She knew that guys could shine her on, that people lied in online dating sites and they often talked about being athletic—which was code for I watch TV on Sundays when the football game is on as an excuse to eat wings.
But this guy was the real deal. Page after page— she had to go twelve pages in before she found anything other than some race time. According to the dates, this guy had been doing this for at least the past ten years. Then she found a ski resort page. He worked at the ski resort. That’s what he told her, so he had been telling the truth. He was a ski instructor and first aid person. Interesting. That was as different from her life as you could possibly get. Same with Dylan.
She pushed aside thoughts of Dylan. Dylan was, as far as she was concerned, off her radar screen. He may still be lingering on her skin in that deep, sensitive part of her belly, and the scent of him might still be on her sweater—and maybe in the crook of her elbow, and behind her earlobe and—
Oh stop it, Laura, just stop it. The guy had a girlfriend. He was trolling the online dating sites, probably just to find a one-night stand or because he was a sex addict or—who knew? No more Dylan. In fact, she had blocked his number on her phone, removed him from her “Favorites” on the online dating website, and she was 100 percent done. Just wrote him off. No more Dylan.
Mike, on the other hand—Mike was new. Fresh. Untainted. What could she learn from Mike? Some protective voice inside her said, Are you a complete and utter moron? You’re going to go at twilight, during dusk, and walk a multi-mile trail in the woods with some guy you’ve never met yet— are you crazy?
Josie knocked her out of her reverie. “He seems interesting. I’m trying to imagine you running a—” Josie gasped, “—marathon.” Wheezy laughter. “Uh...I just can’t.”
“You just lost your free latte.”
“You know me, I’m a fast metabolizer of caffeine —that’s what my genetic testing showed me. You have to get me one! This—” she pointed to the cup of coffee Laura had just made her—“isn’t enough!” She mooned a begging face.
“Did your genetic testing show that you consume enough caffeine to mimic a sun-addled mosquito on crack every day?”
“Yes.”
“Really?”
“Yes, it did.” Josie nodded soberly. “And so therefore, that explains why I need you to buy me a triple latte, Miss I’m Going to Say Yes to Life.” Josie frowned, “So was the sex any good last night?”
“What?! Why are you asking me that?”
“Well, we’re talking about saying ‘yes,’ so it seemed like a natural segue...”
“Of course it was good.” Laura rolled her eyes, her chest heaving a bit as she sighed deeply. “Too good.”
“What do you mean, too good? Is that possible?”
“Well, it’s too good when it turns out he has a girlfriend. He was just, phew— oh boy, Josie.”
“The best you’ve ever had?” Josie asked.
“Well,” she sighed heavily. “Yeah.”
“You’re sure he has a girlfriend?”
“The pictures made it clear.”
“Damn. Well, maybe you can say ‘yes’ to this guy you’re seeing tonight.”
“Yeah.”
“Yes.”
Huff, huff, huff. Laura was more out of shape then she’d ever imagined. Her idea of exercise was lifting her hand from her mouth to the bag of Doritos or lifting the spoon out of the pint of Ben & Jerry’s. No, she chided herself, that wasn’t really true. She took the stairs at work, and that wasn’t a joke, considering the fact that she worked on the thirty-second floor. And she and Josie power walked around her neighborhood (Josie jokingly called it their Mugging Prevention Program), but this kind of sustained, prolonged effort that used muscles that involved the hard work of uneven terrain, hiking along the trails and the woods? This she wasn’t used to.
And that was OK. Really. Mike was a sweetheart who slowed his pace down and who was absolutely, fantastically interesting. Talking about everything from books that Laura hadn’t read since college, but had always loved, to movies—who knew he had a Christopher Guest obsession, too? She couldn’t wait for a second date where they could sit and watch Best in Show, and she could enjoy having that someone finally who appreciated the humor.
Second date? She was getting ahead of herself.
And she really liked that.
“Laura, are you OK?” Mike asked, a look of concern covering his face as she wheezed slightly while rounding a bend and staring at the tall hill leading to the summit. Too tall. Too high. Too little air. Ah, hell. What had she agreed to? Huff huff huff.