He was wide awake. There was no sense trying to go back to sleep. He’d just toss and turn and wake Kate up.

So what? the voice he did his best to avoid piped up. You waited hours for her to get up from her nap. She blew you off for dinner. Might as well get her ass up for a very early breakfast.

He’d had the perfect day all lined up, and once again, it had been trashed. The blame was on him for expecting anything different. Kate never failed to disappoint.

“Shut up, asshole,” he whispered in the dark. Great, now he was talking back to himself out loud! Could it be that all of the distraction of work and chores back home had kept him from finally losing his mind?

“Nope,” he groaned, getting up and changing into sweatpants and a thick sweatshirt.

He might as well run the voice buzzing in his head into submission.

Buttons poked his head up when he opened the door. Andrew hoped he wouldn’t bark and wake Kate up. The lazy beagle just went back to sleep.

The sharp air hit his lungs as if it were made of icicles. He bent over coughing, adjusting to the cold, pine-scented air.

Nature’s gonna kill me.

The woods were dark. Too dark for him to navigate safely. It took some adjusting, living where there were no streetlights.

He’d have to stick to the semipaved driveway leading to the main road. It wasn’t all that long, but if he went up and back a few times, it should be enough to clear his head.

Andrew’s feet crunched on the gravel, kicking up rocks in his wake. He didn’t bother warming up. Hauling ass as if a starter’s pistol had suddenly gone off, Andrew powered down the center of the drive, guided by the meager moonglow.

Yes, he’d been disappointed when Kate hadn’t woken up. That was normal. Who wouldn’t be?

That hour at the dock had knocked her out. It saddened him to see Kate so fragile. When they were dating, she’d loved all kinds of outdoor stuff like rock climbing and taking their bikes on cross-country trails. They’d push their bodies to the limit, come home sweaty, muscles jittering, and make love before and after a shower. The pre-shower sex was always more passionate, wild and reckless. Post-shower sex was tender and loving and would usually knock them out for hours.

Now, sitting on a dock in the sun was enough to wipe her out.