“Amelia?”
She looks up as Sadie knocks her hat off her head and into the sand from her abundant kisses. Her brown hair falls onto her shoulders as her gaze meets mine. “Chandler?”
I hold out my hand as I push a very excited Sadie to the side. Amelia takes it, and I haul her up. “Shouldn’t you be at work?”
She gives me a look that says I’m a total weirdo stalker. “I’m off today.”
“Oh,” I say, trying to get my dog off her. I push Sadie between my legs, holding her hips with my calves, before I look up to Amelia. “Sorry. She seems to like you.”
“Is she yours?”
I nod. “Yup, this is my Sadie girl.”
Her lips curve. “Every time I see her, I throw her a hot dog.”
Sadie’s ears perk, and I smile. “Ah, so you’re the one who’s been feeding my dog.”
“Guilty. Sorry.”
“It’s cool. I was just hoping she wasn’t being poisoned.”
Her eyes widen as she holds her hands up. “Oh my goodness, never. We had a golden retriever when I was younger. His name was Sammy, and he loved hot dogs. I bought some just for her the other day.”
“That’s funny and makes sense why she loves you. Usually she doesn’t like females.”
She gazes down at Sadie. “Protective over Daddy?”
Now, I know I shouldn’t find the way she says daddy sexual, but in my defense, she’s standing in a sports bra and short shorts. And I’m a hot-blooded, horny dude. Sadie barks happily, and I ignore my horny dude thoughts. “Running?”
She shrugs. “Or avoiding responsibilities. Same thing.”
“They’re so overrated anyway,” I tease, and her lips curve a bit. “Surprised you’re not at the gym.”
She bites her lip. “I haven’t been in the gym in a really long time.”
“Well, that sucks.” And it does. I can’t imagine not being on the ice.
“Yeah.”
“Do you miss it?”
She looks up at me, and I can see in her eyes that she does. “Yeah, but you know how it is.”
“What do you mean?”
She looks down the beach and then reaches over to scratch Sadie behind her ears. “I don’t know, but listen, I’m gonna—”
“Can I run with you?”
I know she wants to get away, and I can’t let that happen. I want to spend time with her. Shit, am I a stalker? She looks down at my jeans and raises a brow at me. “In that?”
I push down my pants, leaving me in a pair of shorts, before kicking off my shoes. “I was planning on running anyway.”
“You were?”
“Yup.” Total lie. “I’ll just blow off my workout with Nico.”
Her face breaks into a grin, but she doesn’t say anything. She starts to jog, and I click my tongue at Sadie. “Come on, girl.”
We catch up with Amelia in no time. She’s pulled her hat back into place, and her stride is strong, purposeful. I remember going to practice with Ryan to watch Sofia, but my eyes were always only on Amelia. She was so strong, and even though it looked like their conditioning was absolute crap, she always had a smile on her face. She was so committed and worked hard.
“Always blow off your unfiltered friend?”
“No, actually,” I say, matching her stride. It’s tough since she is so much smaller than me. “But he’ll understand I’d rather run with two gorgeous girls than him.” She doesn’t pay me any mind, but I see her lips twitching a bit. “So you must live close to me if you’ve been feeding Sadie.”
She jogs along, her eyes ahead of us as she answers. “I guess so. I’m in the pink house.”
“I know where that is. I’m in the yellow one with the bright-red door.”
“So, like four houses down from each other. That’s funny.”
“And convenient.”
Why did I say that?
She gives me a side-eye. “Gonna stalk me at my house, too?”
I chuckle as sweat starts to gather on my back. “I’m not stalking, just enjoying some coffee and the company.”
She snorts. “I am nowhere near good company.”
“I beg to differ,” I say as the water splashes up on our ankles. Sadie is jumping in and out of the ocean but keeping up with us. “So what responsibilities are we running from today?”
Her face is blank as she speeds up a bit. “You don’t want to hear my problems.”
“I asked, didn’t I?”
Amelia glances at me but doesn’t say anything as our feet hit the sand, a squishing sound mixing with the ocean and sea gulls. “I gotta call my mom today.”
“What’s wrong with that?”
“I haven’t spoken to her since I moved in with Drew about four years ago.”
I make a face, mostly full of shock and confusion. “Well, that sucks.”
“It does, but it is what it is.”
“Which is?”
She shrugs, her strides getting longer and harder. “She didn’t want me to marry him.”
“You were too young?”
“That was one of the reasons.”