Motivation

Bending forward, I rested my hands against my knees as I gasped for breath. It was too early for this shit.

Sucking in a breath, I panted as I stood up straight. Looking behind me, Mike was puffing away as he jogged to where I had stopped. He looked worse than me, sweat pouring down his face as he gasped for breath. Poor guy looked like he was about to keel over. As he stopped next to me, there was a determination there I had grown used to seeing. The man had a fire in his gut and I was there for the ride.

This had become a daily routine for us. I would drive over at seven in the morning and together we would jog around the loop we had measured out to be about a mile. The first few times were grueling. I didn’t have the weight he did, but my cardio was weak. It was still pretty rough, but it was getting better.

“Almost. There,” he gasped.

I nodded and together we set out at a light jog. Rounding the corner, we were in the home stretch when I found an unexpected sight waiting for us. Emma was standing on the sidewalk in front of Mike’s house. Black hair tied back in a low ponytail, she was doing some light stretches as we approached.

“Emma,” I gasped, slowing to a stop. “What are you. Doing here?”

My eyes ran down her shapely body. I’d seen her naked so many times now, why did a sports bra and tight running pants turn me on so much?

She straightened from the pose she had been stretching in and looked over the two of us. “Good lord. How long have you two been running?”

“Mile,” Mike gasped.

She frowned. “How long?”

“Huh?”

“How long did it take you to do the mile?”

Mike glanced at me and I shrugged. Checking my phone I made a guess. “Maybe twenty-five or so minutes?”

She pursed her lips in displeasure. “And you two look like…” Emma’s hands made a gesture, no words required.

“You could do better?” I snapped, sucking in air as I puffed my chest out. She snorted, rolling her eyes.

“I average eleven minutes for a mile.”

“You work out?”

The expression she gave me told me it was time to shut up.

“You really think this figure keeps itself? I’ve been running every morning before school since I started freshmen year.”

I grinned. “I thought it was the copious amount of sex you had.”

Emma didn’t miss a beat. “If that were the case, your friend here would be the most fit out of all of us.”

Mike was blushing, still winded. “I don’t do it that much.” We both stared at him. “What? I don’t!”

“Still haven’t told us what you are doing here,” I said, redirecting the conversation back to the beginning.

“Helping you two out.” I looked over to Mike and he shrugged. Her smile grew. “Figured you two would need some motivation. I decided to play rabbit.”

“Rabbit?” Mike asked.

She nodded. “Like in dog races? The dogs are all chasing the rabbit. I’m the rabbit.”

“Oh.” He looked at me and I shrugged.

Sighing, she shook her head. “I’ll set the pace, you two follow after me. Whoever is still with me at the end gets rewarded.”

“What’s the reward?” I asked with a knowing grin.

Her smile turned teasing. “You’ll have to find out.”

“Wait,” Mike said before she could run off. “What happens if we both stay with you?”

Her eyes went from Mike to me, then gave us both a huge smile. “In that case, I’d say I get the reward.”

Before we could respond, she was already jogging away. Mike and I watched for several seconds, both enjoying the same sight. My friend taking a deep breath broke the spell her ass had on me.

“Isaac, your girlfriend is the best.”

Then the fucker shoved me into the grass and took off after Emma.

Pushing myself back to my feet, I brushed grass and dirt from my legs. “Asshole.”

Didn’t stop the massive grin from forming as I chased after them.