Chapter 9 Challenge

Foster

There she is. She came. Excellent. Waiting for me next to her Jetta like a good girl. She's wearing black spandex workout pants and a halter tank top. Her hair is pulled back in a ponytail with a curl hanging down over her shoulder. The slung-low baseball cap and oversized shades are meant to hide her face. She has to go incognito when she hangs out with guys like me.

She's biting her nails as I pull into the lot and park. When I get out and walk around to her, she takes off her glasses and her eyes widen at first then she offers me a gleaming white smile. "Hi."

"Glad you showed up."

She looks down and blushes. Cute.

Dropping the lift on the back of Henry's truck, I climb up and start working on releasing the bikes. She quietly walks over and peers inside. As I'm lowering her bike to the ground, she says, "You bought that new?"

Shit. How did she know ?

Oh, she's looking at a sticker on the bar I forgot to remove. Darn. Well, at least it wasn't the price. I got her a high-end bike thinking she's used to nice things.

I'm not gonna lie to her. "You need a good bike to train for a triathlon."

"I'm probably not going to…"

"You are. Today is your first day of training. I'll take it easy on you."

"No. Don't please."

"You sure?" She has no idea what my version of hard is.

She nods as I adjust the seat for her height, but before she climbs on she stops and holds up one finger. "We should stretch."

"After. Let's go." I drop my older bike down to the pavement and grab two helmets for us.

She squats with one knee bent and her hands pointing up over her head in a yoga warrior pose. "It's important. Prevents injury."

While she looks gorgeous doing that, it's not necessary. "That kind of stretching isn't right before a ride. We should do some dynamic stretching."

"What's that? "

She sure has a long way to go if she wants to be a sports therapist. How can I show her?

"You wanna see?"

"Yes. Show me."

I'm going to show off, but she asked for it. I bust out my break dance moves from back in the day. I start with a little top rock to imaginary music in my head and pop down to show her some footwork. Kickout, shuffle, ended with a hollowback freeze, grabbing my shoe over my head. I can't spin on the pavement. Have to show her that some other time.

By the time I'm done, the worry on her face has been replaced with an entertained smile. Good. I like to see her happy.

"Now you try it," I say.

She laughs. "I totally cannot do any of that."

"All right. Then do your yoga stretches. We'll work on your breaker moves some other time."

She's giggling the entire time she stretches, probably imagining herself trying to do the moves I just showed her. I'm smiling watching her bend and twist her beautiful body. She reaches for her ankles, and I could watch her do yoga all day .

"Let's get on with it then if we're gonna run too." I motion to the handlebars of her bike. She struggles with the helmet and has to push her ponytail down to get it on before she mounts the bike. Squashing Milana Bianchi's ponytail has to be against the society girl rules in the Hamptons. They always look so put together. Never seen a rich girl out here with her hair messed up.

"You good?" I ask her as she fastens her helmet under her chin.

"Yep. I love it."

Good. She's taking it like a trooper so far.

I get on my bike behind her and my eyes are drawn to her ass. Shit. Today is gonna be a challenge watching her booty on that seat and not touching her. Promised myself I'd wait till her bruises are gone. They may fade but my fury at who put them there never will.

"You want to start fast or slow?" I ask her.

She squints into the sun. "Let's start with fast."

"My fast is pretty fast."

"Good. Go ahead. I like a challenge."

We take off and I lead the way onto the bike path. "How's it feel on a real bike instead of a stationary one?" I say to her over my shoulder.

She rides up next to me. "I love it! Totally different. "

"Exactly."

I take off and work up to a faster speed. She's keeping up with me without breaking a sweat. This girl was meant for me if she likes a good hard workout.

She said she wanted a challenge, so I kick it up a notch and take off ahead of her. I hear her weak "hey" fading behind me. I make it to the top of an incline ahead of her and stop and wait. She's huffing up the hill and sweating now. It's fun to see the Bianchi princess all sweaty and working hard on a real bike.

"You still good?" I ask her.

"Wait." She holds up a hand and takes some deep heavy breaths.

"We can slow down."

She shakes her head and takes a sip of water from the water bottle attached to her bike. "No. No. I can do it. Don't go easy on me."

Awesome. I'm going to push her.

"Next time I'm gonna bring a backpack of bricks and make you wear it to slow you down."

That makes me chuckle. I like that she's thinking about doing this again. "You first." I motion for her to head down the incline .

She takes the lead and I get to watch her butt in the air, the wind in her hair. This is the best first date ever.

Of course I'm not gonna let her win, so I catch up and pass her again.

I hear another offended "hey" as I zoom past her.

Now I'm laughing because cycling with Mila is much more fun than I thought it would be.

***

After an hour of cycling, we make it back to our cars. Excellent workout. She's tough. As I'm putting the bikes back on the truck, I say, "Now we run."

She sighs and slumps her shoulders. "Really?"

"Unless you can't handle it? We can run another time."

She pulls her shoulders back and wipes the sweat from her chest. "No. I can do it. Let's run. I'm a good runner."

"Now you can do your yoga stretches."

"Okay." She busts into warrior pose again and looks up at me. "Do it with me."

Fine. I lunge down into warrior pose next to her. Her eyes follow my arm as I raise it up. She's checking me out just like I'm checking her out .

Yeah, not touching her at the end of this is going to be a huge challenge. I have to get so stinky and sweaty she won't want to touch me.

To show off again, I drop to plank and slowly lift my feet in the air, resting all my weight on my palms.

"Oh my God! How do you do that?" She laughs and stands up straight.

I drop my feet and bust out some double-clap push ups as she watches. I stand up and wipe the parking lot gravel from my hands. "Easy."

"I want to learn to do that," she says.

"Lots of practice, but you can do it."

She nods and bites her lower lip. She's setting it as a goal, I can see it in her eyes. My girl likes a challenge.

"Ready?"

"Yeah."

"We'll do about two miles out in the sand and two back. Can you handle that?" It's a short run for me but probably a challenge for her.

She glances out to the shore and the tiny waves rolling in. "Can we swim instead?"

I shake my head. "Nope. Not swimming. Told you you're on your own. "

She laughs and stares at me like she can convince me with her devious eyes. Not gonna work. Truth is I could swim in the ocean, I just don't want to stress myself out. Always have trouble breathing and get close to panicking. If I could control the panic, I could swim. With her around, as amped up on adrenaline as I am around her, I'd choke and go under for sure.

"Next time?" she asks me, not giving up.

"No," I answer firmly like I did last night. Not swimming with Mila. No way. If I'm going to overcome my fear, it's going to be somewhere far away from her where she can't see me struggling and looking stupid. Never again.

"Let's go." I jog out of the lot onto the sand.

She hesitates a second then runs out behind me. We run side-by-side at a pretty good pace for the two miles out. The warm wind and salty air blowing on our skin, the sun shining on her face. Best day of my life, running with Mila on Callihan's beach.

We rest at the end and catch our breath. She bends over with her hands on her knees.

"Need to slow down?" I ask her.

"No." She's panting now and her skin is red and dripping sweat. "No. I can do it." Sexy as hell.

Once again, my Mila is a fighter. She won't give up. Awesome. Not what I expected from her at all. I guess I expected her to be prissy and worried about her nails and shit. I was wrong. Happily wrong. Mila is a warrior. I could see us working out every day like this together. Pushing each other.

"You're gonna be sore tomorrow," I warn her.

"Don't care. Not giving up." She stands and wipes the hair from her eyes and I want to kiss her. Nope. Not kissing her. Holding back. Holding back. Can't remember why right now, but I know I'm holding back.

"Let's head back." I take off running back to the cars.

About two hundred yards into our run, a dog slides up next to us and starts running with us. His fur is wet and scruffy. He looks like a mutt. His leash drags behind him towing sand.

We slow down and he jumps at her legs, barking for us to keep running. "Oh my God, you are so cute." She stops and scrubs his wet, sandy hair. "What are you doing out here alone?" She checks his collar but there's no tag.

"Is he a stray?" I ask her.

"I don't know. What do we do?"

There's a few people on the beach we could ask. "Follow me."

We walk the dog over to a family on the beach. They say he's not theirs.

"I guess he's ours for now." I take off running with him again, this time holding his leash .

"Ours?" She follows behind us and catches up.

"He wants to run with us. Let's run." An energetic dog has decided to join us on our run. I'm okay with that so I go with it.

Back at the parking lot, we catch our breath and drink some water. The dog drinks right out of my hand. "Good boy."

That's all I had planned for today, but I'm not ready to say goodbye to Mila yet.

"Want some ice cream?"

Her eyes light up as she's wiping the sweat from her neck. "Sure. Probably not healthy after a workout, but who cares?"

"Exactly. No rules."

"Let's go to Gina's Gelato down the block." She points down the road toward a small shopping center.

"Gelato? What's that?"

"It's like Italian ice cream."

"What? You only eat Italian ice cream?"

Her brow scrunches. It came out a lot more accusatory than I intended, and I might have been projecting some of my fears onto ice cream.

She sounds a little offended when she answers, "No. I'll eat any ice cream, but there happens to be a gelato shop right there and it tastes mostly the same, a little better if you ask me. Creamier. But if you won't eat Italian ice cream, we can take the bikes out and find a real ice cream shop."

Oh yeah. She did not like my jab about Italian ice cream. "Any ice cream is fine. Let's go." She puts on her shades again and pulls the ball cap down over her eyes.

We walk with the dog over to the shop. It's a cute place. Not as pretentious as the rest of the Hamptons. People are lounging around on the lawn and there's lots of dogs outside. The dog we picked up trots happily beside me like he's part of our team. We tie him to a small table outside.

Inside, she orders a red velvet waffle cone with double dark chocolate ice cream. She smiles at me when I order the same thing. "You copying me?"

"No, I happen to love red velvet and double dark chocolate too. That's exactly what I would've ordered."

"Hmm." She blinks and smiles as she takes her cone from the guy who runs the shop. "Thank you."

We sit down with our new dog at the table and eat our ice cream. "You're right. Gelato is better than ice cream," I admit.

"See? I told you." She's grinning again. Proud of herself. I'm glad I made her smile so much today. She looks down at our new furry companion. "What do we do with him?"

"Take him to the shelter?"

"No. They have so many dogs. We can't do that to him. "

"You take him." I purposefully drop a dollop of my ice cream into the grass and he licks it up happily.

She frowns as she watches him lick. "I've always wanted a dog. I would love to take him. My dad would never allow it."

Ahh. Her dad. She brought it up so this is my chance to pry a little. "You're an adult. You can have a dog if you want."

She shakes her head no. "Trust me. No dogs." She looks down at him longingly.

"I'll adopt him then." I didn't really think it through, but if she wants a dog and I have one, we can hang out together and he can run on the beach with us. This date keeps getting better and better.

"You'd do that?"

"Yep. I was a stray myself once."

She tilts her head and stares into my eyes. "That's very kind of you."

"It's nothing." Now Henry might freak out when I come home with a dog, but I don't mind adopting him. I like him.

"What will you name him?" she asks me.

Hmm. I hadn't thought of it. He's mostly white and really scruffy. We're at an ice cream shop. "Blizzard," I say.

"Blizzard? "

"Sure."

She pets his head. "Hi, Blizzard."

A piercing yowl of a child interrupts us. The dog looks and jumps so hard, he yanks the table over. We have to hold our cones up to keep them from getting whacked by the table.

A little girl in a flowery dress runs over and embraces the dog as he licks her face like crazy. Looks like he found his owner. A pang of disappointment rumbles in my chest. I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up.

"This your dog?" I untie him and hand the girl's mother the leash as she walks up.

"Yes. Thank you so much. Where did you find him?"

"He went for a run on the beach," Mila says with a smile.

The owner laughs. "He does that! He's so naughty. Well, thank you so much for bringing him back."

"No problem," I say. I'm happy the dog found his owner and for a brief second, I held a fragile possibility of a future with Mila that included us enjoying the love of a dog together.

"C'mon, Humphrey." The little girl walks away holding the dog's leash, and the mom hugs her shoulders.

Mila's lips sputter, fighting full-on laughter. "Humphrey?"

I shake my head. "Poor dog. Coulda been a Blizzard. Now he's just a Humphrey. "

"I'm glad he found his people." Her gaze drops down and her smile becomes stiff. She feels the same disappointment I feel for the lost chance at a future.

"Me too."

***

Back at the truck, the sun's setting over Callihan's Beach. I like being around her. I like watching her eyes take everything in and waiting for her reactions. I've managed to keep my hands off her today, but I'm aching to feel her skin and kiss her again.

"Let's get dinner tonight."

She pauses and grimaces as she fishes in her pocket for her car keys. "I, uh… I have to get back to the house."

"Tell him you're having dinner with a friend." I step closer to her until her back leans against the side of her Jetta.

She bites her lip and removes her shades to look me in the eye. "I shouldn't push it. We're on a family vacation. We're supposed to spend quality time together." She rolls her eyes.

I wonder what quality time looks like at the Bianchi vacation home. I doubt they're playing board games around a coffee table. Ugh. The thought of coffee table reminds me of her stupid bruises, and I want to punch a hole right through her car window. Forget staying away, she needs me in her space right now .

She gasps as I push in closer, lining us up, and pressing my weight on her. She feels hot and smells sweet mixed with sweat. Even her perspiration is pretty. I worked up a good stink, but she's not pushing me away. "Come back for a workout here tomorrow."

Her chest rises and falls with her sigh. "I'll be too sore to do this again."

She's making excuses. "Rest a day. Come back the day after tomorrow. I'll let you set the pace." I tuck a flyaway hair back behind her ear, but the wind whips it out again.

Her gaze darts left and right, checking to see if anyone is watching. There's a few people in the parking lot, but no one is looking at us. "Mmm. Okay. Yes. Day after tomorrow. Same time?"

"Yes." I bend down and plant my mouth near her ear. "Enjoyed being with you today, Mila."

She giggles and tilts her head into my lips. "Me too."

My palms skim over the curves of her hips and she shudders as I press my lips to her cheek.

She grips my shoulders and melts into me. We fit good together. I said I wouldn't do it. But I'm gonna do it because I can't waste a minute with this girl. I press my lips to hers and she whimpers. She tastes like ice cream. No. She tastes like gelato. Finer than ice cream. Her soft lips move against mine and draw me in. She's like heaven .

Her fingertips skim down my back and stop at the top of my ass. I want her hands on me everywhere and I want this spandex off her skin. I tug at the fabric of her top, and she opens her mouth to invite my tongue in. Kissing Mila in the salty air of the beach has to be one of the best things I've ever had in my life.

My fingers find the top of her pants and skim under the waistband. We can't do it here and damn I forgot about her legs. The bruises. I can't take this any farther. Slowly, I close my mouth and draw away from her. She keeps her eyes closed and her chin tilted up. It's hard as hell to do, but I step back and break the connection between our skin.

"See you day after tomorrow."

She stands motionless for a second with her arms out as I walk away. I left her wanting more. I left me wanting more. I walk back to my truck and she gets in her Jetta. I have to force my dick to calm down. We start our vehicles and drive away to our separate worlds. I'm heading to an old part of the Bronx, and she's headed to her summer estate in the Hamptons.

For a brief time today, our worlds mixed. I'm not sure how far we can push the limits with her family. She's only here for a week, and then she'll go back to her Manhattan penthouse. At least for today, I had her.