Be gay, do crime. That had been Margo's motto for the last month and that was going well for her so far.
At least it was until this moment.
Somehow, somehow, Jake had managed to talk her into a run that she absolutely did not want to go on, at a stupid ass time in the morning before she had to head to the magic school to teach. It was that damn easy smile of his, she was convinced. It's talked her into things she normally wouldn't be caught dead doing and this just happened to be the latest in that trend.
"Okay, wait...wait fuck," Margo wheezed, slowing down on the path they were currently on and coming to a stop. Bending nearly in half to put her hands on her thighs as she caught her breath, she didn't look to see if Jake had stopped when she had. They had been nearly a mile into this run, before Margo decided she was over this. "I'm over this," she finally said, straightening up and standing properly again. Her hands were on her hips as her chest moved up and down a little faster than normal, as she struggled to get her breathing back to normal.
Jake was wearing that damn easy smile as he came jogging back toward her, taking a moment to appreciate Margo as she caught her breath. "Break time?" he asked. "We're keeping a good pace and almost to the halfway point."
He was used to running before dawn, and the base had a gym that he'd been taking advantage of since its arrival. He needed to, to offset more oreo flavors than he'd ever know what to do with. But Margo had questioned how he stayed fit, and he'd somehow convinced her to join him for a run in spite of her protesting. Given how stubborn she seemed to be, he considered that a feat.
So he was still smiling as he came to a stop in front of her. "You can't be actually done."
“Yep,” she said, arching back from him to get a kink out of her shoulders that had been forming. “I’m fucking done” Who did this shit? Who ran? Other than Jake, obviously. Margo was going to stick to her own exercise routine from now on. “I’m walking back, you feel free to carry on, you weirdo.” She waved him off as she started to turn and head back in the direction they had just come running in from.
God she needed a drink. That dumb smile was not worth this torture.
"You do realize it gets easier if you keep doing it, right?" Jake asked, but he caught up with her walking. "Of course, you shouldn't waste your time doing things you hate, either." He shrugged, not that concerned that their morning run was ending earlier than anticipated.
A pause. "You couldn't have hated it that much though, could you?"
“I don’t care if my ass gets fat, I’m going to learn to love it and so will all of you,” Margo said, slapping said ass in question and continuing her walk. “But yeah, I’m aware, I just don’t want to put in that work. I’m very happy with having sex as my exercise routine.” And Margo didn’t stick to the boring stuff either, her version of sex tended to be highly atheletic.
Jake held back a couple of steps deliberately at that without any shame and then replied, "I already love your ass. Also a fan of your exercise routine." He tilted his head toward her as he stepped beside her again, grinning.
"How about boxing?" he added, because while she might be happy with her routine, he could see her throwing punches and enjoying it.
She rolled her eyes, but was grinning about it anyway. He was such an idiot and she had no idea why she enjoyed that about him. Looking over at him now, instead of answering his question, she asked, “Why are you so eager to get me sweaty out of the bedroom?”
"Oh, it's a huge turn on," Jake answered. "You all sweaty, out of breath, cursing running. Calling me a weirdo." He shook his head. "I better stop thinking about it, we have a while to go still." Which would go faster, if they were running, but he only thought that with a smirk, didn't voice it aloud.
Because she didn't have anything handy to throw at him - she was not going to sacrifice her phone for that - Margo just rolled her eyes again and stretched her arms out over her head to try and loosen her overworked muscles up. "Why do I choose to subject myself to you again?"
She really needed to stop letting the cute ones get close to her. It always ended badly. The last guy ended up with his blood splattered all over her on their wedding day and the time before that, Margolem happened.
"My good looks, stellar personality, and I'm useful at things like fixing up yachts or driving getaway," Jake answered. "But I can take off my shirt if it sweetens the deal." He watched her stretch her arms out. "I also give killer massages. Should score me a few points."
“You are so full of yourself,” Margo laughed, as they continued walking along. Dropping her arms back down, she said, “I’ll put your peacocking to the test though in a bit. I gotta shower the stench of failure off me first.” She didn’t like giving up or quitting things, but she definitely wasn’t going to keep doing things she didn’t enjoy.
Like running.
"Nothing wrong with self-confidence. It's better than false humility," Jake replied with a smirk. He was extremely comfortable in his own skin, probably some of that came from being a drift pilot. He was good at that, sure, but he'd also been unable to hide anything from Nate. It had built up his confidence in an odd way.
"You call that failure?" Jake asked, raising a brow. "You tried something you were initially opposed to, gave it a go and then decided it wasn't for you but not before running a mile first. That's just knowing what you want and what you don't."
Margo didn't seem like the sort to back down easily though, so he sort of saw it.
“Definitely don’t disagree with that,” Margo said with a nod. As much shit as she gave him over it, she did think it was pretty great how he didn’t back down in the face of her being catty. But she was always going to be harder on herself than she was on others. She expected more, maybe in defiance of her father’s expectations. But she wasn’t going to get into all that, not with someone she has barely known for a month.
Sure, they fuck occasionally and do illegal shit together, but that didn’t entitle him to her friendship level 5 backstory. Not yet anyway.
So Margo snorted and explained, “When I fail, I fail well. I don’t do shit halfassed.”
"Now that, I believe," Jake said, glancing over at her. "You're smart. Headstrong. Could probably crush me in half just by casting some sort of spell… while also being incredibly sexy. That's not relevant, just a bit unfair, yeah? Good thing I'm not intimidated by powerful women. Or else I might have to feel slightly inadequate in your presence. Only slightly though. Until you actually do go to crush me in half."
He grinned at her, and then added, "But I do know that I can outrun you so there's that."
Margo laughed. "What are you sucking up for, hm? Bigger cut of our next hit?" She shook her head, shooing him off with a, “Go on, Usain Bolt. Show off. I’ll meet you back at the cottage and you can show me how good your massages are after a shower.”
"Just stating facts," Jake said with a wink, jogging up in front of her and turning around in time for her to see the gesture. He had no problem stating what he perceived as his own positive traits, but he also felt free to share others with them. Why not?
"I have no idea who or what Usain Bolt is, but I'm happy to show off." And then he turned around and sprinted off back toward the cottage, not at all mad to have more time to run.