Page 2 of Free to Run
His lips part in surprise, but he doesn’t argue. “Alison…” But I don’t let him finish. His chance was lost the minute I walked back into the room.
“Don’t let the door hit you on the way out. Thanks for a hell of a night,” I smirk.
Keene searches my face before muttering under his breath, “Fuck,” and skulks barefoot to the main door.
After I let my emotions out in the shower, I belatedly wonder about the woman’s name tattooed on his thigh.
And then I throw up.
1
Alison
Present Day
The edge of pain. I push through it. I know how far I can go before I’m in danger.
With my playlist driving me, I’m determined to conquer the last part of the mountain trail in front of me. My stride is sure over the uneven terrain in the early Connecticut summer warmth. Reaching for my running belt, I snag my GU Energy Gel and take a quick slurp, knowing I need the extra push of energy to make it to the summit.
As I climb higher and higher, the early-morning heat of the summer sun burns my skin. Beads of sweat fall faster between my breasts and are captured in my running top. My blue running shorts brush against my skin, reminding me with barely a wisp of movement that they’re there. Thin tree branches occasionally lash out at my bared stomach, but I ignore them as I thunder past.
I lean my body forward a little as the incline increases. I’m almost to the top. The trees are starting to thin out, so I know I’m close.
Jumping from side to side in a half run, half lunge, I maneuver the final yards to the top of the stone steps that level out at the end of the trail to the sweeping view of the Berkshire Mountains, overlooking my hometown of Collyer, Connecticut. I hold my arms over my head in victory, while taking in deep breaths as OneRepublic pours into my ears.
Another personal battle conquered.
I’ve been working my way up the difficulty of this trail for a long time. Sure, I’d hiked it almost as soon as I’d heard about it at Tabor’s Sporting Goods, but it’s not the same as running it. Not to me.
Once my breathing is back in its normal range, I unsnap my running belt and sit on a smooth, rocky ledge to enjoy the view.
I can’t say much about the natural wonder around me, other than recognizing poison sumac enough to avoid it, but I see beauty in the hummingbirds darting around in the early Saturday-morning light. Hoping to get a decent picture my sister Holly, a photographer, will appreciate, I pull up my phone app and quickly snap a few. After a few photos, I attach them to a message in our family chat, saying, “Finally conquered this bitch running. I am so getting extra mocha today.” Knowing this will only piss off my brother, Phillip, who constantly bemoans the need for exercise but loves extra-rich lattes, I hit Send with a smile.
It’s difficult to explain how I lose myself while running. I’m in my head, but I’m out of my own thoughts. I’m hyperaware of my surroundings, and often I can forget my day-to-day frustrations.
Today, my thoughts have been wandering to things I so rarely think of while I’m out running.
Sex.
Great sex.
Phenomenal sex.
And my thoughts, of course, jump to sex with Keene Marshall.
He’s my newest brother. At least according to my adopted sister Cassidy. Phillip, Emily, Cassidy, Corinna, Holly and I aren’t what you would call a conventional family. We adopted one another as we found each other, gradually becoming a cohesive unit. You’d never know it started as a result of the kind of abuse people only read about in the newspapers. Well, we lived it.
Cassidy never knew her blood brother Keene existed until she fell in love with her now husband, Caleb Lockwood. Through her courtship, Cassidy met Caleb’s best friend, Keene. I roll my eyes at the memory. Did they recognize each other? No. Have an immediate kinship? Hell no. It was more like a Roman fight to the death, with Cassidy delivering the final blow when she realized Keene was the man I hooked up with the night of our brother Phil’s wedding.
It took a while for them to tolerate each other, and then Keene began to realize little things about Cassidy that should have been obvious to someone searching for their long-lost sister for the last seventeen years. My childhood crush, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, would have had apoplexy at how long the two of them took to figure out they were related. The clues were right there.
Now we’re all adjusting to our new normal. Our family has grown so much from the six of us who had originally moved here.
We all get on our knees every day and thank God that Phil married our brother-in-law Jason. Divine intervention was definitely involved, with Phil literally falling into Jason’s life. Cassidy’s recent intimate wedding ceremony to Caleb a few months ago didn’t leave a dry eye. Not even mine. Quickly, I do a sanity check. Jesus, I wonder if my other sisters are dating?
Letting out a breath, I realize I’m safe from the family expanding, other than Cassidy’s upcoming baby. The men Em, Holly, and Corinna typically date aren’t the kind you’d bring around the family dinner table. And no one should expect me to bring anyone permanent into our circle.
I’m at a loss on how to handle the situation with Keene. I shake my head, thinking about how much has changed in such a short period of time. Keene is a member of our family now, meaning I have to stop thinking about the incredible sex we had at the Plaza Hotel in New York the night of Phil and Jason’s wedding. And at my house the night of Cassidy and Caleb’s wedding.
