Overcoming Fear (Growing Pains #2)(19)

“I see. How would you feel if I made you second in charge? People listen to you where they don’t listen to Ray. Hell, even Ray looks to your lead when I’m not talking.”

“Do I have to?”

“Yes. But I thought asking was nicer.”

“Ugh! Fine. Hey, what are you doing after work?”

A brief look of wariness and confusion crossed his face. “Is there an after?” he asked.

“Yeah, and it’s right before bed. You wanna go for a run? I have a great way to relieve stress and regenerate energy. Plus, you can give me a ride home so I don’t have to brave public transportation. I don’t know if you’ve heard, but public transportation in San Francisco is the pits.”

“Hmmm. I’ll probably be here for another couple hours.” It was already 6. Sean was trying to get out of it nicely. Krista should have let him, but the only thing waiting for her at home was Abbey and an empty room. She wasn’t seeing Paul anymore and the lonely nights were starting to wear on her. She needed the friend he said he would be.

She shrugged, “That’s fine. I can work on the never ending list you gave me.”

He looked up, seemed half-dead then looked at his watch, “Get your stuff, let’s go. We’ll do your thing then order dinner. We can talk about my list. We need to figure out a way to divide it up better.”

Surprised, Krista reached down, grabbed her handbag and jacket, turned off her computer, and stood up. “Ready.”

“Christ, you don’t mess around when it’s time to go home.”

“I hate the train.”

“Don’t blame you. C’mon.”

Chapter Five

Krista was dropped off at her house to change. She was worried and excited and anxious and energized. She even had nervous pee, which she took care of before she left the house.

They met on the beach, halfway between their houses. Sean was waiting for her down by the ocean, watching the cresting waves as she walked up next to him. The setting sun was highlighting his features, outlining his body and tussled hair. He turned to her, and his eyes turned luminescent.

Krista was struck by his look. It held such tender longing her throat constricted. His eyes were searching as they looked at her, into her. He was in a place of comfort, and he was sharing it with her. He was opening up and inviting her in.

She sighed like a lovesick girl, meeting his eyes and being swept away.

“I’m going to tell Jasmine,” he said quietly, a smile flickering.

“I introduced her to Mr. Montgomery. Within the meeting she got three different sighs. It nearly killed her. Poor Marcus got a ton of Thump Birds after that.”

Sean laughed, back to his relaxed self, “Okay, what’s up first?”

Krista threw him a jump rope, “Get to it.”

“I hate jumping rope. I had to do it for boxing all the time.”

“You box?” Krista stepped away from him, looking for a hard patch of sand. It didn’t exist.

Sean, seeing the predicament, flicked his head in the direction of the sidewalk. As they started walking he said, “I did. When I was younger. My dad thought it’d make a man of me.”

“What did he say when he realized it failed?”

Sean laughed and pushed her lightly. They got to the sidewalk and went for it. Krista, seeing she was outdone, moved away to go at her own pace. Sean rarely got tangled up and he was jumping really fast. He was nowhere near Krista’s caliber of clumsy.

When they were done they went for a jog. Krista was obviously more in shape so she kept the pace light—light for her, anyway. Which Sean realized. He hated every minute of it, but being that he couldn’t speed up without dying, he had no choice but to swallow his pride and get beat by a girl.

They finished with some yoga. Krista still hadn’t been to a class, but she had looked some things up online and worked on those. The little she knew was great for focus, stretching and relaxation. Also for breathing. She didn’t dare try the moves that looked like a contortionist at the circus—she figured she needed an instructor and an emergency brake for that.

They went back down to the waterline so it would be more tranquil. Even so, Sean wasn’t feeling it.

“I don’t…bend this way,” Sean said in a grunt.

“Is that code for you sucking at something?” Krista said with a laugh as she inspected his pose from behind.

He was supposed to have his left leg in front with his right behind, both legs in line as his h*ps faced forward. It was a sort of lunge, with the front leg bent and the back leg straight. The arms were supposed to be high up overhead with the shoulders as far away from the ears as they could go.

Sean had the lunge easily. It was getting his h*ps and torso to twist that was the problem. It flat-out wasn’t happening. He couldn’t turn his h*ps and body enough to get the pose right. He was twisted all catawampus and having a hard time with his balance. If he couldn’t get the pose, which was Warrior 1, there was no way he’d go onto Warrior 2.

Krista walked to the side of him, keeping her laughter to herself. She put one hand on his shoulder and one on his side, thinking that if London Bridge fell down, it wouldn’t be directly on top of her. Not that it was a terrible thought, but the sand was cold and wet.

As her hands made contact, Sean flinched before he caught himself, then stilled.