Page 13 of Your Two Lips
As we all clicked our helmets on and did any last-minute checks to our bikes, folks rode in the lot, warming up their legs. One of the others, Tom, chatted up Emily as she checked her gear. I had been biking with the guy for a long time, and it was safe to say I didn’t like him, and that was before he flashed a predatory smile at Emily.
Emily rode closer as we lined up for the singletrack trail into the forest, and I motioned for her to go in front of me. That was a mistake. We usually stayed spread out, pacing ourselves and keeping distance between bikers. My rhythm was off because of a very distracting view. Half of the time, Emily was off her seat, leaning low over the handlebars and putting that very round, very fine ass up in the air. Biking with a hard-on was not optimal.
She wasn’t just athletic. She was strong. Her leg muscles flexed as she pushed the pedals over tree roots or balanced on easy turns and slopes. The trail was wet in spots with standing water that she pushed through like a badass.
She didn’t hold anybody back. I’d bet money those guys who gave her shit were not better than her. They didn’t want to ride with a hard-on, or their fragile egos couldn’t handle getting bested by her on the trail.
Emily knew the tricks. Keep pedaling no matter what and lean in the direction you want to go. She made it up the inclines, leaning forward in a low gear and down the slopes in high gear, lunging from the back of her seat.
She splashed without hesitation through the muddy water and kept pedaling so the muck didn’t grab her tires. It was the opposite of what we did in life when things looked scary up ahead. On the trail, rather than slowing and taking more care, you put your head down and pedaled faster. You trusted the bike to do the rest, and she did.
We reached a clearing and stopped with the others. I rode up behind, a little dazed, and Emily turned. With pink cheeks and sparkling eyes, her expression was pure joy. “That was great. Wasn’t that great?”
“You’re pretty good at this.” I smirked. She was exceptional. A natural. She inhaled a deep breath and closed her eyes. I had to look away from the erotic image before me.
“I’m ready for more when you are.” She beamed. “Which way are you going?”
All the way, baby, in all the ways. Wait. No. No ways. We were cycling buddies.
“Let’s go this way. Follow me,” Carrie said to Emily.
I grinned and nodded, clipping back into my pedals, and joining the line.
I was relieved to get back on the bike where I could at least try to think about something else. On the bike was where I found peace, but not with Emily’s fine ass up ahead. I hung back and Dan moved in front of me, helping to block the view as we headed up a side loop that would dump out right back here.
There were trails with long climbs and steep drops, while others meandered along the slope. The forest canopy was dense in this part, and it was calming to take in the untouched world around us. I heard her scream, laugh, and even squeal as we rode. She was completely uninhibited, fearless, and it only added to her halting beauty.
We made it back to the original clearing with the others, and Carrie and Angela pulled Emily off with them. I chose a trail with a climb and a thin-edged singletrack. The necessary focus would help clear my head of sexy images starring Emily.
My legs burned as the incline grew steeper. My concentration went automatically to smooth, steady pedaling while monitoring the edge of the drop-off to my right. I assessed the angles in the quick succession of curves, finding the cleanest line through to keep my pace consistent.
Mountain biking left no space for ruminating. The trail and the conditions required single-minded intention. Everything else faded to the back. It was my comfort zone.
After a couple of hours, we called it quits and headed to the parking lot. Emily and her bike were both covered in muck. “That’s a lot of mud for leather seats. Do you have towels to sit on?”
“Of course. If you aren’t getting dirty, you aren’t doing it right.” She stopped short and turned to me with a shocked expression then a shy smile.
I chuckled and leaned in to speak low in her ear. “That counters my nice rack flub from earlier. We’ll call it even on the embarrassing double entendres.”
She was wealthy and beautiful and really fucking likable. Damn it.
10
EMILY
I can’t believeI said anything about getting dirty to Finn. I needed more control over the connection between my thoughts and the words coming out of my mouth. I got my bike loaded onto the rack and bungeed down quickly.
Being around Finn had been easy, and not just because I liked watching him, steady and powerful on a bike. We didn’t ride together after the first couple of runs, but when we were both stopped for a water break in the clearing, we swapped biking stories while catching our breath. He hadn’t man-splained to me about mountain bike makers or thrown out a bunch of facts about derailleurs or gears or travel in my suspension. He had simply shared about the trails he’d been on and listened as I described my rides in Whistler.
I was seriously attracted to him, and I didn’t know the next move. Saying anything flirty and sexy was not yet in my skill set. I’d had too many conversations with doctors about painful sex in anatomically correct language. With my getting dirty remark, Finn was already bringing out an entirely new side of me.
I reached in the back seat and pulled out two old towels and a damp washcloth I had brought from home. I wiped off the exposed skin of my legs and arms then worked on my bike shorts. My shirt wasn’t bad in the front, and the towels on my seats would handle whatever was on my back. I called that job done.
“I’m glad you came today, Emily,” Carrie said. “We need more women on these rides. This group is a real sausage fest with too much testosterone.”
I laughed. Carrie was small and full of energy. Like a little sister or a wacky aunt, she spoke her mind unapologetically.
Tom and Alex were the last ones off the trail and stood leaning on their bikes nearby.
