Charlie looked like he was sleeping standing up. As I approached his building, I saw him leaning against the brick exterior, his head tilted back and arms crossed over his chest. He didn’t move even when I jogged in place in front of him.

I kicked his foot. “Wake up!”

He jerked his head back and banged it on the brick. “Shit!” Rubbing his head, he gave me a sheepish look. “Oh, hi.”

“Are you ready to run or do you need to go back to bed?”

He rolled his eyes and straightened. “I was just resting my eyes. Don’t try to shame me.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “I would never.” Then I nudged his shoulder with my hand. “Let’s go!”

I took off without looking back, but he caught up with me easily. Charlie was average height for a man, but I was on the shorter side, so his stride was longer than mine. We managed to get in sync pretty quickly, though, and ran side by side down Main Street and onto the trail.

Charlie glanced around the tree-lined path as we ran. “I didn’t even know this was here.”

I looked at him with wide eyes. “Really? I love this trail.”

“I’m not really nature-y.”

“It’s paved!”

He looked around again. “But there are a hell of a lot of trees.”

I snorted. “Do you have something against trees?”

“Not trees per se. I don’t really like being surrounded by them, though.”

I looked at him. He was serious. “I can honestly say in my twenty-eight years on this planet I have never heard anyone say something like that.”

“You’re twenty-eight?”

“I am.”

He shook his head. “Just a baby.”

“Is twenty-eight a baby? How old are you?”

“Thirty-four. When I was twenty-eight, I was still enjoying my misspent youth. Hell, when I was thirty-three I was enjoying it too.”

“My youth has been spent very responsibly. Is it too late to misspend it?” I asked.

He laughed. “It’s never too late. Are you gonna rebel? I’d pay to see that. Rebellious Miss Eliza.”

I nudged him with my shoulder. “I thought I was going to be just Eliza today?”

“You could never be just Eliza.”

I didn’t know why, but that warmed me. I’d felt like just Eliza for too long.

“To answer your question, never in my life have I rebelled. Even as a baby, I probably slept through the night and only cried when I was hungry, just so I’d fit in and not bother anyone.”

“I can’t picture a situation where I’d ever find you bothersome.”

“Even when I sneak into your shop and wake you up with my piano playing?”

He bumped into me gently. “Especially not then.”

I looked at my Fitbit. “We’re a mile in. Are you still good?”

“So far. My legs are starting to hate me, but I’ll power through.”

The morning was cool, but Charlie had started to sweat. I kept glancing over to make sure he was still doing okay, and I had to admit, just to look at him. He had on a form-fitting grey compression shirt and black athletic shorts. My ex hadn’t had an athletic bone in his body, so it was nice to be out with a man who shared my interest in fitness. Not that we were out. Not that this was leading to anything other than friendship. But still, it was nice.

“How did you rebel?” I asked.

He waved a hand around. “Oh, the usual. Touring with a band, sleeping with far too many women but never actually sleeping, drinking too much, not reading any of the books I had on my nightstand, and then getting married to someone I only knew for two weeks.”

His words came out breathier than when we’d first started running, and I felt like he’d taken my breath away when he mentioned sleeping with a lot of women and marrying one of them.

“You’re married?” I asked in a quiet voice.

He turned his head my way. “Not anymore. It wasn’t my wisest decision, but I don’t like to quit things I start, so I stuck it out for far too long. Longer than she did.”

“How long have you been divorced?”

“A year. We were only married half that. I’m not sure the domestic life is for me.” He glanced at me again. “How do you plan to rebel, Miss Eliza?”

“Should one really plan their rebellion?” I asked.

He grinned. “I’m pretty sure you plan everything.”

“Maybe my first step in rebelling is not to plan it.”

“That’s a good first step,” he agreed.

I thought about it for a minute. I was ready to shake up my life. Charlie had already pulled me out of my routine, so why not go even further?

“Maybe I will sign up for Tinder. Frannie and Rachel both did it.”

“No,” he said forcefully.

“No?” I asked, surprised by the edge in his tone.

“You don’t need Tinder. I thought we talked about this,” he said.

I shrugged. “Maybe I do. I’ve been single for six months. I don’t want another boyfriend yet, but a little male companionship might be nice.”

“Hey, I’m a male companioning you right now.”

I laughed and hit his shoulder playfully. “I’m pretty sure that’s not a word. And I was talking about s-e-x, you know.”

“If you can’t say the word instead of spelling it, then Tinder is not right for you. I’m telling you—e-harmony.”

I frowned at him. He was sweaty and panting, but keeping up with my rigorous pace. And he was annoying as hell.

“Fine, I want SEX!” I yelled the last word, and it felt like everyone on the trail turned to look at me. Probably because I’d just yelled I wanted sex loudly enough to echo through the surrounding forest.

I was twenty feet in front of him before I realized Charlie had stopped running. I turned around and jogged in place. He was bent over at the waist, his hands on his knees, panting for breath. I ran back to him and put my hand on his shoulder.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

“Just leave me here,” he rasped.

“Are you going to make it? I’m strong, but I don’t think I’d be able to carry you back.”

He scoffed and continued panting. “You can’t yell you want sex and expect me to be able to continue moving my legs. It’s not humanly possible.”

“Should I abandon you here? I still have two more miles to go before I turn back.”

He waved me off. “Just leave me. I’ll become one with the forest.”

I eyed him skeptically, but he didn’t seem like he was going to move anytime soon, so I turned around and continued my run.

The next two miles weren’t nearly as fun as the previous three had been. Talking to Charlie had entertained me so much, I had been able to ignore the burn in my legs. But the two miles to my turning point and the two miles back to where I’d left him were slow going. I wasn’t able to clear my mind like I usually did, but I also didn’t think of my normal worries. Charlie’s almond-shaped brown eyes, his slightly fuller upper lip that was so utterly kissable, the Japanese-inspired tattoos that colored his arms, and the way he’d reacted when I’d said I wanted sex were all that filled my thoughts.

I didn’t want to date Charlie. There was no question about that. Well, not really. I thought falling into bed with him would be amazing, but also messy, and not in a good way.

But running with him? Bantering with him? That was fun, and I desperately needed some fun in my life. And the fact that he was so very attractive was just a bonus.

I was surprised Charlie was sitting on the side of the trail, exactly where I’d left him. I had expected he would have started walking back toward Main Street, but there he was, waiting for me.

He stood up when I approached.

“Do you have your second wind?” I asked.

“I’m not sure I had a first wind, but I’m ready.”

We started jogging together again and even though I’d said I wouldn’t go slow for him, I did ease my pace up a bit. For someone who hadn’t run in a long time, I was impressed with his stamina…which of course led me to thoughts I didn’t want to be having.

“I’ve thought about your rebellion situation.”

I raised my eyebrows. “Oh, you have, have you?”

“I have. I take rebellion very seriously. I think you should let me guide you.”

“What would that entail?”

“A lot of spontaneity, pushing past your comfort zone, etcetera, etcetera.”

“Spontaneity, huh? That sounds like something I need to plan for.”

He groaned.

“Charlie, I’m kidding! I would love to be taken under your wing.”

“Is that dirty talk?”

I pushed him harder than I intended, and he stumbled before righting himself.

“Charlie…” I grumbled.

“Eliza…” he grumbled back.

I gasped. “You just said my name!”

“I’ve said your name many times.”

“But there was no ‘miss’ in front of it! This is a breakthrough!”

“Well, I can hardly be your tutor and call you ‘miss.’ That doesn’t seem right.”

I shook my head. “No, definitely not right.”

We ran along the path quietly for the last mile. Charlie struggled, but he pushed through, and I was more than a little impressed. Even though I normally ran all the way up the hill to my apartment, this time, when we hit Main Street, I started walking to give him a break.

“Am I alive?” He looked around as if he wasn’t sure where he was.

“You did it, Charlie! Six miles!” I held my hand up for a high five and he very slowly slapped his palm against mine.

“That wasn’t fun,” he said.

“I had fun.”

He looked at me, a small smile playing on his lips. “The running part wasn’t fun. The company was exceptional.”

My cheeks burned yet again. He had a bad habit of making me blush. I wasn’t ready to part from him, and playing the piano and sticking to my routine suddenly didn’t feel that vital.

“Do you want to stop for breakfast?” I asked.

He stopped walking and grabbed my forearm. “Is this you being spontaneous?”

I nodded. “I think it is. Should I feel all tingly inside?”

He stepped closer to me and grinned. “Nah, that’s just from my presence.”

I shook my head and started walking to my favorite coffee shop. Charlie followed close behind. Once we both ordered, we found a table in a quiet corner.

After a minute, a waitress brought over our coffees and breakfast. I started eating my egg white, turkey bacon, and avocado on an English muffin while Charlie sipped his coffee.

“Healthy eater, huh?” he asked.

“Usually. As you now know, I live a pretty regimented life.”

“You mean boring?”

I huffed, but nodded. “Yeah, I mean boring.” I drooled a little watching Charlie take a big bite of a chocolate chip muffin. I did let myself indulge sometimes, especially when I went with Frannie and Rachel to the wine bar, but my diet consisted of a lot of egg whites and chicken breasts, especially now that I was single. I had cooked more complicated meals when I lived with my ex, but cooking just for myself wasn’t nearly as enjoyable. Although, truthfully, cooking for him hadn’t been enjoyable either since there was always “something wrong” with whatever I made, even if he did shovel it all into his mouth.

Charlie held out his muffin. “Want a bite?”

I smiled. “No thanks.”

He waved it in front of my face. “Come on…”

I shook my head.

“You know you wanna!”

The muffin was an inch from my mouth, and the smell of chocolatey richness invaded my nose. I looked from Charlie to the muffin and back to Charlie again, and then I leaned in and took a huge bite out of it.

He pulled the muffin back and gasped. “You ate half my muffin!”

I covered my full mouth with my hand, and mumbled, “Don’t test me, Charlie. I might eat the other half.”

He leaned back in his chair and watched me chew. “This is going to be fun, isn’t it?”

“Orchestrating my rebellion? Yes, I think it will be. I actually came up with my first idea while we were running.”

“What?” he asked.

“Okay, it’s not rebellious, but it is something I’ve never done and have always wanted to. I’m signing up for the Baltimore Marathon, and you’re going to do it with me.”

He cringed. “You actually think I can run a marathon?”

“Yep, we’re going to do it together.” I held my hand out. “Deal?”

He looked at my hand suspiciously, but shook it after a brief hesitation. “Deal, I suppose. Although, I think I’m getting the raw end here.”

“We have weeks to train for the marathon, and you can make me do whatever you want before then.”

He waggled his eyebrows. “Are you talking dirty again?”

I kicked him under the table. “You wish.”

He leaned forward and spoke in a quiet voice. “Oh, Miss Eliza, if only the timing and circumstances were different, I would wish.”

I swallowed hard. I had no idea how to decipher that, so I laughed it off, which was easy to do with Charlie. Of course, the timing was all kinds of wrong, but somehow, being wrong with Charlie sounded quite tempting.