Read Simon: Rockstar Romance (The ProVokaTiv Series Book 3) for Free Online Page A

the winter it would be tough.
    “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Jessie finally said. “I love all the different styles of architecture on the homes and the lay-out of the walking paths around the lake. It’s one of my most favorite areas.”
    “What’s that over there?” I asked.
    She glanced over and said, “Oh, that’s Calhoun Beach Club. It’s a fitness club, a really nice fitness club.”
    “Great location,” I said.
    “Which is paid for with big prices,” she said.
    I looked at her.  I’ll admit, she threw me off because it had been a long time since I’d been around someone who was always so money conscious. I got it and I respected it, but I had a feeling that Jessie was that type of person you heard about that would give her last five dollars to a homeless guy for dinner even if she had nothing in her own fridge.
    “There’s some place for everyone, right?” I commented.
    “Yup, and right now, Simon Jefferson, your place is behind me.  Can your ego handle being beaten by a girl?”
    “Can yours handle losing after you trash talk?” I countered.
    We stretched for a few minutes and then Jessie quickly said, “3,2,1, let’s go.”  She took off and I took off after her. 
    I stayed behind her intentionally, playing around with her and building up false confidence.  As we approached the one mile marker I was shocked to see that she was still keeping a strong pace and that’s when I knew I had to speed up. I lengthened my stride and got up right next to her. “You’re a strong runner.”
    “Thanks,” she said.  She sped up a bit more but I kept pace with her, talking the entire time and having a lot of fun. It did occur to me that if she was talking so casually, not winded at all, that she wasn’t going all out. Me? I was starting to get winded, but I didn’t care. I couldn’t recall ever having this type of competition with someone and it was quite invigorating.
    “So, did you get on board with the humanitarian thing when Ebola hit the world headlines?” I asked.
    “I’d been focused on it before it was so well known, but that was because I was looking for a cause that I could help that also worked with my field of study. It’s harder to find than you may think. Everyone is all about saving the rainforest and things like that, which is great, but so many of them aggrandize that. Which is why that isn’t for me. I don’t want to be all talk, I want to be action.”
    “Which is why you’ve gone through such great efforts with all of this, not only to prove someone wrong, but to prove what’s so right about your idea, too.” She nodded. I added, “I’m assuming.”
    “Exactly, but it’s not safe to assume,” she said to me.
    “Why?”
    “I’ll tell you later,” she said and then she bolted off, running as fast as if she’d just started the run.
    Okay, I’ll admit that I didn’t have that type of energy in me, but I wasn’t one to surrender to the thought of loss so I dug deep and started to find that energy source that never revealed itself until absolutely necessary.
    I was about three strides behind Jessie, but I couldn’t get next to her.  I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that I thought about fighting a bit unfairly for a second, feigning an injury or something else to make her slow down and turn around so I could catch up. But no, I couldn’t do that with her regardless of how appealing it sounded at that moment.
    With labored breath, I kept going as fast as I could, each step I took sounded like it was saying, “Bragging rights…bragging rights.”
    I glanced up at the marker sign that showed I still had about a half mile left and then looked ahead to Jessie, who’d slowed down some but not as much as me.  That’s when I realized that there was one benefit to currently being in second place—looking at Jessie’s ass. She had an incredible body, athletic and lean. Despite her busy schedule she obviously fit in time to exercise. Stress reducer,