Shaking my head, I say, “I won’t be there.”

His brows come together. He’s sweating and gasping for air, but still he asks, “Why not? It’s gonna be a blast.”

“Eh, I gotta do something else,” I say, and I’m not sure why. Why am I lying?

“Oh, well, that sucks. Can’t blow it off?”

I shake my head. “No.”

“Well, shit, all right,” he says, visibly disappointed. And then he’s gone, trotting along and leaving me behind. For some reason, it bothers me that I turned him down.

Why does that bother me?

Wiping sweat out of my eyes, I pick up speed because I want this to be over. I’m done with this team-building exercise, and I’m done with running. Trudging along, I suck in a deep breath, letting it out through my nose as my legs burn. Sometimes, I feel like the devil made running. He sends all his little demons to eat away at your legs and make you feel like you’re dying.

At least that’s how I see it.

“Move it, princess, you’re gonna lose.”

Whipping my head to the left, Jayden is beside me, grinning and looking extremely sexy instead of on the verge of dying like I’m sure I look. His hair is slicked to the side, sweat running down his neck and wetting his back. He’s taken off his shirt, it’s wrapped around his neck, and I’m pretty sure his running shorts are illegal. I can see the outline of his cock. Seriously. That’s just dirty and mean.

“Suck it, Sinclair, and hide your dick. It’s showing,” I say before picking up speed.

He laughs as he catches up with me. “Aw, Moore, you looking at my dick?”

“It’s very distracting,” I mutter, and he continues to laugh.

“It’s so big, it has that effect on innocent girls.”

Glancing over at him, I flash him what I hope is a sinful grin. “I’m far from innocent.”

His grin grows, but before he can say anything, I’m running faster.

But he catches up with me again.

“Whoa Nelly, you got some speed on ya, princess,” he says, and I flash him a dirty look, all playfulness gone.

“What’s up with the princess?”

He laughs. How is he laughing?

“I thought of the one thing that would drive you the craziest and what is furthest from the truth. Princess is just that.”

“So I’m not delicate and sweet? Singing to birds and shit?”

He laughs. “The fact you just said shit at the end of that tells you the answer. You are as delicate as a momma bear discovering someone beating her baby cubs with a bat.”

I scoff. “You don’t know me.”

“Not for lack of trying.”

“Don’t know why. Won’t do ya any good.”

“I think you should let me be the judge of that.”

Rolling my eyes, I try to speed up, but I’m dying. I let out an annoyed breath since apparently he is gonna be my running buddy for the rest of this hill, and he says, “You look like you’re dying.”

“What every girl loves to hear,” I mutter, wiping sweat out of my face. “It’s hotter than Satan’s asshole, and demons are eating away at my legs. How am I supposed to look?”

He grins. “Like a delicate flower on her throne?” he suggests and then chuckles. “But it’s cool. Enjoy my dust because I’m gone, sweetheart.”

And then the asshole takes off. And I’m sorry, but someone that big shouldn’t be able to run that fast. Glaring, I dig in and push myself to the point of puking, but he isn’t gonna beat me. As I catch up to him, he looks over at me. I can tell he’s surprised that I caught up, but that just makes him go faster. I don’t admit weakness lightly. I hate it, but even I know he’s gonna win.

When we get to the top, I watch as he passes the ending of the trail. As he turns to look at me, I want to scream in frustration. I don’t get beat much and when I do, it sucks. But it sucks extra bad when he does it. There is something about that grin that not only makes me want to grin and congratulate him but also kiss the living shit out of him and kick him.

I don’t like the way he makes me feel. It weirds me out and I would say that maybe it’s because I’m attracted to him, but I never felt like this with Seth. Never. And I loved that idiot. Or at least I think I did. Who the hell knows? Shaking my head to get rid of the thoughts of my failed relationship with Seth the douche, I look up to notice that Jayden’s coming toward me. When he reaches me, I pause, but he keeps running, smacking at my thigh.

“Good run,” he says, and then I turn.

“Where are you going?”

He turns, still jogging as he goes backward.

This guy.

Hooking his thumb behind him, he says, “Shane and Justin hate running. They need me to motivate them.”

He’s not even out of breath! Plus, our goalies were basically walking. He’s gonna run back down and back up? Is he insane?

“So you’re gonna go back down there?”

He nods. “Yeah, team building, remember?”

“Good call, Sinclair.”

Whipping my head to my dad, I throw daggers at him. But thankfully, he isn’t looking at me but at Jayden. I don’t like him praising Jayden. It makes my blood boil, and holy shit, I’m jealous.

Oh my God, I need help because then I’m yelping out, “No, it’s cool. I’ll go.”

When I trot toward him, he laughs. “You’re dying.”

I scoff. “Please, I could go forever.”

Total. Lie.

Rolling his eyes, he says, “It’s okay, I got this. Go get some water, princess. Sit under a tree.”

“You shut up and get water. Let me take care of my team,” I snap, and that has him scowling.

“You would have never even gone if I hadn’t said anything.”

“Because I forgot. We are currently in Satan’s asshole, remember? Jeez, just go get water and maybe pull your shorts down or up or whatever,” I yell, and his scowl deepens.

“You’re pathetic,” he says, and then he turns, running back down the hill. Since I refuse to allow him to win, and maybe I am a bit pathetic, I follow after him. When ten minutes pass, I am convinced I am dying.

But Jayden is just trotting. Like a damn gazelle.

Looking back at me, he calls, “You can sit down. I’ll come back and carry you back.”