Single Lady Spy 01 - The End of Me

direction at once. I looked at her and nodded, "You got running clothes here?"
    She nodded at the ceiling. I tugged at the robe and ran from the kitchen. I took the stairs several at a time. My feet screamed but I didn’t care.
    I burst through the bedroom to find Coop standing in the middle of the room with his shirt off.
    I stopped and noticed the cut of his abs and the thickness of his chest. His arms were veined and bulky. He was strapping and brawny without a shirt on, but still cut nicely enough that he didn’t look huge and beefy in clothes. I noticed the single round blue and orange tattoo on his right hipbone. It was the one I had caught a glimpse of before.
    His eyes met mine with cold blue fury. He walked past me and out of the door, leaving me upstairs with the smell of his deodorant and the scent that was just him .
    I walked to the duffels of clothes and found things I could make into running clothes.
    I strapped on Luce's runners, which were a half-size too big and headed for the front door.
    I slipped out the front door and burst like a shot. It was how I ran, fast and furious.
    My feet slapped the cement in horrid amounts of pain, but I pushed it.
    I heard the sound of someone else running. I looked back, seeing Coop. He was gaining on me. His legs were thick and strong. Good for the short spurt. Mine were long and lean. I could carry a distance, he couldn’t. I knew that just by looking at him. I sprinted ahead and let my stride widen.
    He caught up almost instantly.
    His face was red and angry.
    I shook my head, "You won’t last with me, Coop." I gasped for air. I loved it.
    He huffed along, "I think I'll surprise you."
    I shook my head, "I'm older. I’ve got better stamina that’s been built up over time. I've been running for a long time."
    He grinned, "I got your stamina, baby." He licked his lips, "I think I could outlast you easy."
    I laughed and shook my head, "You're a perve."
    He nodded, "I want to hear it. I need to hear about it."
    I felt my chest tighten. I stopped running and wheezed. I put a hand up, "You don’t want to know."
    He paced around me with his hands on his hips, "I need it. I need to know."
    I shook my head, “I don’t want to talk about it.”
    He grabbed my arms and pulled me to him, "You’re different than you were before. I wanna know why.”
    I frowned, “I’m not different.”
    He nodded, “I watched you. I saw it. The mundane, bored, fucking housewife to that prick, James. God damned, Evie. How are you so smart and so clueless at the same time? James never loved you. I saw that the first time I watched you all."
    I huffed for air and watched his angry eyes fighting the things he wanted to say. "I saw it right away. You were so lonely and sweet. You did everything for everyone else. When was it ever going to be your turn? They were sucking the life out of you. All three of them just took and took and took. Like leeches."
    I pulled my arms from him, letting rage fill me, "It’s called being a parent dumbass. You make your kids first." Momma bear was starting to surface. I put my finger in his face, "YOU wanna know so bad, for your fucked-up little game? Fine. He fucked me. He fucked me on the plane and he fucked me in the hotel. It was fabulous, if you have to know. Happy?”
    “No.”
    I scowled, “You were watching me and my family? That’s fucking creepy."
    I turned back to the house but he grabbed my hands and held me tight, "I HAD TO WATCH! IT WAS MY JOB! IT BECAME MY WHOLE LIFE TO WATCH YOURS SUCK! TO WATCH YOU BE SO PERFECT AND SO AMAZING AND GET NOTHING BUT THOSE LITTLE MOMENTS ALONE OR ONE FUCKING NICE WORD FROM YOUR KIDS!"
    I slapped him, hard. His eyes lit up. He grabbed my hands, "You feel better?"
    I started to laugh/cry, "NO! GODDAMMIT!" I ripped my arms from his and turned and walked back to the house.
    How the fuck did a frat boy see so many things that I had missed? “Don’t talk about my kids like that!” I muttered.
    An instant pain ripped into my ankle, as I lost my balance and went down on the grass next to me. The fury ended with that.
    "Fuck! I wore those stupid, six-inch heels without an issue and now I've twisted my ankle in runners.”
    He plopped on the grass next to me but never said anything for a few minutes, as I rubbed my ankle.
    “You’re different. I can see it.” he finally spoke.
    I nodded, “You were right. I was lost in it. I let them get bigger than me, all of them. I’m an extremist. I do everything one