Counter Lotus

Chapter 6

"I'm sure it does to you," he said in a bored voice.

Sighing, I shook my head. "I don't have time to deal with your bullshit."

He glanced down to his watch. "Good, because I don't have time to deal with yours. You're slowing my time."

"Oh my god, we can't have that!" I mocked him with a dramatic gasp. "It would be a tragedy to waste even a second of your running time! By all means, please proceed before you pop a blood vessel," I said in worried voice, waving for him to pass me.

His gaze studied mine. It was like my words finally earned me his attention. Instead of continuing his run, he actually seemed to relax and looked off into the woods. "What's your name again? Joe something?"

"Josephine," I said with a glare.

With his gaze elsewhere, I managed taking in some of his tattoos. The morning light illuminated the black ink of an intricate dove, wings spread going up and down the outside of his arm. Embedded in the bird's feathers were a few other things I couldn't make out. I also saw an elaborate cross on the inside of his arm too. There were a few more, but I had to look away when his eyes returned. This cocky asshole would've assumed I was checking him out. And I wasn't. I was not checking him out.

"Well Josephine, the start of the trail is about four miles from where I came from."

Really? We are still on this? "I didn't realize nature trails needed to be treated like one-way roads."

He smirked. "I guess that explains why you're going the wrong way."

Nice. Now he was insulting my driving like last time. God, this guy... I just didn't know what to think. It usually took a lot for me to be forwardly rude back to someone, but not him. He got under my skin so easily, I couldn't even bother trying to be nice. I almost had to wonder if he was irritating me on purpose.

"Your life is really so pathetic that you're arguing about which way I'm running?"

"I'm just saying it makes sense to go the other way; you start downhill and go up. Since it's a loop, it's an easier way to end your run."

"If it's a loop, what does it really matter? What if I prefer going at it this way? You know what, I don't care, I don't. You're insane, and this is the dumbest shit I think I've ever heard."

He couldn't help but try and hide an amused smile. "I don't know why you're making a big deal about this."

Me? I'm the one making a big fucking deal about this?! I couldn't even respond; his words prodded at my temper. My expression from the audacity of his words must have been priceless enough. Because that rare smile stayed on his face.

"Now, would you mind if I continued with my run now? Before it's you that pops a blood vessel?" he asked in amusement.

"No, I want to know why I keep running into you."

He sighed, looking back to his watch. "I don't know. It's a small town."

Beyond my aggravation, I couldn't ignore how strange this was. Too strange to ignore. This wasn't us just casually seeing each other around. I spilled beer on him at work, hit his car, and we now nearly plowed into each other while running. All within a short span of time. For anyone else in this town, I don't think I've seen the same person more than once! So sure, seeing him twice was a coincidence. But three times? And by literally running into each other?

The coincidence forced me to calm my irritated tone. "Even being in a small town, I think this is pretty weird. Like what are the chances?" And what were the chances of him being the only person I've seen on this trail? Not to mention at dawn?