Chapter 12 Miguel
Chapter twelve
Miguel
Sleepless In Chicago
I’m on a streak of bad sleep. Of nights spent tossing and turning. And I haven’t had bouts of insomnia in over a decade.
Back then it was withdrawal or anxiety over my recovery causing my restlessness.
Now, it's Laney.
Every time I close my eyes her youthful energy strikes like a lightning bolt to my chest.
For weeks I’ve struggled to think of anything else when I let my head rest on the pillow.
But her body, her laughter, her determination taunt me in the dark.
Tonight especially. The sparkle in her eyes after her achievement this morning buzzes through my veins while the memory of her whispered request haunts me.
At that moment, I wanted nothing more than to take her lips with mine.
To demand she open herself to me. To give herself to me, completely.
To push her past the point of no return and give her pleasure she has only dreamt of.
But I know how my addictive brain works. As soon as I taste her I'll want more. I'll need more. I'll become desperate for her and my reliance on her will bring her down.
Laney's joy and vigor are in sharp contrast to my regretful past. She has things to look forward to. New training milestones to hit. Her entire pro career is ahead of her.
I have nothing left to achieve on the TP circuit.
It’s why the Deca TitaniumPerson event holds appeal. It is a challenge beyond anything I’ve attempted before. It would be a push, a grind, and total dedication to leveling up my endurance. Figuring out how to maximize a short recovery period.
Instead, I’m losing sleep over a girl.
Please kiss me.
With a groan, I turn and blink at the clock. It's almost 3:00 a.m. Shit.
I force my eyes closed again but am immediately bombarded by the image of Laney's lips begging for mine.
Fuck.
If I'm not going to get any sleep I might as well put together her training plans. I can’t spend anymore energy moping over turning her down.
I did it for her own good.
My sordid history doesn’t belong anywhere near her angelic persona.
In these few short weeks all my training thoughts have included Laney. I’ve come up with couples workouts we can do together. Every time I think of a workout for myself I mentally modify it for her.
Not that she needs much adjustment, she’s so fucking strong.
Jotting down her training plan only takes me twenty minutes. Sleep feels no closer than it did when I was lying in bed so I turn in my counter stool and look at my kitchen.
I’m going to make her food.
She mentioned eating free meals from the restaurant and the other food I saw in her kitchen is boxed or instant. It’s amazing her body has been able to perform as strongly as it has with the fuel she’s been supplying it.
I spend the next two hours making micronutrient packed mason jar meals for Laney. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are made for the week and I tripled my normal homemade energy bar recipe and will give her most of them.
At 5:05 a.m. my alarm went off and I silenced it before returning to the kitchen to clean up. Now that it is after five thirty in the morning I figure I can text her.
"Do you want to meet up to run?" I say out loud as I type the words into the text message. I reread my opening to Laney and let out a groan as I delete the question.
The blinking cursor taunts me.
Normally I would have texted her the night before to make the plan. She doesn’t always respond right away but she will by midnight.
Last night the time came and passed and I still hadn’t texted.
The fridge full of food reminds me of why I’m doing this.
For her.
To help her.
And it’s working.
Her times are improving and she’s beating the targets I set. I’m impressed by her drive. By her commitment.
She’s everything I could want in a partner.
Except she can’t be.
I close out of the messages and pull up the weather.
It's a late June Chicago heatwave which means the water at the lake is warming up.
And, oddly, the warmest time will be in the evening.
The sun will heat the water all day and I feel much more comfortable getting Laney in the water if it's warmer.
I only replied with a thumbs up to her last text so I could open with something about her achievement.
I am genuinely proud of her and the work she's putting in. She'll get exactly what she's working for. It's only a matter of time.
I'm impressed with your results. I think your body is responding to the VO2 training.
There, message sent. Now all I have to do is wait for her reply.
Crap.
This could be a while.
She doesn’t wake up as early as I do.
I won’t be able to survive sitting here just waiting so I leave my phone on the counter, lace up my sneakers, and hit the pavement.
I’m embarrassed by how quickly I reach for my phone when I come home from my run.
Milliseconds.
But, her reply was waiting.
Thinking about my body responding?
Fuck, now I am. I can't handle her flirting.
Stop it Laney. Accept the compliment.
Fine. Thank you for the compliment.
Can you go for a swim tonight?
Maybe, what time?