"You need to slow down. Going that speed, you could've killed that poor squirrel." He smiles.
"Are you kidding? That squirrel almost killed ME! Running out in front of me like that?"
"You okay?" His face is serious now, as he smooths some loose strands of hair behind my ear. "You didn't get hurt, did you?"
"No, I'm okay."
"You're supposed to say you're hurt." He tugs me closer. "So I can kiss you and make it better."
"Oh. Then yeah. I'm hurt. Really bad."
His mouth lowers over mine and he gives me a kiss, then says, "You feel any better yet?"
I keep my eyes closed and shake my head.
I hear him laugh a little, then feel his lips again. I love his lips. So soft. And he knows exactly what to do with him. I wonder how many girls he's kissed. Actually, I don't want to know. I only want to think about him being with me.
He pulls away as a group of cyclists goes past us. There must be at least twenty of them. We move off the trail to give them room.
Once they're gone, he helps me back on the trail. "You ready?"
"Yeah. Let's go."
"Hey." He gets in front of me. "I really love that you're doing this with me. A lot of girls wouldn't, especially on a Friday night. They'd rather go to a movie or concert or out for dinner."
"It's too early for that stuff."
"I know. I'm just saying, it's hard to find a girl who will do this stuff and actually likes it."
I smile. "Well, you found her. I love stuff like this. Maybe we can do this again tomorrow."
"Actually I was wondering if you want to go biking tomorrow. Jen keeps her bike at my house. She wouldn't care if you used it."
"I already have a bike. I keep it locked up on the bike rack behind my apartment."
"So you want to go? Maybe in the morning? We could go to breakfast first. Or I'll bring you over one of my protein shakes. I am your trainer, after all."
"What kind do you make?"
"All kinds. When you drink them as often as I do, you have to come up with new recipes. You like chocolate banana? That's one of my favorites. Orange-strawberry is also good."
"I'll take the chocolate banana."
"So you'll go biking with me?"
"Yeah, but I'm not going slow for you." I go around him and take off. "You have to keep up."
He catches up with me and we continue along the path. I'm surprised how great I feel. My leg isn't bothering me at all.
That is until we're on our way back. We're almost there. I can see the start of the trail when all of a sudden, I feel a spasm in my leg. This happened all the time last year when I was recovering, and still happens now if I overwork the muscles.
"Shit," I mutter under my breath as I feel it again. My leg cramps up to the point that I can't remain standing and I drop to the ground.
"Kira." Austin stops and leans down to me. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing." I force out a smile as I massage my leg. "It's just a leg cramp."
"What can I do?" He sounds desperate to help, a worried look on his face.