After All(48)

He mumbles something in response and as I turn toward the door, he starts snoring.

I leave his place feeling dirtier than when I came in, with the same damn thoughts as ever bouncing around in my head.

I tried.

But it's never enough. 



* * *



It's Saturday morning, bright and early, when I swing by Alyssa's to pick her up. I saw her briefly on Thursday night when I took her for a quick dinner at Gotham steakhouse, but today we have the whole day together and Autumn said that some fun outdoor date would really help my image. I guess too many nights spent at the bar paint a different picture.

When Alyssa emerges from her apartment I can't help but smile.

Fucking hell. In the week that I've known Alyssa, I've seen the overly-done bridesmaids version, the hungover in her pajamas version, the dressy summer version, the date night version, but I think my favorite version of her is this one: working out Alyssa.

She's dressed in purple running tights, bright pink running shoes, and a tight yellow top that puts her breasts front and center. I guess to the average person, her outfit might totally clash but I love the colors on her. They're a perfect representation of who she is, bold, fun and sexy as hell.

She slides in the passenger seat and glances at me over her shades.

"You know, I didn't think we were actually going for a run," she says slowly. She eyes me up and down, her nose crinkling in disdain. I'm in a wife-beater, mid-thigh running shorts, sneakers, set up for a run just as she is.

"I'm actually more of a trail runner," I admit. "Have you done that before?"

She laughs. "Trail running? My god. I walk on trails, Emmett. I don't run on them. I don't even run on pavement. Or treadmills. I only run to the bar when they're giving last call."

"Well, I hate to break it to you but we're going to be going around Stanley Park today." I wait until she's buckled in before I drive off.

"You've got to be kidding me, that's like … ten kilometers."

"We can walk most of it."

"It's still ten K! I don't know what kind of girls you're used to dating but I do not go on jogging dates and I certainly don't spend hours walking. In a circle, mind you."

"And yet here you are, dressed like you do it all the time." While we pause at a light, I lean in closer to inspect her clothing. They do look brand new. "In fact, I have a feeling you just bought all this just to impress me."

"Phhfff," she says, waving me away. "You think everything revolves around you. I'm trying to impress the damn paparazzi."

"By wearing the most-mismatched outfit in the city?"

She shrugs. "Why not? Damned if you do, damned if you don't. Might as well go all out." Her eyes trail over my arms and chest. "Besides, you're doing the same. Yeah right you would normally go running in that."

"This old thing?" I ask, pulling at the wife-beater.

"Yeah. Also brand new. You're just trying to show off your muscles."

She's got me on that one. "Hey, I have a lady here I'm trying hard to impress. Problem is, even if she was impressed, she'd never tell me."

"She sounds prickly. You better tread carefully with her."

"The only time I can get any sort of reaction out of her is when I'm kissing her. Then it's like she forgets how to breathe, she can only moan my name in response."

That gets her attention. Even though I can't see her eyes beneath her glasses, I can feel them burn. "Maybe she's as good of an actor as you are."

In this instance, I hope that's not true.

Still, I flash her a smile. "Maybe."

It takes a long time to find a free parking spot in downtown's West End, closest to the park, and by the time we get out and are ready to go, Alyssa is already complaining about shin splints.


      ///
       
         
       
        

"But we've been jogging for one minute," I tell her as we negotiate the crowded path along the seawall.

"For the last time," she says with a scowl, her blonde ponytail swinging in her face in time with her steps, "I don't run. I don't jog. And if this keeps up, I'm going to have a coronary." She puts her hand at her heart for added effect.

I bite back a laugh. "Fine. Let's just go around Lost Lagoon then and come back."

Lost Lagoon is a small lake situated just outside of downtown and one of the more popular places to take a stroll. With a fountain in the middle, weeping willows that hang over the water with swans that glide to and fro and the glass high-rises of the city rising into the sky behind it all, it's an urban oasis.