Part 1
Spring had finally reached the Midwest and Kate was itching to get outdoors. She had grown tired of the treadmill months ago. Now the indoor track bored her.
That seemed to be a "thing" with her, at least when it came to exercise. Kate would grow weary with one thing and move on to the next, sometimes cycling back around again. Regardless, she was glad it was finally warm enough to switch to the outdoor track.
The gym was busy for a Tuesday. She hated when it was busier than normal.
More reason to get some fresh air
, she thought. Kate grabbed her water bottle and headed toward the front door.
It had been over a week since Tyler had come to her house. They exchanged looks at the gym when they thought no one was looking. On Saturday, when there was hardly anyone there, he walked and talked with her on the indoor track. They had messaged each other some on Facebook throughout the week too. That night, once her kids had gone to bed and the house was quiet, she admitted to him via Messenger that she was disappointed they couldn't have another rendezvous that weekend.
Even Kate was surprised with herself for spilling that secret. It's not like they were boyfriend/girlfriend. What were they anyway? Fuck buddies? Friends with benefits? Regardless of the title, Tyler had agreed with her that he was too. And she'd been relieved to know their one-night stand had hopefully not been just that. As fun as it was, Kate would have felt used.
A message notification loudly interrupted her Black Keys song shortly after she started down the outdoor track.
"Where'd ya go? No goodbye? ;)" It was from Tyler. Kate smiled to herself.
It had become their ritual. The days the gym was busy and/or a bunch of Tyler's friends were around, he still made a habit of pretending to come stretch while she did whenever he knew Kate was about done. She thought it was cute he still tried to get a chance to interact with her at least a little bit on those days. She hated admitting it even to herself, but a teensy weensy part of her was still a little butt hurt that he couldn't/wouldn't hang out with her more there during the week. But she understood his reasoning.
It's better this way
, Kate reminded herself. Hell, she herself said it was better that the less people who saw them hanging out, the better. It was rare for her to not run into someone she knew or recognized her from working at the only doctor's office in town. She should keep a low profile. People LOVED gossip in small towns.
"I'm on the outside track," Tyler's phone pinged a few seconds later. Well, that explained it. His intrusive thoughts got the better of him when she didn't return from what he thought was a bathroom break after a few minutes.
Is she mad at me? Is she trying to avoid me?
Tyler scolded himself for such foolish thinking. He tried to keep things light in his message back to her, not wanting to sound clingy. He certainly felt that way at the moment and sighed, exasperated with himself.
"Clockwise or counter?"
"Guess you'll just have to find out. :)"
Tyler greatly enjoyed the playful side that had come out of Kate recently. It was a nice change to her grumpiness towards him at first, though he would never tell her that to her face. He immediately accepted the challenge, headed outside, and chose clockwise.
It took him a few minutes before he could tell whether he had chosen correctly or not. The trail meandered through the trees on the western edge of the property, making it so that you couldn't see anyone coming until they were almost upon you. Tyler broke out into a jog and finally saw her up ahead. She was almost to the edge of the trees. That was no good for what he wanted. He sprinted to catch up to her in time. Kate turned around a few seconds before he reached her. He barely caught the look of surprise on her face before he snatched her around the waist and kissed her passionately. After a second of shock, her body relaxed beneath his hands and she returned his kiss with just as much fervor. Kate's heart raced in her chest as he reluctantly pulled away, hands lingering on her waist. In that moment, she knew he still wanted her just as badly as she wanted him, pushing any doubts away.
"You found me," Kate smiled, eyes sparkling with mischief.
"Of course. I missed you," Tyler kissed her again.
"You act like you haven't seen me in a week," she teased, wanting badly to run her fingers through his wavy brown hair.
"I mean YOU you, not gym you."
Kate couldn't stop the heat rising in her cheeks.
"I know what you mean," she looked down at her feet a moment. Tyler lifted her chin, stared into her eyes a moment, and kissed her again, slower this time. Feeling his lips on hers again made her miss them even more somehow in hindsight.
"I hate to be a party pooper, but we should probably cool it," Kate whispered as his fingers intertwined with hers, their faces still dangerously close to one another.
"Why? You really think the gym is gonna splurge on security cameras out here?"
He had a point there. Still.
"What about other people, silly?" she laid a hand on his chest, looking up at him. She took solace in the fact that his heart was beating fast too.
"Fine," Tyler gave her a lop-sided smile. "One more to hold me over?" his lips were practically brushing against hers. Kate gave a small nod, unable to deny him of his request. She saw the fire, the lust, in his eyes as he pulled away.
"Why do I feel like you're having impure thoughts?" she smirked.
"Am I that obvious?"
Kate debated whether to tell him he wore his heart on his sleeve...Or did he? Maybe she was just able to read him well since they'd been spending more time with one another. She decided to just answer by holding her thumb and index finger close together in front of her face.
"Dare I ask what you're thinking about?" she lifted an eyebrow.
"Do you really want to know?" Tyler taunted back, lowering his voice. Her nether regions tightened every time he did that. She nodded and he leaned toward her.
"I was wondering about what you taste like," his voice was even deeper in her ear. Kate shivered both from his insinuation and his closeness.
