“Thank you all for being concerned,” she said. “But it’s harder than this to get rid of me. I’ll see most of you at the state track meet.”
The smile that followed the applause and cheers was much more genuine.
***
The X-rays were negative, Linda being reluctant to let loose of Jack to allow them to be taken. Ice, ibuprofen, Ace bandage, and crutches were the recommended treatments, as well as elevation of the ankle above heart level. Jack stayed with her, reassuring her she’d be fine in a short while but cautioning her not to be “Linda” until it was time. Running too soon would only prolong her recovery.
“You have to promise to be good about this,” he cautioned.
“About this?” she said, smiling.
“About running.”
“Oh, that,” she said coyly, winking at him.
This was a side of Linda that was a bit unfamiliar, but Jack was already anxious to see where it might lead. The way she’d hung onto him when she’d been injured had gotten his heart pounding, barely dampened by his concern about her injury. She had gotten better-looking each year, and he sometimes wondered why she stayed with him. The way she looked at him, though, helped dispel that wondering.
Jack spent the evening alternately icing and then wrapping her ankle, enjoying every touch of her leg. A final wrap as her parents came into the family room, a subtle suggestion that the evening was over. Jack offered to help them get Linda upstairs to her room–he’d enjoy seeing her bedroom. He caught Linda’s wide-eyed look but was assured by Wendel and Molly that they could handle it. Linda did grab his hand and gave him a warm and juicy kiss–right in front of her parents. Still, she was eighteen now and a celebrity at that.
“Good night, babe,” she said, the first time she’d called him that. “See you tomorrow.”
“Good night to you too, and Mr. and Mrs. Baker. Anxious to see the pictures in the paper tomorrow…of you crawling over the finish line.”
“Guh. You’ll make me cry again,” she laughed as Jack headed to the front door.
At ten in the morning, his cell phone rang.
“You coming over?” she asked.
“I can,” Jack replied.
“Mom and Dad are gone till three o’clock,” she said, her voice much softer and a little suggestive, he decided. “I told them you’d be here to ice and wrap my ankle. So, you’d better hurry.”
“Be right there.”
Ten minutes later, he knocked and went in. Linda was propped up in the corner of the couch, her foot on a fat pillow.
“Help me stand up.”
“You need to keep your foot elevated.”
“Just do what I say,” she said, a very suggestive grin on her face.
Jack cocked his head and squinted at her. He’d never seen that look on her face before but found it very compelling. He watched as she held out her arms, ready to stand.
She swung her left foot off the couch and to the floor as Jack took hold of her shoulders and helped her stand. Instantly, her mouth was against his, her lips seemingly about to devour him, and he felt her tongue probing, then touch his tongue. She moaned, and he nearly went crazy at the sound. Caught up in the moment and thinking only of the feel of her mouth against his, he lost his balance, and they crashed to the floor, Linda landing on top of him.
“Are you okay?” he gasped, breaking the lip-lock for a second.
“Getting there,” she replied, kissing him feverishly once more.
When they were finally parted, Jack pulled his head back, savoring the aroused look he was getting from Linda.
“Are you surprised?” she panted to him.
“Yes, and surprise me more if you’d like,” he said, wondering if she could feel his growing erection against her belly.
“Okay,” she said, “but you have to surprise me too.”
A puzzled look from Jack.
“The season is over, really over, and …” Her lips found his again, tongues once more dancing together.
“Are you sure?” he asked, their lips still together.
“What more do I have to do to convince you?”
Jack’s brain was working to process what she’d said and was saying. It seemed clear, but it was unlike anything he’d ever heard her say. Subconsciously, he knew he wanted to hear it and had for some time. It was almost too good to be true.
“Okay,” she said, smiling at his inaction but realizing what was happening was a total surprise to him. “Last track season, at that big girl’s invitational, some of us had to use the boy’s locker room. There was a sign on the wall that said, ‘An athlete should have no sexual satisfaction during his season.’ My season is over.”
A slow smile crept over Jack’s face. “We can only do so much,” he said, “because …” He paused.
“I know. We could check Mom and Dad’s room, but I’m sure she’s either on the pill or has an IUD. We can get almost there, though, don’t you think?”
Jack’s heart was pounding, and he could barely breathe, but she’d said everything that needed to be said. He carefully rolled her off his chest, grabbed the pillow from the couch, and put it under her foot. As he unbuttoned her blouse, the heaving of her chest matched his own. He had seen her run in her sports bra but seeing the tan lines it left had him chewing his lower lip. He bent and began kissing her belly, allowing his tongue to probe her navel. As she groaned and reacted to his kisses, the muscles beneath his kisses were rock-hard. More kissing and licking, and she took hold of his shoulder, sat up, and let the blouse drop off her arms. She reached back and unclasped her bra, then lay back down, her eyes never leaving his.
He eyed the bra, relishing his view of the lacy white fabric and imagining what lay beneath it. She had unfastened it, so there was no reason not to do more than imagine. He lifted the bra and slid it down her arms, tossing it aside as her breasts came into view, the nipples standing high and ready for attention.
“Linda, you’re gorgeous,” he said as his eyes darted from one to the other.
“How gorgeous?” she asked breathily.
“Just … just …”
“Show me.”
Not able to decide, his hand went to one and his mouth to the other as she arched her back against his touch. Squeezing and kissing, then gently pinching one nipple as his lips pulled on the other, he was as close to heaven as he could imagine. Through his erotic haze, he heard her voice.
“Jack, stand up,” she ordered.
Not about to deny any of her wishes, even those he didn’t understand, he released her breasts and stood.
“Take your clothes off.” Another order that he loved.
He pulled his shirt over his head and tossed it aside. His shoes and socks were next, followed quickly by his Levi’s. He watched the smile form on her face as she gazed longingly at his boxers and the rather large tent that had formed in front.
He looked down at her shorts.
“Go ahead,” she said softly. “I can wait, but not very long.”
Jack knelt and carefully unbuttoned her shorts, slid the zipper down, and paused, looking at Linda. He closed his eyes and then opened them slowly.
“You can’t imagine how many times I dreamed of doing this,” he said.
“No more than I have,” she countered and watched as he slid the shorts down her legs, then tenderly slipped them off over her injured foot and off the other leg as well.