn’t handle being on it after my mom died. Everything felt so fake and forced.”

His eyes soften and he strokes my face. “I know that now. At the time I thought it was all about me. ”

I appreciate him lightening the mood. I love my mom, but I don’t want her to put a damper on this post-sex high we’ve got going on.

“I was pining for you too, underneath the anger and hurt when you didn’t text me back.”

He opens his mouth to protest, but I put my finger to his lips before he can say anything.

“I know it was the wrong number, but I didn’t know that then.”

His eyes turn wicked as he gently bites my finger, drawing it into his mouth. And just like that, I’m ready to go again. Whenever he is. It feels rude to ask, though, since it’s only been like ten minutes.

I clear my throat. “What did you ask me?”

He laughs, releasing my finger and pulling me closer so my head can rest on his chest.

“ You were asking me ‘What now?’”

“And you never answered,” I say, squeezing him. He kisses the top of my head like it’s the most natural thing to do. It all feels so easy.

“I don’t want to scare you away,” he says, holding me tighter.

“You have me naked in your bed, it’ll take me a while to leave if you get too scary. I’m sure you can backtrack if you need to.”

He laughs and takes a deep breath. “Open communication?” he asks.

“Open communication.”

“I bought this house this year. I was lying when I told myself I was buying it only for myself. In full, scary stalker honesty, I bought it for you—for us. I’m pretty sure if you hadn’t shown up, I would have found you. I want you to move in with me, Paige.”

His confessions settle over my heart like a soothing balm. After all this time, it wasn’t just me. I wasn’t the crazy attached woman who met a man and became obsessed after two days. It wasn’t the race adrenaline that pulled me towards him.

If he can be honest, then so can I. “I moved here hoping to find you,” I whisper.

“Did you know I worked with the Whales?”

I push myself up and brace my hands on his chest, propping my head up so I can look at him. His blue eyes pierce my soul.

“That’s the crazy thing—I didn’t. I was too scared to admit that I wanted to find you. I didn’t even look you up. Not once. If I’d known where you were, if I’d seen any of your social media, I’d have come after you. And then I took a job at the place you work without knowing. How crazy is that?”

“Fate-level crazy,” he says, looking at me with awe, his thumb brushing my bottom lip. “I couldn’t stay away from your social media while you were posting. I tortured myself with every bit of information I could find about you, and it drove me insane when you stopped. That’s when I decided to try to get you out of my head and ended up buying us a house instead.”

“So we’re both crazy,” I confirm.

“I like this kind of crazy. I’ve never felt this way about anyone before.”

“Me neither. ”

“I’ve also never had sex like that before.” And oh lord, the look he levels at me. I think my skin ignites. Not that I’d be aware of it, I’m so absorbed in him.

“Oh really?” I tease. “It was okay.” I shrug, struggling to keep the smile off my face.

His brows knit together even though I know he knows I’m joking.

“Paige Elizabeth Harrison, are you baiting me into having sex with you again?”

“So what if I am?” I challenge.

He flips me over onto my stomach and presses himself into me. His length is hard and ready, insistent against my ass. I crane my neck to raise my eyebrows. He smiles wickedly.

“You don’t have to ask me twice.”

Whenever I read in books that couples have a night of rigorous lovemaking, I always thought that was something to pad the story and fill the word count. It never happens in real life.

Adam proved me wrong.

We had a full night of vigorous lovemaking. I don’t think I’ve ever orgasmed that many times in a row, even with my vibrator. At one point we made our way into the shower, and he showed me that his muscles are not just for show. He held my weight as he fucked me against the tile, and my head spun with the g-spot orgasm he gave me. Never again will I say that shower sex is awkward .

We are bleary-eyed and still far from satiated judging by the way he’s looking at me. We have to get to work, though—it’s going to be a hard day. I glance down at Adam’s pants and smile to myself. In more ways than one.

There’s still the problem that coworkers are not allowed to date each other. So while we figure out how this is going to work between us—even though we both know it’s going to stick—we want to keep it quiet. Just between us for now. And Leah, Shay, and Mateo.

And Q.

I yank my eyes away from Adam as the urge to climb his ridiculous body strikes me again. I’ve already had to get dressed twice this morning and neither of us has time to go another round. I throb just thinking about it. Tonight.

To distract myself, I dig out the present I brought for him from the bottom of my bag and nervously hold out the crumpled package.

“What’s this?” he asks, his eyes alight with humour.

“I got you a present. I wasn’t sure if you’d be mad at me or if I’d have to worm my way back into your heart, or maybe your bed. I thought that might be a good place to start, and so I brought something in case I needed to help convince you or you tried to kick me out or—”

“Paige.” He interrupts my rambling, his hand outstretched. I place the small package in his waiting palm.

He tears open the paper and his eyes widen. I’m not sure if it’s a good sign or a bad one. His shoulders start to shake as he laughs and turns over the little plush T. rex dinosaur I got him .

“Cruel, cruel woman,” he teases. I breathe out a sigh of relief at his pure and genuine smile. I don’t usually get a smile like that after someone opens a present from me. At most, I get an eye-roll or a pity laugh. I like it.

His fingers deftly open the rest of the gift—a small frame—and when he flips it over, an even bigger smile blooms.

“You finally gave me the photo you took,” he whispers, staring intently at the moment I captured over two years ago. The picture of him, Mateo, and Caleb at the starting line of the Moab 240. The photo that brought us together.

Then he sees it, squinting at Caleb’s face.

“Is that ... Did you draw devil horns on him?” He looks up at me, his blue eyes incredulous.

I nod, and before I know it, he’s laughing bigger than I have ever seen or heard. It’s pure magic.

I made magic.

“This is going to hang in our room,” he says, his eyes full of tears as he scoops me up and spins me around.

“Really?”

“Yes, it’s the best gift I have ever been given,” he whispers, his humour suddenly replaced with heady tension as he places me back on my feet. “Although the T. rex will have to stay in the closet, where the scary things go.”

“I really am sor—”

He silences my apology with a kiss and just like that, our clothes have disappeared.