This little story started last September. My name is Tanika; I'm a twenty-two-year-old engineering student at a very well established university in Oregon. I happen to be African-American and love to run. I was on the track team in high school, running cross country. When I moved up to college, I ran on my own, never competing in races or up to my abilities.
A friend suggested one of the local running stores which train for the various distances up to a half marathon. That's where I met Jay, one of the pace mentors, along with his daughter, Sabrina.
Jay is a great guy, fifty years old, I think, and married. He's in great shape and has completed about ninety half marathons in the ten years he's been running. I was impressed. I usually run faster than the ten-minute mile Jay paces at, but I hadn't seriously run an endurance race for a couple of years, so I decided to take it slow to build up my endurance. We'd meet on Saturdays at one of the local running stores then log a certain number of miles gradually increasing until we arrived at the mileage for the targeted race.
Sabrina is a leggy blonde who is pretty close to the same height as me about five foot ten. She plays volleyball on a full-ride scholarship at a university about ninety miles from where we live. She's majoring in sports medicine. Which I hear is just as demanding as my mechanical engineering degree.
Sabrina would come home on three day weekends or if nothing was going on at school to visit her parents. She is gorgeous, funny, smart, and I love running with her. Our running group started with about eight people back at the beginning of September. By October, it had thinned to Jay, myself, Sabrina on occasion, and another couple. The other couple always lagged behind Jay, and I just out of earshot. That was nice because Jay and I would discuss a wide variety of topics while we ran. As we got to know each other, our themes became more personal. We didn't talk about anything intimate, more about our feelings regarding particular subjects and situations we were involved in during the week.
Some of our conversations were so long we started going out for coffee when we finished running. After a couple of times, that became part of our routine. It was nice when Sabrina joined us, adding her thoughts and perspectives on whatever our topic happened to be.
Some times it was two to one in our discussions, and the pairing varied from time to time. I enjoyed our conversations. I considered Jay to be safe, and he was married, never flirted with me although I think he'd like to. I enjoyed being his friend.
It was one of those long talk days when Sabrina wasn't visiting that Jay looked a little down. I asked what was wrong. He avoided answering me, changing the subject to an upcoming race he was going to run with Sabrina. I went along with the subject change listening to the details of the half marathon they were going to run. It sounded like fun, and I felt I was ready for a half asking if he and Sabrina didn't mind, I'd like to go with them if I could register in time.
He said he'd already reserved two rooms, and he'd have to ask Sabrina before committing to a yes. I smiled, thanking him. I'd let him know via social media if there were vacancies. Jay said he'd talk to Sabrina since he knew we got along, he didn't think she'd mind.
We ran in silence for a few more miles. When we were out of earshot from our fellow runners, I started complaining about my last few dates. It was then Jay broke down. He was telling me what had happened to cause him such grief. His wife of twenty-one years, Joanne, had completely lost interest in intimacy. She seemed more like a roommate than his partner. He didn't understand why Joanne wanted to spend her time at some smokey casino, wasting her money. She'd been that way for some time, but recently she'd grown even more distant.
Both of us seemed to be in a funk with our love lives. I hatched a plan to take his mind off his problems, not to mention mine as well. I just didn't know how it might go over. I was willing to try despite possibly losing Jay and Sabrina as friends.
I messaged Jay as soon as I found out there were plenty of spots in the half marathon he'd mentioned. If Sabrina were okay with me tagging along, I'd love to go. It didn't take long for a return message letting me know that Sabrina didn't mind me hanging out with them. I told him I'd pay for half the room. He declined my offer, saying he would pay for it since Sabrina was going to use it anyway. He is such a sweetheart.
I emailed Sabrina thanking her for letting me tag along. She replied that it was a pleasure to have me along; it would be fun hanging out together.
The race wasn't for another three weeks. During that time, Jay opened up more about his marital situation. I felt sorry for him. He was such a nice guy. I hated seeing what she was doing to him and Sabrina. I knew he would never initiate anything with me because he was a gentleman. I was willing to try because I was in need just like he was. So, the week before we were to go on our trip, I put my little plan into action.
It was warmer than usual for November, and I was wearing my push up crop top, which exposed my flat tummy. I had matching short shorts topped off by matching Nikes. I thought I looked pretty good. My suspicions were confirmed when Jay's eyes widened when he first saw me walk into the running store.
We did our mileage talking, whining, and generally enjoying our time together. Afterward, we headed out for coffee as usual to continue our conversations. We were sitting sipping our drinks when I asked Jay if he knew how to fix a leaking faucet.
He laughed, telling me he probably could depending on the problem. He also asked why the landlord hadn't done anything. I'd put my request in for a repair. They were lagging by at least a month for non-emergencies. I said it'd been a couple of weeks, and the noise of the constant dripping was driving me crazy.
He said he didn't have anything better to do, asking if he could just follow me home in his car. I smiled, placing my hand on his thanking him. I could feel a slight shiver as my hand rested on his a bit longer than I should have.
We finished our drinks, then walked to our cars. I waited for Jay to pull down the street where I'd parked then led him to my house. I pulled into the driveway while he parked on the street. I stood waiting for him stretching a bit as he walked up. I could see him eyeing me as I reached over my head to stretch my arms. He looked away quickly, faking checking out the neighborhood, which made me grin.
We walked up the few steps to my front door, and I kept thanking Jay for coming to my rescue. I made sure I moved my ass enough to catch Jay's eye. I knew he'd checked it out since he was less than a couple of feet away. I asked him to excuse my mess even though I'm a neat freak. I opened the front door; he walked past me, looking around, commenting on how nice the place looked. I blushed as I brushed past him, taking him to the kitchen. I pointed to the bane of my existence, the dripping faucet.
He took a look, ran both sides to test them. Leaving the cold side on, Jay knelt to open the cabinet under the sink. Handing me some of the clutter, his face practically in my crotch. Then he laid down to shut the water off.
I laughed when the water stopped, telling Jay that's not how to fix it, I could have done that.
He grinned, looking up at me. My long toned legs were towering over him. I think he was a little surprised to see me that close to him and at that angle. I would have loved to lower myself over his face right then and there. I detected a blush as he quickly looked away, asking if I had a toolbox with an adjustable wrench and a Phillips screwdriver.
I told him my dad gave me one, but I've never opened it and went to fetch it for him. I set it on the countertop then backed away. He opened the box taking the tools out, showing each of them to me along with a Crescent wrench and a few other things. I feigned ignorance since I knew what they were from helping my dad.
I asked if I could shower while he worked. He looked back at me almost as if I were an idiot and told me he only shut the water down on the sink and that it was okay if I wanted to shower. I thanked him, mentioning I felt icky. That made him laugh as he turned back around to continue working.
My plan was going great so far. Next was the critical step, which had to timed just right. I headed to my room, slipped out of my clothes then stepped across the hall to the bathroom. I yelled at him, asking if it was going alright. He answered it was so I slipped into the shower real quick and rinsed myself off. I had a second screwdriver in there, so I loosened the set screw on the hot water side of the shower. Letting it steam up a bit, I got out wrapping a towel around me, hiding the tool in a drawer.
