It had been three years since he last saw her--since he last kissed her, touched her, heard her giggle, or stared into those milk-dud eyes. Three years since he felt her fingers glide along his forearm, since he ran his hands through her hair, since her warm embrace engulfed him. Three years since he last saw her naked, since he last felt the hot tub cheerio between her legs.
Things didn't end well back then. He wasn't hers, and she wasn't his. They belonged to others, yet the temptation had been unwavering. What started as a friendly check-in turned into something unruly, passionate. It wasn't the first time.
During college, she had unexpectedly entered his life--a night forever seared into his memory. He was tasked with getting her home safely, a girl he had never met before. That night awoke something primal in him. He felt like a man, a protector, useful. From then on, they were friendly. Yet she had sensed it too. Before long, it was just them--alone, in places they weren't supposed to be.
She wasn't his "type." He preferred women taller, with a bit more meat on their bones. But there was something about her. The way her long black hair fell around her face, the little waddle in her walk, as though her hips couldn't keep her booty from swaying. And those eyes--how they looked through him, straight into his soul.
---
That night in her dorm still haunted him. The tension had built for weeks, unbearable, until it finally snapped. It started with her lips wrapped around him, moving slow and deliberate as if savoring every inch. He never expected it to go that far. No condom. Just raw, desperate hunger. She rode him, pink nipples glowing under the dim light, her body bouncing rhythmically, waves crashing over him. Then doggy style--that's when he knew he was in trouble. Her walls gripped him, pulling him deeper with every stroke. The sound of her moans, the smell of her skin--it was too much. She was wild and relentless, and he was fighting just to hang on.
And then, in a moment forever etched in his memory, he saw her--hair disheveled, face glowing, sprawled out beneath him. Beautiful.
---
Now, three years later, he was in New England--her hometown--for a 50k race. His partner, Jill, was there to support him, as always. She kissed him at the starting line.
"See you at the end, babe," he said.
"Love you! You're going to crush it. Text me if you need anything," she replied.
"Love you too."
But Jill didn't know the real reason he chose this race. He couldn't be this close to her hometown and not try to see her. The plan was simple: a quick pit stop during the course. Jill and he had been together for six years now, and he loved her dearly. She was his rock. Their relationship had been rocky in the beginning--on and off for the first two years. But by year three, things had stabilized. He figured she was the one he'd marry, the one he'd raise a family with. But he didn't feel for Jill the way he felt for Ella.
With Ella, everything was more intense. The highs were impossibly high, and the lows were soul-crushing. Yet somehow, they always bounced back. She made him feel things he hadn't felt since his first love in high school--a dangerous kind of love. Her words, her affection, hit differently, no matter how similar they might have sounded to Jill's. Ella had a pull on him he couldn't explain and to top it off the meat on her bones she didn't have in college had showed up in this more mature version of her. Their connection had reignited three years ago--unintentionally, but that's a story for another time.
---
The trail descended into a clearing, and there she was.
