More to Us Page 13

  I wrap my arms around his neck and slide in closer, pressing against his crotch.

  "Shit," he mutters.

  "What?" I ask innocently

  He smiles. "You know what."

  "I just wanted to get closer." I kiss him as he slips his hand under my shirt.

  "You're not wearing a bra," he says over my lips.

  "Because I was planning to go to bed. Then you called and I didn't have time to put one on." I laugh as I say it.

  "You're trouble, you know that?" He glances at my apartment, then back at me. "You sure we can't go up to your room? I promise to be quiet."

  "Not tonight."

  He turns my head and whispers in my ear, "But there are so many things I want to do to you that I can't do in this truck."

  My breath hitches as his tongue circles over my earlobe.

  "It'll have to wait for another night." I manage to get the words out but just barely. I'm completely breathless, my heart pounding, wanting him to touch me.

  And then my stupid phone goes off. I check it quick. It's Amber. She must need something or she wouldn't be calling.

  Austin sits back. "Do you need to get that?"

  I sigh. "Yeah, but I'll be quick." I answer the phone. "Hey, are you okay?"

  "My head's not getting any better. Could you take my car and run down to the store?"

  "Um, just a minute." I turn away from the phone and say to Austin, "Do you mind if we go to the store?"

  "No, not at all."

  I talk to Amber, "Okay, we'll go get you something. You want those migraine pills?"

  "Yeah. Where are you right now?"

  "In the parking lot with Austin."

  "Oh. Sorry to interrupt. Why didn't you bring him upstairs?"

  "I didn't want to wake you up." I get off Austin's lap and climb over to the passenger side. "We'll leave right now, okay?"

  "Yeah. Thanks."

  "Sorry," I say to Austin as he starts up the truck. "She doesn't usually get migraines so we don't have anything she can take."

  He leans over and kisses me. "Don't worry about it. Like you said, we have plenty of other nights to do stuff. Right now, you need to help your friend."

  He is such a great guy. Most other guys would be mad we got interrupted, but Austin isn't upset at all.

  We get the medicine at the drugstore on the corner and are back at my apartment a few minutes later.

  "I'm gonna head home," Austin says as he walks me to the door. "Let you take care of her."

  "You sure?"

  "Yeah. But I'll see you at the gym tomorrow? Around six?"

  "Probably six-fifteen. That's when the bus drops me off."

  "Why don't I just pick you up?"

  "Because it's out of your way and it'll take time out of your workout. I don't mind the bus."

  "Okay, but if you change your mind, just call me."

  "I will. And hey, I'm sorry about tonight. You drove all the way here and then—"

  "Kira." He cups my cheek. "You have nothing to be sorry about. I got to see you and that's all that matters." He smiles. "But you're going out with me tomorrow night. No excuses. It's Friday, and everyone knows you have to go out with your boyfriend on Friday night. I think it's even a rule."

  I smile back. "Then yes, I'll go out with you. Where are we going?"

  "I don't know yet, but we'll figure it out. You better get upstairs."

  "Yeah. I'll see you tomorrow."

  He gives me a kiss goodnight, a short one, with just his lips, but it still heats me up inside.

  I go upstairs and give Amber her medicine. She's in too much pain to talk. Otherwise I know she'd quiz me about Austin and why he was here and what we did in his truck. But instead, she takes her pills and goes right to bed.

  The next morning, I go to the gym. It's lower body day, which makes me nervous because I don't know how my leg's going to feel. The past few days it's felt good, but that's because I've been working my upper body. When I worked my lower body earlier in the week, before Austin was training me, my leg ached for days.

  "Do you want more weight?" Austin asks as I look down at the barbell that's on the floor in front of my feet. I'm getting ready to do weighted squats, but sometimes when I do those, the nerves in my bad leg spasm and my leg gives out. It doesn't happen very often but it's happened enough that I worry about it.

  "I don't use heavy weights when I do squats," I tell him.

  "But you only have twenty pounds on there. That's nothing. I know you can do a lot more than that."

  "I'd rather just keep it at twenty."

  He nods. "Okay. Then go ahead."

  I lift the barbell up and behind my head, then check my form in the mirror and slowly lower into the squat. Austin's right. This weight is way too light. It feels like I'm barely lifting anything but I don't want to risk having my leg give out while Austin is watching me.

  "Don't let your knees goes past your toes," he reminds me.

  I finish the squats without any problems, then move on to the deadlift, and then lunges, my leg feeling fine. We continue with the free weights, and when it's time for me to do the machines, Austin finishes up his own workout, but keeps an eye on me in case I need him.

  At seven he leaves for work, telling me he'll call me later to let me know what time we're going out. I finish my workout and head home. When I get there, Amber is gone but she left me a note saying she went to some meeting on campus. Then after that, she has to work at a booth for a convention downtown. She's one of those people who has to constantly be busy or she goes crazy. She's involved in a million different clubs and organizations. Starting next week, she'll be gone so much I'll probably never see her.

  With the apartment to myself, I spend the rest of the day relaxing. I do my reading for class, watch some TV, eat lunch, then lay out on our small patio, soaking up some sun. At three, I get a call from Austin.

  "Ready to go out?" he asks in a cheerful tone. I love how he's always so happy and positive. I used to be that way until I hurt my leg. I want to be that way again, and I'm already starting to, just by hanging out with Austin. His positive attitude is starting to rub off on me.

  "Aren't you still at work?"

  "Yeah, but I'm leaving in a few minutes. We finished early. I'm going home to clean up and then I'll come pick you up, if that's okay."

  "Sure. I was just hanging out on the patio. What time will you be here?"

  "Probably around four, or maybe earlier depending on traffic."

  "So where are we going?"

  "I'm not sure yet."

  "Well, what should I wear? Something casual or should I dress up?"

  He thinks for a moment. "Casual. It's really nice out so I'm thinking we should do something outside. You up for that?"

  "Yeah, that sounds great."

  "Then I'll see you soon."

  I go inside to get ready. I love doing outdoor stuff so I'm glad he suggested that. Movies or dinner are okay dates, but they can get old after a while. And when the weather's nice, I like being outside. My parents are outdoor people too, and they like being active, so my brothers and I grew up hiking, canoeing, kayaking, rock-climbing, biking. We did all that stuff, until I hurt my leg. Then I couldn't do those things so my family didn't either. They didn't want me feeling left out.

  At least now, they're doing that stuff again but they went almost a whole year before they would. And then they did modified versions so that I could participate. My parents were just trying to be nice, but making the whole family accommodate me like that made me feel guilty.

  At three-thirty Austin calls me again. "You know how to rollerblade?"

  "Yeah, but I don't have my rollerblades here."

  "What size do you wear?"

  "Seven or seven and a half."

  "Awesome. Same as Ivy. She has a pair you could borrow. I'll stop by and get them on my way over."

  "Are you sure? I don't even know this girl. Maybe she doesn't want me using her rollerblades."

&n
bsp; "She won't care. She never uses them. But if you don't want to do this, we'll do something else."

  I want to do it but I hesitate because of my leg. But I think it'll be fine. It hasn't bothered me all day, despite my workout this morning. And my physical therapist used to always tell me that staying active will continue to strengthen my leg, so this will actually be good for me.

  "I'm up for rollerblading," I tell him. "It sounds fun."

  "Then I'll get the skates and be over there soon."

  He shows up just after four and takes me to a park that has a paved trail that goes on for miles. It winds through the trees and comes out by a lake, then circles back to the parking lot.

  "You sure you want to go the whole way?" he asks.

  We've only gone a couple miles and have a lot more to go, but I feel great. It's warm and sunny and being active like this makes me feel like my old self again. Before the accident, if I wasn't doing gymnastics, I'd be out biking or running or rollerblading. Even in winter, I spent a lot of time outdoors.

  "Why wouldn't I want to keep going?" I ask, racing past him.

  He catches up to me. "It's a long ways. I just wanted to make sure you weren't getting bored."

  "Bored? I love it. It's more fun than going to the movies. Not that I don't like movies. I'm just someone who has trouble sitting still for too long. I like to be active."

  "I'm the same way. So you want to do the whole loop? It'll probably take an hour to finish."

  "Not if I race you." I take off, the breeze whooshing past me. The trail is mostly empty except for a few runners and bikers here and there.

  "Kira, wait up," Austin yells from behind me.

  But I keep going, even faster than before. We're in an area surrounded by trees, and as we round a curve I see a squirrel run out on the trail. I swerve to avoid him, which makes me lose my balance and I stumble forward and almost fall.

  "I got ya," Austin says, grabbing me from behind.

  We're both stopped now and I turn around in his arms. "Thanks."

  "You need to slow down. Going that speed, you could've killed that poor squirrel." He smiles.

  "Are you kidding? That squirrel almost killed ME! Running out in front of me like that?"

  "You okay?" His face is serious now, as he smooths some loose strands of hair behind my ear. "You didn't get hurt, did you?"

  "No, I'm okay."

  "You're supposed to say you're hurt." He tugs me closer. "So I can kiss you and make it better."

  "Oh. Then yeah. I'm hurt. Really bad."

  His mouth lowers over mine and he gives me a kiss, then says, "You feel any better yet?"

  I keep my eyes closed and shake my head.

  I hear him laugh a little, then feel his lips again. I love his lips. So soft. And he knows exactly what to do with him. I wonder how many girls he's kissed. Actually, I don't want to know. I only want to think about him being with me.

  He pulls away as a group of cyclists goes past us. There must be at least twenty of them. We move off the trail to give them room.

  Once they're gone, he helps me back on the trail. "You ready?"

  "Yeah. Let's go."

  "Hey." He gets in front of me. "I really love that you're doing this with me. A lot of girls wouldn't, especially on a Friday night. They'd rather go to a movie or concert or out for dinner."

  "It's too early for that stuff."

  "I know. I'm just saying, it's hard to find a girl who will do this stuff and actually likes it."

  I smile. "Well, you found her. I love stuff like this. Maybe we can do this again tomorrow."

  "Actually I was wondering if you want to go biking tomorrow. Jen keeps her bike at my house. She wouldn't care if you used it."

  "I already have a bike. I keep it locked up on the bike rack behind my apartment."

  "So you want to go? Maybe in the morning? We could go to breakfast first. Or I'll bring you over one of my protein shakes. I am your trainer, after all."

  "What kind do you make?"

  "All kinds. When you drink them as often as I do, you have to come up with new recipes. You like chocolate banana? That's one of my favorites. Orange-strawberry is also good."

  "I'll take the chocolate banana."

  "So you'll go biking with me?"

  "Yeah, but I'm not going slow for you." I go around him and take off. "You have to keep up."

  He catches up with me and we continue along the path. I'm surprised how great I feel. My leg isn't bothering me at all.

  That is until we're on our way back. We're almost there. I can see the start of the trail when all of a sudden, I feel a spasm in my leg. This happened all the time last year when I was recovering, and still happens now if I overwork the muscles.

  "Shit," I mutter under my breath as I feel it again. My leg cramps up to the point that I can't remain standing and I drop to the ground.

  "Kira." Austin stops and leans down to me. "What's wrong?"

  "Nothing." I force out a smile as I massage my leg. "It's just a leg cramp."

  "What can I do?" He sounds desperate to help, a worried look on his face.

  "I'm fine. I just need to loosen it up."

  A group of cyclists goes by and Austin stands in the trail, blocking me so they don't run into me.

  "We need to get you off the trail," he says. "Can you slide back?"

  "No." The cramp is even worse now, the pain so bad my eyes are watering.

  "Shit." Austin kneels down by my leg. "Where does it hurt?"

  "Right here." I point to the back of my thigh.

  He glances to the side and sees another group of cyclists coming. "I'm gonna slide you back, okay?"

  I nod, and he goes behind me and puts his hands under my arms and slides me onto the grass. He kneels in front of me, straddling my leg. "Can I try?"

  I'm afraid to let him touch my leg but I'm in so much pain right now I can't massage it myself.

  "Go ahead," I say, leaning back on my hands.

  He wraps his hands around my thigh and gently massages it. "Is this okay?"

  "Yeah." I close my eyes and take some deep breaths, trying to make my body relax. "Press harder," I tell him. "Then just hold it there."

  That trick always worked in physical therapy and was what I was attempting to do just now but couldn't.

  I feel his fingers tighten over the cramp, squeezing the muscle. "Like this?"

  I nod really fast. "Yeah. Don't move." I keep my eyes closed and continue taking full deep breaths until the muscle finally relaxes. I open my eyes and see Austin watching me, that concerned look still on his face. "You can let go now," I tell him.

  He slowly lets go, then sits beside me. "I'm really sorry. I shouldn't have made you go that far."

  "It wasn't that far. And you asked me before we did it. I'm the one who agreed to it."

  "But I wasn't even thinking about your leg." He points to it. "That's the one you hurt, right?"

  "Yeah, but like I said, it was a year ago. I'm fine now."

  "What did you do? How did you hurt it? You never really said."

  "I just fell during gymnastics practice." I laugh but hear how fake it sounds. "I'm a klutz sometimes."

  He must've noticed the fake laugh because he's not smiling. His face is serious. "A gymnast isn't a klutz." He looks down at my leg. "You must've really hurt it if you're still having problems with it." He looks back at me. "So what exactly happened?"

  My heart's pounding as I race to come up with a lie he'll believe. He can't know what really happened. I saw how panicked he looked just now when I dropped to the ground, and that was just from a leg cramp. It was nothing. If he knew the truth about my leg, he'd treat me like Amber does. Always watching me, telling me to take it easy. And we'd never go rollerblading or biking or do anything else like this again.

  I smile. "This is embarrassing, but one day I was at practice and I wasn't looking where I was going and I tripped on one of the mats. My leg got caught and I ended up breaking it."

 
"Was it a bad break?"

  I shrug. "It was just a normal broken leg. And like I said, it feels great now. That's not what caused my leg cramp. It was because I didn't drink enough water today. I always get muscle cramps when I'm dehydrated."

  He reaches for his water bottle but then notices it's empty. "Shit, I should've brought more water. I have some in the truck. I'll go get it." He stands up.

  "I'll go with you. I just need help getting up."

  "You sure you can make it?"

  I laugh. "Austin, you're overreacting. It was just a leg cramp and you cured it. Now help me up." I hold out my hands and he pulls me up.

  "You okay?" he asks, still holding onto me.

  "Not completely." I smile to wipe that concerned look off his face. "I might need you to do what you did earlier when I almost ran into that squirrel."

  He smiles and tugs me toward him and kisses me. "Let's get you some water and we'll continue this later."

  "Sounds good."

  We follow the trail back to the parking lot and when we get to his truck, he takes some water bottles from the cooler, then drops the tailgate on his truck and we sit there and rest for a moment.

  "That was fun," I say, swigging my water.

  "Yeah, it was." He holds my hand, resting it between us. "Except for you being in pain. You really scared me when you fell to the ground like that."

  This is exactly why I don't want to tell him what really happened to me. He worries too much, and I know he'd treat me differently if he knew the truth. I don't want him acting like I'm not strong enough to do the things I want to do. Or worse, giving me that pity look that Amber always gives me.

  I lean over and kiss him. "Stop worrying about me. I'm fine." I drink some more of my water.

  "So where do you want to go for dinner? I'll take you home so you can clean up before we go."

  "What if we just got some food and had a picnic? Would you be okay with that?"

  He looks surprised. "If that's what you want to do, then yeah. That sounds awesome. There's this store not far from here that I used to go to all the time for lunch when I was working over in this part of town. It's a grocery store but it's got this big salad bar. It has more than just salads. You can get whatever you want."