Page 23 of See You at the Finish Line

We’re blessed a few minutes later when we come upon a large round boulder providing glorious shade as if it were sent by the race gods themselves. We take the reprieve with utmost grace, flopping down.

Well, Adam is graceful—I trip and stay where I fall on the ground. Oh well, what’s a little more dirt? It feels good to rest, taking a moment to breathe. And to reapply sunscreen. I’m already burned so I’ve been making more of an effort to be diligent about it. My watch alerts me to my high heart rate. I blame both the desert and the man.

I smear the sunscreen across my arms and face, feeling the sting of it mixing with my sweaty pores.

“Is it all rubbed in?” I ask before thinking. Is he going to think I asked him so he would touch me? Is that why I asked him? Maybe.

He scans my face, tracing my features with his eyes before reaching out to brush his fingertips over my jaw. Liquid heat pools in my stomach and spreads lower. I’m so tingly.

“Just this one spot,” he says, his voice low as his fingers smooth over my skin. I’m grateful for my sunglasses so he can’t see how my eyes track his face, so I can stare at him without making him uncomfortable. Hopefully, he assumes I’m not watching every tickof his jaw. Which I definitely am. When his fingers linger right below my ear for a moment too short, I feel that touch everywhere. My body is alight with need, and I watch his Adam’s apple (ha!) move down and then back up as he swallows.

“How about me?” he asks. Damn it if I don’t want to touch him right now, but I foolishly tell the truth.

“You’re good,” I blurt out after I look around for any sign of sunscreen. I should have lied. Maybe he sees that on my face because he laughs.

“I am good,” he says.

I shove him away, laughing to hide the fact that I have to clench my thighs together. How long has it been since I’ve had sex? Too long. I’m pretty sure I’ve worn out the batteries in my vibrator.

This is an ultramarathon—not the place for drooling over a man.

Each minute after the sun reaches its peak, we breathe a little easier with the dropping temperature and pick up our pace. It really is beautiful here. The warm colours and sparse vegetation, the high cliffs. It all comes together to make this breathtaking landscape.

“How’s your water supply?” Adam asks me.

“I’m trying to conserve it.” Disproving my point, I suck down a huge gulp of water from my CamelBak. He laughs at me and begins another round of twenty (or a thousand) questions.

“What’s your favourite colour?”

“Blue,” I answer automatically.

“That makes sense.” He gestures to my shoes and my shorts.

“What’s yours?”

“Nope, we’re still on you.”

I stick my tongue out at him. Leah was right, I’m immature. He laughs, but his gaze lingers on my mouth. Am I evil for dragging my tongue slowly back into my mouth and biting my lip? Probably. I do it anyway, smirking when he stumbles.

Point for Paige.

“If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?”

“Did you search ‘questions to ask the person you’ve been stalking’?”

He barks out a laugh. “Hey now, it’s a good question, even if it’s a little cliche.”

“Fine, it is a good question. If I could go anywhere, I would go to Turkey. I’ve always wanted to go on a hot air balloon ride at sunrise.”

“That sounds amazing.”

My impulsive brain would love to invite him to come with me. But firstly, my mom would kill me because she wants to come with me, and secondly, I have to keep reminding myself that I’ve known this man for twenty-four hours.

We settle into an easy pace as we trade turns asking each other questions. I spent one of my turns asking him about how and why he came back to get me. When he tells me about his friend’s objections, I feel a little uneasy.

Now that the sun has almost completely set, I feel the energy sizzle between us. I’ve never felt this way before, but the race elements are starting to wear on me.

We’re close to the next aid station, and I can almost taste the fresh water in my mouth. We’ve been taking it fairly easy because of the heat, but now we’re ready to get some fuel.

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