When I get to Deanna’s house and knock on the door, she answers with a frown.
“What the hell kind of date requires workout clothes? First, you don’t ask and now, I might sweat in November?”
I laugh. “You won’t sweat.” She’ll get wet, though. I won’t tell her that just yet. “Let’s go.”
“No hello kiss either? Boy, you really are trying to work me up.” She’s smiling, so I’m not too worried. To satisfy her, I kiss her as we walk to my truck. She rolls her eyes and mumbles under her breath about it being a subpar kiss. She’s in some kind of mood today, that’s for sure.
“Where are we going?” she asks once we’re on the road.
“You’ll see.” I’m not confident in this date. In fact, I’m not even sure it can be called a date. Nevertheless, this is something we’re going out to do, so it counts, right? It’s sort of major. “After this, I need your email address, so I can forward you all the information you need for the trip. Everything has been booked. Are you nervous?”
“Yes and no. Let’s not talk about it. I’ll handle it as it happens. Your mom is cool, right?”
“Yes.”
“Then, I’m sure I’ll be in good hands.”
I leave it at that because she will be in good hands. My mom has met women I’ve seen before and I don’t hesitate at all about it. My mom is a good woman and she can meet anyone in my life that she wants, no problem. We arrive at our destination soon enough.
“What the hell is this?” Deanna asks.
“It’s a 5K obstacle race.”
“A what? You can’t be serious? I’m out of shape!”
“You’ve been running with Otis lately. You’ll be fine. Besides, we’ll make it interesting,” I promise as we get out of the truck and head toward the registration tables.
“And I nearly die every time!” she reminds me.
“It’ll be fun, Deanna.”
The look she gives me is full of skepticism. I ignore it. We register and sign waivers, attach the numbers to our shirts, and wait near the starting line until it’s our time to start. They send people off in groups, so the obstacles aren’t congested. Deanna wraps her arms loosely around my waist and looks up at me. My hands automatically rest on her ass.
“This is your idea of a fun date, huh?”
“Not yours?”
“I’ll let you know at the end. You get points for being creative. You said something about making it interesting?”
“Whoever does the best and finishes first between us wins. What do you want your prize to be?”
Her grin is pure evil and I know just by looking at her that her prize will involve making me uncomfortable in some way; she’ll make it worth my while I’m sure. “I’d like to keep my prize a secret for now. What would you like?”
“If I win, I’ve decided to be nice for the both of us. You never got to have me in your office at work, so if I win, I’ll fuck you in your office.”
She grins and pops a quick kiss on my mouth. “Oh, I kinda hope you win now! Not enough to let you win, of course, but I won’t be disappointed if I come out of this as the sore loser. Emphasis on sore.”
I laugh and glance around, just to have a distraction from her. Some people look just long enough that it’s a stare. Becoming self-conscious, I move my hands up to her lower back. If these people are looking because they recognize me, which is the likeliest explanation, then I’m not sure that’s the proper hand placement for a crowd of people. There are some teenagers out here too.
“What’s wrong?”
“What?” I glance down at Deanna.
“You’re tense. What happened?”
“I’m not tense.” I’m as relaxed as ever. “I think there are some hockey fans here.” There are a few who look like they want to come over, their phones ready in their hands. There are a few who glance away every time my gaze falls in their general area. I actually probably shouldn’t be doing this during the season, but I doubt I’ll get injured from this.
“Do you normally get recognized?” Deanna asks as she scans the crowd.