This Winter

Chapter 1

"Fifty-eight, Fifty-nine, sixty! Sixty-One." Devin's voice echoed and Leila groaned from exhaustion. What time is it, Leila wondered to herself before looking towards her alarm clock that sat on her dresser, mocking her lack of sleep as the time read 5am. 

"Oh hell no," Leila muttered before covered her head with a pillow to drown out the sounds of Devin's counting.

"Seventy! Seventy-one, seventy-two, seventy-three," he grunted from outside her door and Leila sighed heavily before throwing the blanket off her, slipping into her slippers and heading into the living room. The first thing she noticed was the Bose wireless headphones over his ears which explained how loud he was and as he continued to do push ups, Leila could help but admire his body. His muscles flexed as he pushed his body up, one hand pushing the other resting on his back. It was a gorgeous sight but at 5am in the morning, the only thing Leila wanted to see was her bed. Moving so she was standing in front of him, it took Devin a second to realize she was there before he stopped his movement and peeled off his headphones, glancing up at her with a grin.

"Good morning Leila."

"There isn't anything good about it if I'm up at 5am. Why in the world are you exercising this early?"

"I do this every day," Devin said standing up before throwing a towel over his shoulder and grabbing his water bottle. It took all of Leila's restraint to not lick her lips at the sight of the sexy man but instead focus on what was important.

"Oh no," Leila protested raising her hands. "I can not be woken up every morning at 5am. This isn't going to work."

"Hey, you don't hear me complaining about your snoring."

"I do not snore!"

"Keep thinking that Lei. Now if that's all I'm going for my 2km run, care to join?" He offered and Leila rolled her eyes. As if! "Suit yourself." Sending her a wink, Devin grabbed his house keys before slipping back on his wireless headphones and jogging out. Groaning in frustration Leila headed back to her room and grabbed her towel knowing that there was no way in hell she would be able to get back to sleep with the memory of Devin shirtless haunting her. Day freaking one, Leila thought to herself with a sigh before jumping into the shower and leaving her troubles behind.

"Feeling better?" Devin asked while munching on some food as Leila entered the kitchen and she nodded. 

"Much better. I am now fully awake and can't wait to eat the leftover pie Harmony left before she moved out," Leila mentioned, her mouth nearly watering at the thought of it as she headed to the fridge.

"Was it in a clear container with a red lid by chance?" Devin asked slowly pulling the container that rested in his hands behind his back.

"You ate my pie!" She accused incredulously and Devin raised his hands in surrender, dropping the tableware. 

"I didn't realize it was just yours, I thought we could share."

"Then where's my piece?"

"Well I forgot about that part," Leila closed her eyes and counted to ten before taking a deep breath. By the time she opened her eyes, Devin had nearly escaped the kitchen.

"I think this living arrangement is going to work great," he muttered with a grin before rushing into the bathroom and locking the door. Rolling her eyes, Leila picked up her Adidas bag and headed to the door but not before she heard Devin yell;

"Leila! Where the hell is all the hot water?" Leila laughed silently to herself before leaving and heading to school. Serves him right! 

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