"Eight... Nine... Ten," Emma chanted as she stretched out her leg. Moving to the other side, she started counting over again. Her friend, Hannah, was supposed to be her partner in crime this summer doing that whole Couch to 5K thing. They never had any time to do this sort of thing when they were working at school during the year, so now was the perfect time. Heck, it was even her idea. Today was only the third day, and Hannah was already MIA. Emma knew she wasn't a graceful runner. She was positive she looked scary when she ran, but here she was... alone. She strapped on her armband and after she started her playlist and the running app, she was off. She was bound and determined she was sticking with this. Only as the minutes dragged on, she felt more and more like giving up. "Home," she muttered as she ran into the driveway and lay down. That's how bad it was. She didn't even have the energy to go one step more. Forget the house. The concrete while hard was still cool from the nigh

Emma wasn't really sure what had gotten into her. She wasn't usually into flings, and she'd never had one before, but no matter how little of herself she wanted to give, she could tell that there was something about Jackson she wanted. It was confirmed the minute he kissed her. It was a hot kiss, and if he was half as good at sex as he was with kissing, she was in for a hot night.When they got to her room, she moved Jackson to the edge of her bed and pushed him down. The way he was looking at her gave her the courage to act like the confident, sexy woman she wasn't sure she was anymore. Slowly she ran her hands down her sides and grabbed the hem of her shirt. Not looking anywhere but his eyes, she pulled it up and off and then dropped it on the floor. She noticed Jackson's hands clench as she went for the button on her shorts, and he swallowed hard as she slowly pulled the zipper down and shimmied out of them. Standing there in her matching black lace bra and thong, she became nervous

Emma was shocked when she realized she'd woken up before Jackson. In their brief time together, that had never happened. As she stretched her limbs, she thought about snuggling up close and waking him, but when she got a look at his face, he looked so peaceful she didn't want to bother him. So instead of waking him she opted for a hot shower and breakfast. She waited in the bathroom until the steam started to rise and stepped in feeling her muscles relax under the spray. She took her time lathering her hair with her shampoo and then ran her hands over her body soaping up. It still tingled from the crazy night of sex they'd had. After she had dried off, she changed into a pair of shorts and a tank top and piled her hair up on top of her head. After she made her way downstairs, she went for easy and found the cereal. She'd just poured the milk into the bowl when the doorbell rang.Seeing Hannah on the other side of the door she asked, "What are you doing here?""It's a running day? You

Everything hurt. That pretty much summed up how Emma felt. She wasn't exactly sure where she was, and when she tried to pry her eyes open, she was thankful there was no light whatsoever. She couldn't handle light. Emma took a few minutes trying to remember what had happened. She remembered being at the bar with everyone, and she vaguely remembered walking to the car with Jackson. She didn't remember anything about their ride home or getting to bed. If the pounding in her head was any indication, she'd had way too much to drink, and she was sure that's why she was lying in bed mostly naked instead of in the pajamas she normally wore. Suddenly the bed beside her shifted and a strong arm wrapped around her pulling her tight. Jackson. He must have helped get her home and put her to bed. Usually, she hated people touching her when she slept. Honestly, she hated any guy that was touchy. That's why she'd freaked out when Jackson had grabbed her hand at the bar. It was another thing she coul

Emma hadn't always been one for guys opening doors and pulling out chairs, but Jackson had done all that, and it was actually kind of nice. When he took charge and gave the waiter her order, she waited for the anger to wash over her, but it never came, and that confused her. Chase had always done that, taken control over everything, and tried to get her to do what he wanted. With Jackson, it felt different though because he listened and did what she wanted. Chase would have just picked something even if she told him she didn't like it. Looking back on it all, it was probably a good thing she'd walked in on him cheating on her. She didn't know if she'd have had the guts to leave him otherwise, and while she thought she was happy at the time, she knew now that she couldn't have lived her life like that.They were finishing up their meal when Emma asked, "So what all did you do yesterday? Was your birthday amazing?""Just another day," he shrugged. "It was pretty uneventful. Josh, Payton,