Running From Love

by J. Nichole

  “No rush. We can enjoy nature while we are out here. I know you’ve been observing it for a while”—did he just take a jab at me?—“but we can sit and take it all in.” Whatever we do on that bench I’m all in. My lungs and legs will thank me later.

  It doesn’t help that the meat and extra serving of beans I had yesterday at the barbecue is sitting uncomfortably on my stomach. Before we could leave my parents’ house Aiden already had this hike planned out. Acknowledging the fact that we could both use the exercise to work off the meal. It sounded like a good idea, at first. But here we are on this three-mile hike, and I’m reconsidering my dad’s good grilling. Something in his meat must have made me delirious.

  There it is. Like a desert oasis. The bench, sitting crooked on the side of the trail. Aiden places his hand on my elbow and guides us to the bench. “Here, let’s people watch for a bit.”

  Besides the people flying past us on bikes, I’ve ignored the people walking around us. When I went radio silent, I was just observing nature. The different plants and wildlife that scurried around us. It didn’t take long to block out the noise of bugs flying around my ears. “How often do you come out here?”

  Aiden leans back on the bench with his arm draped behind me. “Not as often as I’d like.” From what I understand of Aiden’s job, he doesn’t work late nights or weekends. Outside of hitting the gym, I’m not sure what keeps him occupied.

  “Why not?” I ask as I make myself more comfortable on the bench. Although it’s hard as a rock, I’m thankful to be sitting and not walking. Getting me up from the bench may be damn near impossible, and continuing forward on this trail is probably out of the question.

  A family walks past us with little kids kicking rocks as they run ahead of their parents and I envy their energy level; the kids and the parents keeping up with them. “I stay pretty busy with work. When I’m not working, before meeting you, I would find other random excuses to keep myself too occupied.” He glances at me and says, “Walking alone on the trails can be therapeutic, but I enjoy it more with someone along for the hike.”

  Do I break it to him now or later? This hiking scene is not for me. I don’t even think I could fake it till I make it. What the hell… if this is the reason we should part, so be it. “Too bad this is not my thing.” I’m relieved I let the truth be told. I tighten the band around my ponytail and smile. “Got me out here about to faint.”

  “You? Dancing machine?” He chuckles. “No way.” We laugh together until my side aches. Probably my body telling me I’m doing the most today.

  “Ouch. That kinda hurt,” I say with my hand tight against my rib cage.

  “You know what’s even better than a hike on this trail?” Aiden asks with his hand over mine, against my side. “A warm shower. Warm enough to be relaxing but not hot enough to make you sweat more than you did out here.”

  “Music to my ears.” I look to my right then to my left. “But we still have to do a mile back or two miles ahead.”

  Aiden doesn’t move and says, “Like I said. No rush. We’ll do the mile back when we are ready to get up.”

  I take him up on his offer to sit until my body’s ready. “You met most of my family yesterday.” Shelly even texted me when we left asking for me to pass on her phone number to Aiden. Chick must be out of her mind. Even if we weren’t kicking it, if Aiden wanted her phone number I’m sure he would have asked. Actually, I know he would have. He didn’t have a problem asking me for my phone number. “What’d you think of them?”

  His lips form into a smile but it fades away before he says, “They are cool.” He removes his arm from behind me and wipes his hand across his face. “I had a good time with them.”

  “You sure?” The smile not only faded, but that weary look is replaced with the look I saw when I first noticed him at the coffee shop.

  “Yeah.” He looks down at his feet. And I lean forward to make eye contact. “My dad used to grill all the time. He loved having folks over to the house.” His head turns towards mine and he says, “I didn’t realize how much I missed his grilling till yesterday.” Aiden’s talked about his siblings, and his mom, and until now he never mentioned his dad.

  “Miss it?” I ask with my eyes focused on his.

  “He passed away while I was in college.” My mouth hangs open.

  “I’m so sorry,” I mouth to him while I place my hand on his knee.

  “Me too. We had our differences, as any kid does. But I just wish we had more time together. Things are different when you mature.” He’s right. As a kid in the house I always had issues with my parents. I didn’t understand their helicopter parenting style until everything happened, then I realized why they always wanted to know where I was going and who I was with, when I was coming home. “Your dad”—he clears his throat—“I can tell he loves his family.” I’d love to know what they talked about when I wasn’t around but I’ll save that discussion for another day. Raindrops begin falling on the path in front of us. Aiden looks up to the sky. The clouds there were non-existent minutes ago and are gathering quickly. “We should get moving before the sky falls out.”

  I nod my head and hop up from the seat. The last thing I need is to have to run through the rain. Then nature laughed, halfway to his car, or better yet nature cried. Big ass alligator tears. Aiden grabbed my hand and we ran to the car. He opened the passenger door and told me to jump in. Then he came back with a towel. I started to wipe the rain and dust from my face before he said, “Ugh, maybe just wipe your body and not your face.” I dropped the towel in my lap. “I mean it’s my gym towel. Not like I’ve been washing a dog with it or anything.”

  I roll my eyes and laugh. “It’s cool. I’ll just put it on your seat. I don’t want to leave a trail of dirt behind.”

  He smirks. “It’s cool. I need to get my car detailed anyway.” He looks down at his seat. “I’m sure I’ll have a mess on this side too.” A cocky smile eases up on his face while we wait at the red light. “Just when I thought you didn’t have stamina. You ran to the car before the water could turn you into a gremlin.”

  Just when I was thinking we are the same age, he references gremlins? With my hand raised I say, “Hold on.” He looks to me then drives through the red light. “Did you just say gremlin?”

  “You caught that?” A throaty laugh erupts from his mouth. “I told you I have an older brother. He thought it was his duty to make me watch all his favorite childhood movies. Gremlins being one of them.” When he pulls into my apartment complex he looks at me with narrow eyes. “What do you know about gremlins?”

  “I only know enough about them to know it was before my time.” Both of us are acknowledging there could be a potential gap in our age and neither of us is asking the question. I don’t think it would matter if we had an age gap. I mean, look at Nicole and Bryan. Or even Laila and Chris. Hell, if we did have an age gap we’d fit right in with the rest of the group. Unless I’m… “How old are you?”

  My face eases when I hear him say, “Twenty-six.” He’s older, but only by a year. “I won’t even ask how old you are.” Not sure why age is such a touchy topic. We all have to age. “But would we have been in high school together?”

  “I’m twenty-five.” Aiden puts his hand across his chest and his eyes grow wide. “Maybe when I’m in my fifties someone knowing my age will bother me.”

  “Not if you grow up to look anything like your mother.” He grits his teeth when he realizes that he slipped and complimented my mama. The summer storm that blessed our hike has passed. The sky isn’t grey, but the clouds are still shading us from the sun. “Can I walk you up?”

  As much as I’d like for him to walk me up and peel off these wet clothes, I know what that would lead to. We’d certainly finish what we started the other night. After Aiden devoured me he left me alone on the couch satisfied, but wanting more.

  “I’m okay. I need to get out of this mess and into a warm shower.” Aiden looks at me with an eyebrow perked. I open the
car door before I change my mind.

  “Call me when you’re all clean,” Aiden says before I shut the door behind me.

  With my clothes in a heap around me in the bathroom I turn the shower knob, not to extreme heat as usual, but midway to warm. Before I can dip my toe into the stream of water my phone dings with a calendar notification. One week till bachelorette weekend in Jamaica.

  Chapter Ten

  “C’mon girls,” I sigh. The girls have been tripping up over the new piece of choreography. Granted the steps took me a couple of days to lock in, but at least it kept me preoccupied. The first day of calling Aiden with no answer or call back, not even a text, I ran through the choreography for hours till I exhausted myself to sleep.

  Monday night I packed for the trip then ran through the steps again. By Tuesday I was worried something could have happened between my house and his, and I decided to swallow my pride and try calling him again.

  By Wednesday, I gave up calling and threw myself into the choreography to perfect each step. For whatever reason Aiden has to not answer the phone, after telling me to call him, is whatever it is. Jamaica is calling and waves crashing against my bare feet is what I’ll need to forget about him not answering.

  When the girls run through the dance the last time I say, “Now, next time I see y’all, you better have these steps down.” With their chests heaving and some bent over with sweat dripping from their forehead, I know they gave it their all. “Good job tonight, ladies.” I give them a clap before I dismiss them and lock the door to the room.

  My Moovn ride is scheduled for my early morning flight and my bags are by the door. After my shower I lay in my bed, knowing I should be asleep, but instead I’m staring at the ceiling. After a full week of dates, calls, and texts from Aiden, the radio silence is irking me. Our conversation in the park replays in my head; I can’t think of any reason why he would just write me off.

  One eye squints at the alarm when the pitch increases. I slap the button to turn it off and roll out of bed. Going to bed early only to lay awake thinking is not helping this morning. I look at my phone, expecting a text or a call, and neither appear in my notifications. I roll my eyes as I pull myself together for this flight, and inevitably the trip where the girls will be all in my business.

  “Jennifer,” I hear someone squeal from behind me and I turn around to see Monica walking towards me with her arms outstretched. We hug and she whispers in my ear, “Girl, I’d think you’d look happier to be on vacation.” I close my eyes and re-open them accompanied by a smile. A genuine smile, ‘cause Monica’s right. I can’t let Aiden, who I just met a week ago, ruin my well-needed vacation with my homegirls who I rarely see. “Much better. You good?”

  “I am. Just been a long day already and we still have one more flight.” I look in the direction of the departure board to see where we need to meet Nicole. “Nicole’s flight should be landing soon.”

  “Listen, Laila and Nicole are boo’d up. And I know Laila wasn’t down for the traditional foolery of a bachelorette party, but I’m telling you now, I need some dick before I’m on a flight back to California.” I laugh and shake my head at Monica. She’s always been a complete mess.

  She’s never had a problem having men shoot their shot, but she’s particular about the guys she gives her attention. “Still like ‘em dark and thick?”

  With her lips pursed, she scrunches her nose and says, “Girl, yes.” She smacks her hips, hips that have grown a bit since our days at Lee. “I need someone who can handle all of this. Throw me up, flip me around, and still have energy to make me—”

  “Make you what?” Nicole says from behind us. “Y’all nasty.”

  We turn around and wrap her into a group hug. “I know you aren’t talking,” I say with a smirk.

  “I can be nasty all day,” Monica says. “Listen, this residency has been stressful. When I’m not in the hospital I’m at home drooling. I have zero time to get my kinks worked out.”

  “Hopefully, Tanya is still single.” Nicole looks at me. “’Cause this one here already found her toe-curling knight.” I cut my eyes at Nicole before Monica can ask any questions. “My bad. It’s over already?”

  “We aren’t going to talk about dudes this trip. It’s Laila’s last weekend with all of us before she takes this plunge.”

  Nicole cocks her head at me. “Consider it done.”

  A Future Mrs. Clark sash hangs around Laila as we make our way into our suite for the weekend. “But did you see that man in the lobby?” Monica says as she throws her bag into the bedroom. “He was just the right amount of darkness.” She stands in front of the window looking out to the ocean. “And he looks like he could do more than just flip me upside down. He could probably hold me up against that wall.”

  “Girl any one of the guys in the lobby could deliver on your dreams of being up against any of these walls.” I lay my purse on the bed. “Just let me know before you bring one back to the room.” Monica revealed a decked out itinerary while we were on the ride to the resort. She shocked all of us with the amount of detail she included, considering her time is limited. “But by the looks of your itinerary, you didn’t leave room for fucking.”

  “Girl, there’s always room for fucking,” she says with all the seriousness one could say in this moment. “Let’s take a shot before we head out to the beach.”

  I follow her into the living room of the suite. This suite was nothing like the rooms we occupied on our road trips in college. A full kitchen, three bedrooms, and a living room that is larger than the one we had in our college apartment is decorated with the beach side decor I’d want in a house, if I ever lived near the beach.

  Tanya hands out shot glasses before announcing, “Laila, girl.” I can tell she’s choked up. Tanya and Laila go back further than we do. They’ve been cool since they were kids. “Although you could have been my sister-in-law.” Glad we weren’t drinking because we would have all spit out the rum. Laila had a brief stint with Josh, Tanya’s brother, when she and Chris took a break. “I’m happy you and Chris made it work. He’s perfect for you.” With her shot glass raised she continues, “Here’s to many years of bliss.”

  We slam our shots back and Monica, our fun coordinator, announces, “Time for the beach, ladies.” With my beach bag across my arm I throw my phone on the bed. No international phone charges for me.

  Beach chairs and umbrellas serve as the backdrop for our lounging near the waves. It’s been a couple of years since we’ve all been together and the liquor and conversation has us wishing we were back in college. “I’ve missed y’all,” Laila says with a slur. “We need to do this more often.”

  “Girl, when?” Monica asks. “You are marrying into money, but you forgot the rest of us are some broke hoes.” We all laugh. A beach attendant comes along with another round of fruity drinks. “Y’all all-inclusive will be the only way I vacation from now on.”

  Nicole sits up in her chair and says, “But didn’t you just say the rest of us were broke hoes?”

  I’m sure Monica had something else on the agenda for tonight, but the drinks were too good and the sun too warm. We ended up back in the room with a spread of food delivered from the resort restaurant.

  “Since we are acting like old ladies in the room, we can at least play a game,” Tanya says stretching out on the couch. “We have to each give Laila our best sex advice.”

  “That’s easy,” Monica blurts. “Just keep having it.” We laugh and Monica glares at us. “I ain’t lying.” She looks at Laila sincerely. “I hear women get married and become prudes.” Nicole and Tanya nod their heads. “Make sure you don’t stop doing what you were doing when y’all were at Lee. Don’t be too tired to take one last ride for the night.” With her straw in her mouth she puts her finger up. “Oh, and make sure you suck him dry.”

  As if her own advice got her hot and heavy Monica hops off the couch and says, “Listen. I’ll be back.”

  “Where are you going? We just s
tarted,” Tanya says to Monica’s back as she walks towards the door. Monica doesn’t respond and Tanya hops up. “The mother in me won’t let you leave alone.”

  Nicole, Laila, and I look at each other before Nicole says, “Since they are gone, and that kinda sobered me up”—she puts her glass on the table—“what happened to dude? Three dates in one week, and now?”

  Laila looks at me. “Three dates? One week?” She adjusts in her seat to face me directly. “Oh you have to tell me about this guy.”

  “Not much to tell,” I respond honestly. “I met this dude last week and we went on a few dates but I haven’t heard from him.” I shrug.

  “Obviously something is up with that. When you get home you’ll probably have messages from him.” I roll my eyes. “What?”

  “And I should respond? After not hearing from him in a week?” I shake my head. “Probably not.”

  “Okay, back to not talking about dudes.” Nicole collects our glasses and walks to the kitchen. “More drinks.”

  Before she can return the suite door swings open and Monica and Tanya walk through laughing. Following behind them, three men. Tall, dark, sexy ass Jamaican men.

  Before we can ask her what’s going on the music drowns out any possible talking. When I look at Tanya she just grins. Nicole hands out our drinks in time for the three guys to take their place in front of us.

  The tanks and shorts they are wearing are removed with ease and my eyes are focused on them as they parade around the room with their dicks scantily covered, swinging in every other different direction. Laila squeals when her leg is thrown in the air. From her reaction you’d think she never mentioned not wanting strippers.

  “Exactly what she needs tonight,” Nicole screams over the music. “Bachelorette in full effect!”

  The guys gyrate around the room giving us each special attention before they circle around Laila wishing her the best on her life as a wife. Monica walks them to the door and when she returns I ask, “How the hell did you find last minute strippers?”