I was sitting on the couch, browsing through the morning paper while I half-halfheartedly watched Sportscenter, when Tara bounded into the room.
"Its a beautiful day outside," she said, "we should go for a run or a walk or something." She was already dressed for a workout, with her short pink running shorts and her white sports bra. Basically, she was telling me she was going out and she thought I should too.
I was exhausted from a long work week and was looking forward to a couple days off, watching the Sox-Yankees series was the only activity I had planned. I looked out the window and saw the summer sun shining brightly. She was right, it was a gorgeous summer day. As much as I wanted to relax, I couldn't allow myself to waste such perfect weather.
I placed the paper beside me on the couch and looked up at her, smiling. "Sure, sounds good, baby. Let me get changed."
The smile lit up her face as she beamed and did a little bounce. Clapping her hands, she exclaimed, "Yayyyy."
I chuckled as I lifted myself off the couch and headed upstairs to the bedroom. I chose the closest thing I had to running shorts, a rather longish, army green pair, but they were lightweight. I grabbed a gray sleeveless shirt from my drawer and a fresh pair of socks and headed back downstairs to find my sneakers.
She was waiting at the foot of the stairs with my sneakers and my knee brace. I smiled. She always thought of everything. I sat on the stairs and finished dressing for a day out. I allowed my eyes to travel up over her long legs and up her body until our eyes met and I knew she was checking me out as well.
Standing up, I smiled and said, "Ready?"
She nodded and we headed out the door. "I figured we'd go over to the park, there's a nice nature trail we can use." The park she was talking about was less than a mile walk from our house. The county had recently built a nature trail curving through the woods. I knew about it, but had never seen it. I figured she had.
We walked side by side, talking idly about our respective jobs and other stuff. As we approached the entrance to the park, she turned to me and asked, "So, are you up for a run or would you rather just walk?"
"What do you normally do?" I responded.
"I usually go for a little run, the trail is pretty long though," she answered.
"Well, I'll run as long as I can," I smiled.
We reached the head of the trail and she stopped and started stretching. I followed suit, but couldn't help watching her out of the corner of my eye. She was beautiful, I found her as attractive as the day we met, even more so. Her clothes showed her body off well. Her wonderfully toned stomach, her long silky legs. The sports bra constricted her breasts, but I could use my imagination there.
I heard her cough and looked up at her. The grin on her face told me she had caught me staring at her. I willed myself to tear my eyes from her body and stood upright.
She smiled and said, "Try to keep up, big man," and started jogging. I started after her, running softly beside her. I knew she was starting out slow, but would soon be running much faster. Her little jab at me was a bit of a challenge. She knew she could outrun me. She had more stamina and I was also sporting a knee that was less that a hundred percent.
We ran at an easy pace for awhile, not talking, just looking around at the trees in their mid-summer glory. Listening to the birds chirping and breathing the fresh smell of a summer morning. We came upon a few people walking the trail, enjoying the day in a more leisurely way. I found myself somewhat surprised at the number of people out before noon. I figured they were enjoying it before the afternoon heat became unbearable.
Her pace increased and although I was easily able to match her, I could feel my breathing become more labored. We crested a small hill and the trail snaked down into deeper woods. The sunlight barely made it through the trees here and the temperature was noticeably cooler. The further we went, the less people we encountered. There were brief stretches where the only sounds I could hear was the pounding of our feet and our breathing. To be honest it was more my breathing than hers.
It wasn't long before she pulled ahead of me and I was unable to keep up. I wasn't winded yet, but if I tried to keep her pace I would be. I knew she was holding back a little bit for my benefit as well.
We ran deeper into the woods along the trail, passing less and less people.
After a bit, she turned back and asked "Want me to slow down, Ryan?" I shook my head 'no' and she grinned and turned back. Mustering up every bit of energy I had, I pushed myself to a full sprint. I easily caught up to her and reached out with my hand to smack her ass as I passed.
She shrieked and jumped a little as I passed, but quickly regained her bearings and quickened her pace. I ran at top speed for as long as I could, but the burning in my legs and the shortness of my breath didn't allow that to last long. She soon overtook me and returned the favor of smacking my ass as she did.
I noticed her gait was effortless, wherein mine was top speed. Her breathing was even and easy, unlike my own ragged labored breath. My little game of catching her, had finished the job of completely winding me.
I slowed to a stop and coughed out her name. She turned to see me, hands on my knees trying to catch my breath and jogged back beside me.
"You okay, baby?" she asked.
Panting, I responded, "Yes, just a bit winded. Need to take it easy for a minute."
"We can walk for a little bit baby," she said and took my hand. Holding my hand in hers she gently tugged me along as she started walking. I stood up and followed behind her. My breathing eventually slowed and once again I began to notice our surroundings. The bright green trees and grass. The intoxicating smell of the fading morning dew. The sounds of the birds and crickets chirping.
