Free Dare Me Forever by Paige Edward Page A

about
letting loose. She and Jamie have that in common. I’m glad that
they remind me to do it once in a while.
    We pulled into the park
grounds and found a spot for the car. When I got out, I smelled that
minty eucalyptus scent that I love. The sun felt warm on my skin.
    Cat had brought us each
a bottle of water, which I put on top of the car as I did a few
stretches. I was back at exercise with a vengeance and we were going
to rock this hike.
    There were only a few
cars in the parking lot, as we’d come early enough to beat the
usual weekday hikers. We headed off into the woods, and before I
could even begin to obsess about Ryan, I challenged her.
    “Cat, let’s race!”
I said, as I took off ahead of her down the path. I know it wasn’t
very sportsmanlike to use the element of surprise to my advance like
that, but what can I say? I liked winning.
    I could feel my heart
rate start to climb, as Cat laughed behind me, catching up. “What
are we, five years old?”
    We spurred each other
on. As one of us would slow down the other would speed up. Blood
pounded in my ears as the exhilaration of exercise and
competition—friendly though it was—kept me moving. I was
competitive enough, and so was Cat, so there was no way this race was
going to end soon. It was a pretty steep climb, and walking usually
took at least thirty minutes to reach the first plateau. We were
going so fast, we would make it in twenty at the most.
    I could feel the sweat
dripping down my face, and was glad I’d put my hair up in a
ponytail. I tucked my bangs behind my ear, and swore that next time
I’d bring some kind of 80’s bandana to keep the hair out of my
eyes.
    As we neared the top, I
saw another runner a few hundred feet in front of us. He looked
familiar, but I couldn’t quite make him out from this far away. It
wasn’t until Cat and I reached the top, both of us panting and
chugging our water that I saw who it was.

Chapter 14
    Ryan
    Hiking in the mountains
near Escondido, a town that was near the new home I was building, I
wondered what Amy was doing at that moment. She was hot. She was
definitely different from the woman I usually dated. I couldn’t get
her off my mind, I didn’t have time for this kind of distraction
right now. Maybe I just needed to fuck her and get it out of my
system.
    I wasn’t in the
market for a relationship. I was too busy at work. Something wasn’t
adding up about this new project. The budget was set, we’d hired
the contractors, but the funding from another project the Morgan’s
had finished prior to my taking over didn’t have the consistent
cash flow I’d been led to believe. I couldn’t put my finger on
it, but something wasn’t right.
    I continued up the
mountain, accelerating my pace, enjoying the feeling of sweat on my
body, until I reached the peak of the hill. Pumping my arms, I began
drills, up and down the peak, until I hit thirty reps. I needed to
run, otherwise, I’d think about work until I was blue in the face.
I was sweating hard when I finished my last rep. Panting, I rewarded
myself with a long look out over the ocean, and the city below.
    Besides the huge
project by the waterfront, I was thinking of buying out a lumber
company to have a good vertical business, keep everything under my
control. I’d have to check the budget first, of course, but long
term it could do the company good, make it the kind of business that
was impenetrable.
    Maybe I’d ask Amy out
again, besides the fundraiser, take her to dinner and bring her back
to my place to see how hard I could make her come. I shook my
head—even my obsession with business couldn’t get my mind off
her.
    I thought I heard my
name, and I turned around at the sound. I’d taken my shirt off and
was wiping my dripping face. It was Amy with another woman, both of
them guzzling water, their cheeks rosy from a run. I couldn’t help
the huge smile that I felt on my face as my eyes traveled over her
body. Her jogging shirt was