Excerpt of Love on the Run: A Running Romance by Ava Catori

Sitting on the leather sofa, my thighs swam in pools of
sweat. The air-conditioner was broken,
and I’d easily lost five pounds of sweat in the last hour.
They said they’d be here to fix it by
Friday, but Friday felt like a lifetime away – a long,
sweaty lifetime.

As I sat, barely clinging onto life, Kimber burst through
the door. “You’ll never believe who I
just saw on my run,” she said in a voice that should have
been breathless, well if it was mine, but
she was full of energy and oxygen.

“Who, Santa Claus?”

“Yeah, sure, because he has nothing better to do with
Christmas being only six months away,”
she shot back in a perfect deadpan reaction.

I hated how she barely broke a sweat, even exercising. I
broke a sweat just sitting here. Stupid
air-conditioner.

“You’re not even going to guess?” She was already rolling
her eyes at me.

“I guessed. You just weren’t happy with my answer.”

“Fine, be that way,” she was sour from my lack of playing.

I had no play left in me. It was too hot, and what little
energy I had left I needed.

“Cole Parker!”

I perked up, “Cole?”

“Yeah, I thought that might get your attention,” she smirked.

“Anyway, I didn’t know he ran, but I passed him on the trail
today.”

“Really?” My interest was growing leaps and bounds, but
still I sat drenched and unmoving.

“I was thinking that this might be the perfect time for you
to start running. I know you’ve been
talking about it.”

Horrified, I gasped. “Talking, only talking about it – you
know how I am. I don’t actually do
things; I just talk about wanting to do things. People like
me don’t run – slugs don’t run. I am a
slug.”