Taming the Bachelor by M. J. Carnal Page B

dog tags and they hit his bare chest with each new stride.  Sweat poured off his face onto his chest and back.  The muscles in his stomach rippled as his strong shoulders and arms pumped.  He was beautiful.  There was no other way to describe it.  She heard Rich call his name but he never looked back.  His music blared in his ears.  As he reached the fence line, he turned and came back toward the hotel.  Rich had walked toward him and when he spotted him, he took his ear buds out and wiped his eyes.  When they met, Mark hunched over, hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath.  Rich put his had on his back and looked concerned.  There was no way he was crying.  Was there?  Certainly he must have just been wiping sweat.  She leaned forward in her seat and strained to hear what they were saying.
     
    ****
     
    The beach was his.  He had run the whole length of the property more times than he could count.  Running was his outlet and he needed to relieve some stress.  The tears were a little much but he couldn’t stop himself.  Everything was crashing down on him at once.  He hadn’t seen his friends in so long and he couldn’t be angry at them for thinking he was the same old Mark.  His conquests with Ryan were legendary.  And it certainly didn’t help his cause that he had slept with Amber about fifteen minutes into seeing her again.  And she was engaged?  This was a disaster.  His feet pounded harder and he picked up his pace.  The old Mark would have gone out and picked up a girl and taken her home, or wherever was closest, and would never have called her again.  He knew it seemed cold.  But he was upfront with them from the very beginning so he found it difficult to understand when they continued to call him and why they acted heart broken.  He was a one night stand.  And that’s all he’d ever be. 
     
    Then he saw clumsy Sophie in the grocery store last week and his heart had leapt into his throat.  He had to get away from her right away because when he looked into her eyes, he felt something he had never felt looking at other women. Then in some sick twist of fate, she turned out to be the maid on honor and his sister’s best friend.  She was off limits.  He had promised himself that much.  But as soon as they hit that water yesterday and her skin touched his, the walls around his heart shattered.  After the disaster otherwise known as snorkeling, he knew what Sophie truly thought of him.  So he was done.  He was done sulking and done pining after her.  It was best this way.
     
    The run had shattered all his stress into a mess of tears he couldn’t control.  Everything he felt from mourning the loss of his friends during the war, then leaving the Marines, to leaving his new friends to move home to LA, to his baby sister getting married, all seemed to come out at once.  He felt so at peace.  He was getting rid of years of stress and sadness and he had a feeling it was because Sophie had made him feel something for the first time in forever.  Someday he would thank her.  But for now, she was off limits.
     
    His eyes caught Rich standing down the beach waving at him.  Perfect, he thought.  To add insult to injury, his best friend was about to see him cry.  This was the least manly thing he had ever done in front of Rich. He removed his ear buds and ran toward him.  He grabbed his hips, then his knees trying to catch his breath and control his emotions.
     
    “I thought I might find you out here.”  Rich put his hand on his back.  “You alright buddy?  I’m sorry about yesterday.  That was some shit.”
     
    Mark panted, “It’s fine.  It’s over.  I am ready to rejoin you guys today.”  He stood up and looked Rich in the eyes.  “Just needed to get some stuff out of my system.”
     
    Rich noticed he had been crying.  “Whenever you’re ready, I’m here.  In the mean time, I would love some company for breakfast if you’re up to