Ryan helped her pull off her bike shoes and socks, when it became obvious that Jamie's legs were too weak to support her in an off-balance position. With a kiss, Ryan went to the rear of the now very long line and waited patiently while Jamie neared the front. Luckily, moments after she gained her spot, a buddy from the first ride got in line behind her.
"Pretty early to already be waiting on your tent mate hand and foot, isn't it?"
Ryan turned and barked out a laugh, hugging the grinning woman who stood behind her. "Melinda!" she cried. "I haven't seen you since the last ride! How have you been?"
"Good, very good in fact," she admitted. "Jared started school this year, so Stacy and I have been able to start working the same shift."
"Wow, I can't believe that," Ryan mused. "I still remember how anxious you were on the first ride. I've never seen someone search out public phones like you did."
"Well, waiting for your lover to have your first child was a pretty big deal," she reminded her with a grin.
"Is Stacy here?" Ryan asked.
"Oh yeah, she's around here somewhere. Jared is with my mom for the week, back home in San Jose. I'm sure he'll come back thoroughly spoiled, as usual," she conceded good-naturedly. "So, who's the cutie you were waiting on?" she asked.
"I can't disagree with the description, but she's a lot more than my tent mate," Ryan said rather proudly. "She's my," Ryan paused for a moment, trying to decide on the proper term, "partner," she decided. "Jamie is my life partner."
"YOU! You're in a relationship?!"
"Hey," Ryan objected, a little hurt by the amazement in her voice, "I need love too, you know."
"Umm hmm," she said suspiciously. "You've never seemed to be lacking in that department, Ryan."
"Oh yes, I have," Ryan assured her seriously. "I've been starved for love, Melinda, but I tried to satisfy that need by having sex. There's no comparison," she stated firmly.
"You really are in love," she said slowly, still slightly amazed.
As she was considering this unexpected development, Jamie came back and gave Ryan a tiny kiss. "I feel so much better," she said wanly.
"Hon, this is an old friend," Ryan said as she indicated Melinda. "Melinda, this is Jamie Evans. Jamie, Melinda Stone."
"Good to meet you," Jamie said as she extended her clean hand.
"Amazed to meet you," Melinda murmured, still astonished that Ryan had entered into a committed relationship.
Ryan shot Jamie a glance and said, "Melinda has known me for six years. She's seen the annual changing of the guard."
"I see," Jamie drawled good naturedly. "Did she ever introduce any of them as her lover?" she asked Melinda.
"Nope," she replied immediately. "It was always more like, 'This is…what was your name again, Honey?'"
Ryan gave her a playful cuff for that comment. "I have never, in my entire life, referred to a woman like that," she insisted.
"Just kidding, Sport," Melinda agreed. "But it was always obvious that they were just passing through. I get a completely different feeling from this one, though," she conceded as she smiled at Jamie's proprietary hold on Ryan's dirty, sweaty body. "If she can hug you when you're that grimy, she must be in for the long haul."
"The longest," Jamie heartily agreed as she kissed the dirt-flecked lips smiling down at her.
After a brief chat Ryan asked Jamie for her dirty clothes, which she dutifully handed over. "I'm going to do laundry when I'm finished," she said with a smile. "Do you remember where our tent is?"
"J-22," she replied decisively.
"Very good," Ryan said as she patted her on the head. "Go take a nap after you drink another bottle of water," she ordered.
After her showering and laundry duties were done, Ryan headed back to the tent. She found Jamie sprawled across both sleeping bags right in the middle of the floor. She didn't have the heart to wake her, so she went in search of something to do, or, even better, something to eat. An hour later she opened the tent flap and crawled in next to her sleeping partner, cradling her close. After a few moments Jamie started to awaken. She sniffed a few times, then she rolled over and sniffed again. "I smell..." she licked around Ryan's mouth for a moment as she pronounced, "Mexican food," she said proudly. After a moment she sat up in surprise, "Hey! Did you eat dinner without me?"
"Only my first course," Ryan replied happily. "I've got plenty of room for seconds," she said as she patted her flat tummy.
"C'mon," Jamie said as she crawled out of the tent. "I'm starved!"
The long dinner line snaked along all too slowly for Ryan's unsated stomach. Jamie smoothly diverted her attention when she asked, "How do you think today went, Babe?"
As was her fashion, Ryan paused and considered the question, and her answer, thoroughly before she replied. "I was very, very pleased with how today went," she pronounced. "The day just flew by, mostly because I was so focused on you. I've had a lot of friends and a few bedmates that I cared about on the ride, you know. But none of them captured my attention like you did today. It was a very, very pleasant diversion," she decided with a big grin.
"You're too sweet," Jamie beamed as she stood on her tip toes for a kiss. "But I don't like the inequity of attention you've been lavishing on me. I want to make you feel better, too."
"But I feel fine," Ryan assured her. "I'm used to this kind of pace, so it's really not that big of a deal for me."
"Nonetheless," Jamie insisted, "tomorrow we share shoulder rubs and leg rubs. You're not getting out of here without some pampering."
"Oh, all right," Ryan muttered in mock disgust. "You are so hard to live with!"
"I know," Jamie soothed. "And you're such a saint to put up with me."
"It's just an act of mercy," she innocently replied. "You're like the little dog who followed me home. If I don't take you in, no one will."
"Ggrrrrr," the feisty little stray replied.
"Was today like you expected?" Ryan asked, as they worked on their desserts.
"Yeah, I'd have to say that you prepared me beautifully for the physical aspects," Jamie replied, after taking a minute to consider her answer. "But you didn't give me any idea of how...well...gay it was," she said with a chuckle.
"You didn't know most of the people would be gay?" Ryan asked, having assumed that Jamie would guess the event would be largely gay.
"No, no," the smaller woman laughed. "I mean gay! Like festive!"
"Ohhh," Ryan laughed. "Well, it is pretty darned festive."
"Yeah," Jamie agreed. "I didn't realize that so many people would decorate their helmets, and wear costumes. I swear I saw a bunch of guys dressed like flamingos!"
"Yeah, that's pretty common on the ride. That's one of the nicest things for me. People can really be creative. A lot of guys even dress in drag."
"I can't imagine doing this in full make-up," Jamie laughed. "But whatever floats your boat!"
They finished dinner by seven o'clock and spent a little time wandering around the tent city, Jamie marveling at all of the amenities. People were diligently working on ailing bikes in the repair area, every available masseuse was hard at work, and the medical trailers had a long line of people seeking relief from various minor injuries. There was even a small general store selling necessities. The entertainment started just as it was getting dark. Jamie was interested, but also very willing to go to bed right then. So they compromised by deciding to watch for half an hour, and then go to sleep.
After only a few minutes, Ryan excused herself. "I've got to go do something. Can you find the tent?"
Jamie nodded her assent as Ryan took off. After twenty minutes she made her way back to their temporary home. It was just 8:30 when she crawled in to find Ryan lying on her side in a fetal position. "Ryan, what's wrong?" she asked in alarm as she crawled up right next to her.
"Cramps," was her monosyllabic reply.
"Oh, you poor baby," she replied solicitously. "Did you take anything?"
"Yeah, I just took some
ibuprofen. I'll be okay in a while."
"Do you usually hurt like this?" she inquired.
"No, not very often. I felt a little twitchy earlier, and I should have paid attention and taken some pills then. If I knock them out right away, I don't have any trouble. When I let them really get to me, it's much harder to get rid of them."
"Isn't there anything I can do?" she inquired, feeling helpless. "How about a massage?"
Ryan rolled over onto her back as she smiled up at her partner. "You'd really like to help, wouldn't you?"
"Yeah, it's hard to see you in pain and not be able to do anything," she admitted.
"Well, sometimes it helps if you can just put your hand here," she said as she placed Jamie's hand right above her pubic bone. "And then kind of rock me."
Jamie did as instructed, rocking her very gently as she put firm pressure over her uterus. Ryan let out a deep sigh as the pressure began to relieve her cramping. After a long while Jamie asked, "Does one of your ovaries hurt more than the other?"
Ryan nodded, "Yeah, the right one." Jamie moved her hand over to the right side of her abdomen. She probed with her fingers for a moment until Ryan let out a little gasp. She then applied pressure to this area and kneaded until Ryan's face relaxed and she looked much more peaceful. "Boy, you have a great pair of hands there," Ryan said gratefully as Jamie climbed into her outstretched arms.
"Do you feel better?" Jamie inquired.
"Much," Ryan said as she kissed her tenderly. Jamie responded to the kiss, and slowly the intensity began to escalate.
"I thought about sleeping with you all day," Jamie murmured into her ear as they took a break.
"I thought about you too, but sleeping wasn't involved," Ryan replied with a leer as she placed more searing kisses on Jamie's smooth lips.
"For a sick girl, you sure do kiss good," she observed with admiration. After the passion between them rose another notch, Jamie began to notice that Ryan's body was relaxing in direct proportion to the increased beating of her heart.
Jamie wrestled the sleeping bags from under her now limp body and tossed the joined bags over the two of them. Placing one last tender kiss on her moist lips, she wrapped her arms around her. "Good night, Ryan," she whispered into her ear.
Ryan forced one eye open and looked at Jamie with a questioning glance and a little tilt of her head. "That's enough playtime, Sweetie. We both need to get to sleep. We've got a long day tomorrow."
"Okay," Ryan sleepily agreed, "But I don't think I can sleep before it's even fully dark out."
"Okay," Jamie soothed, whispering into her clean pink ear. "Just relax for a little while." Moments later she felt Ryan fall into a deep sleep in her arms.
Just after two a.m. Ryan woke from an insistent pressure in her bladder. She struggled out of Jamie's embrace, as well as the sleeping bag, and searched for her sweats with her hands. When she found them, she slid out the tent opening and fumbled her way into her clothes. She had left her sandals outside the tent, and she stepped into them on the way to the bathroom. It was quiet at the campsite, but the ever-present security personnel were on duty. She made it a point to walk by each person she saw to say hello and thank them for their vigilance.
As she approached the medical trailer, she realized that more than her bladder was causing her pain, so she stopped in to request some more ibuprofen. The woman on duty gladly fulfilled her request, also giving her a tampon. When she was finished she made her way back to the tent, realizing that she had not put her normal beacon on the top. She had learned through experience that finding your tent out of 1,500 identical ones on a dark night was no picnic. She usually put a light stick on the top of the tent when she left, but she'd been so groggy this morning that she had forgotten. She used her innate sense of direction and eventually found the 'J' section. To her relief, finding #22 was not too hard. She undressed outside and kicked her shoes off before climbing back in and settling down next to her lover.
She was moments from sleep when she heard a soft voice grumble, "I have to pee."
Using every bit of her self-control, she took a deep, even breath and asked, "Do you want me to go with you?"
"Do you have to go, too?" Jamie asked hopefully.
"Yeah, I have to go too," she replied, out of nothing but love.
After they completed their pit stop, Ryan stopped at the medical trailer again to snag an energy bar. The ibuprofen wasn't sitting well on her empty stomach, so she munched on the bar on the way back. This time the light stick was clearly in place, signaling them home.
As they climbed back into their little nest, Jamie automatically put her hand over Ryan's uterus and began to rock her gently. Ryan gazed at her sleepy green eyes in appreciation as Jamie mumbled, "You don't look like you feel so good." Ryan just nodded and closed her eyes, willing herself to focus only on her partner's healing touch. Within minutes she was sound asleep.
Chapter Seventeen
The muted but insistent stirrings of the huge camp woke Ryan just before dawn. She felt surprisingly good considering that she had cramps, had slept on the ground, and had ridden 90 miles the day before. She had an insistent need to go to the bathroom again, but before she did so, she gently woke Jamie by lightly rubbing her all over her body. Jamie nestled up against her, muttering a small protest. "Come on, Jamie. You've gotta get up. There's a cute little orange bike that wants you to take it to King City."
Jamie pried her eyes open and yawned. She stretched every muscle and joint before she sat up, blinking her eyes groggily. She turned to Ryan as she ran a hand through her wild hair and asked solicitously, "How are you feeling?"
"Pretty good, all things considered," she replied. "I can't believe how much better I feel just sleeping next to you."
Jamie gave her a big smile and leaned over to offer a hug. Ryan gladly accepted, and they held each other lovingly for a few moments, allowing themselves to wake up fully. Ryan let go reluctantly as she slid out of the tent. She pulled on her sweats and dragged her gear bag out with her. After rummaging through the bag for a few minutes, she found the outfit that she wanted to wear and then got ready to head to the shower. "Are you going to take a shower in the morning, too?" Jamie inquired.
"I normally don't," Ryan replied. "But it's probably good for my cramps."
Jamie kissed her goodbye and gently patted her seat. "I'll take the tent down and get us packed, then we can go eat breakfast and get you some more pills."
"I'm going to try to do without any more pills," Ryan said. "I'll bring some along in case I really need them, but they make me feel a little lightheaded and I don't want to lose my concentration."
"Can I give you a little tummy rub during our pit stops?"
"I can't think of anything I'd like better," Ryan replied with a big grin. "Oops, one thing I forgot," she said, digging into her bag again. "Bring your swimsuit!"
After they pulled their bikes out of Madrid, Ryan worked on their water bottle mix. They were all loaded up by just before seven, but right before they left Ryan had to make another pit stop. Jamie patiently waited for her, getting a sheepish little grin when she returned. "I have to go constantly when I get my period," Ryan admitted.
"Speaking of periods," Jamie said as they left the campground, "After I get mine this month, I'm going to stop taking the pill."
Ryan looked at her quizzically, "I didn't know you were still taking them. I guess I assumed you would stop after you broke up with Jack." Ryan felt her stomach do a little flip as she considered the only obvious reason Jamie would continue to take the pill.
"Yeah, I stayed on them because I wanted to regulate my period so I would be sure not to get it during the ride. I thought ahead for a change," she said proudly, causing Ryan to let out a sigh of relief.
"That's pretty darn smart, Jamie. I wish I had done that." Jamie didn't understand why this little discussion had caused Ryan's face to light up with delight. As the grinning woman surged ahead of her, singing a happy tune, she forgot the que
stion entirely and just took in the view.
The first 15 miles of the day were problem free. The road was well paved, and they were both able to make good time. The first pit stop was at the Monterey Bay Academy, overlooking Sunset Beach and the stunningly beautiful Pacific Ocean. It was a memorable setting and caused Jamie to pull her tiny camera from her seat pack to take a few pictures.
"I've got to get a shot of this gorgeous vista," she said as she focused on her partner.
"Uh…Jamie, the ocean is that way," Ryan jerked her head in the correct direction.
"Ocean? What ocean? You're the only scenery I'm interested in," she said sincerely.
After the photo session, they enjoyed the view longer than they normally would have at the first stop of the day. Ryan even agreed to lie down and let Jamie work on her abdomen for a while, and she had to admit that she felt better. After forcing down two bottles of water, they took off again.
Pit stop two was also along the ocean, and they removed their helmets and let the breeze dry their hair as they rested on the ground. Ryan lay with her head on Jamie's lap while she worked her magic on her still tender tummy. After the stop they continued on Highway 1 for quite a while, and then cut inland through fields of flowers and artichokes. They were no more than a few miles from the ocean when it became obvious that early June in California farm country was pretty darn hot. They followed some little-used agricultural roads, riding smoothly until they reached their lunch stop.
They pulled into a very shady state park and got in line to pick up lunch. Ryan looked at Jamie and asked with a twinkle in her eye, "Are you really hungry?"
"Yes, I'm starved, Ryan. Go ask them for another lunch. I plan on eating all of mine," she said as she narrowed her eyes and placed her hands around her bag protectively.
"That's not why I asked, Jamie. There's a neat spot not too far from here where we could have a more private picnic, so I thought we could eat a little now and a little later."
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