Runner's High

This is my submission for the 2019 Summer Lovin' contest. Don't forget to vote at the end, it would be much appreciated. Of course, comments and feedback are also very welcome.

I want to thank Ada Stuart and Rustyoznail for proofreading and editing this story. Their feedback was invaluable.

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A little satisfied groan escaped my lips as I pulled my foot up towards my butt, stretching out the tension of a long day of seated office work. A man had to pay his bills somehow, but I felt like a zombie by the time my eight hours were up and I could finally go home. But this... This was where I came alive.

I bounced back and forth on the balls of my feet a few times and looked around. While it had no doubt been busy earlier today, by now the beach was practically deserted. To my left, I could just see the sun being swallowed by the sea, coloring the sky a bright mix of reds, oranges, pinks and purples. It was low tide, which was the perfect time to run, as it compacted the sand and made it harder. It was less exhausting to run on than the loose, soft sand you had at high tide, and you were less likely to trip and fall or to twist your ankle.

The salty air was refreshing after spending a whole day in a dusty office, especially in this summer heat. It was days like these I'd personally like to thank the inventor of air-conditioning, had the man still been alive. Luckily, I got to the office early in the morning before the real heat started, and by the time I went home the worst had already passed. Still, I could appreciate the cool sea breeze all the same.

I fixed my eyes on the lights of my destination in the distance, several miles ahead of me. "Whew... Let's do this." The toes of my running shoes dug into the sand as I pushed off.

As usual, it took a moment for my body to shake off the tension of the day, even after stretching. Soon, though, I felt myself slipping into a familiar rhythm. My legs seemed to move on their own and my breathing stabilized as I just ran. I couldn't keep a smile off my face as I felt the peace and calm of this trance-like state wash over me and all my worries slipped away for a moment. It was just me, the beach, and the slowly growing lights in the distance.

My mind had just started to wander when I saw something moving in front of me, just to my right. Surprisingly, it turned out to be a female runner. While the beach wasn't usually completely empty, I had only rarely encountered other runners here at this time. She was coming down one of the paths that lead to the beach and adjusted her trajectory until she was running parallel to the sea, like me.

She seemed to ignore me and never even once glanced back, running about 15 feet ahead of me. Not that I blamed her; once you got into the flow it was easy to zone out and lose track of your surroundings. There was a decent chance she hadn't even seen me at all.

We turned out to be running at roughly the same speed, as the distance between us remained unchanging. I wasn't complaining, though. There were worse things than running behind a young woman.

It was mesmerizing to watch the fluidity of her movements. Her brown ponytail was swinging from left to right like a pendulum, and I could see the muscles in her back move beneath her tight black tank top with every twist of her upper body as she brought one of her arms forward. Whenever her feet made contact with the sand a slight ripple went up her toned legs, making her firm butt jiggle just a little in her hot pink shorts.

I tried not to be a creep and stare, but that was easier said than done. In my defense it had been a while since my last girlfriend broke up with me. Besides, this girl's body was perfect; it would be a crime not to look. I regretted having decided against wearing sunglasses today but it soon became clear she wasn't going to look over her shoulder any time soon. She seemed very focused on her run. I doubted anything would distract her at this point.

As I watched her, I could feel some pressure starting to build in my shorts. It wasn't every day that I got the chance to look at such a nice butt, so it was only natural I was reacting to it. While there were some women at the office, none were as young or fit as the girl in front of me. I finally managed to tear my eyes away before I was running across the beach with a full hard-on.

Focusing on myself again, I noticed that I was starting to get out of breath. Weird, that never happened this early... Something didn't feel right about my rhythm, either. It took me a moment to realize that I had subconsciously copied hers which, with my longer legs, meant I was making comically small steps for a guy my size. I quickly adjusted my stride and soon found myself back in that effortless floaty run I had before. That was better...

I continued running behind her, as she had apparently set her sights on the same destination that I had: a small beach bar near one of the parking lots. For a moment I thought she would run past it but she finally slowed down and came to a full stop, panting with her hands on her knees. I stole one last glance at her round butt before letting myself fall onto one of the chairs.

"The usual?" I looked up to see the owner, a balding middle-aged man, glancing at me from behind the bar.

"Yeah, sounds good." I took a few deep breaths to lower my heartrate and wiped some sweat from my forehead. When I looked up, a pair of familiar pink shorts were standing in front of me.

"This chair taken?" She didn't wait for an answer and sat down on the opposite side of my table. She was still breathing heavily, but she seemed to have recovered from the worst of it already. We sat in silence for a moment, during which the owner put a glass of iced water in front of me, along with a protein bar.

"I'll have the same, thanks," she said. The man nodded and returned to the bar. "So, you managed to keep up with me. Not bad," she said, her eyes now focused on me. Apparently, she had seen me after all.

"You're not bad yourself. You looked like you've been running for a while." I took a sip of water and felt the cold liquid spread through my chest on its way down. There was nothing better than a cold drink after a good run, doubly so on a hot summer day.

The girl thanked the owner as he returned with her order before addressing me again. "I've been running for a few years, yeah." She raised her drink and pressed the cold glass against her red cheeks. "Ooh, that's nice..."

I watched as a few of the drops that had formed on the glass gathered together before running down her jaw and neck to finally disappear into the cleavage exposed by her tank top. While her breasts certainly weren't the biggest I had ever seen, this was to be expected from someone with such a fit and athletic body. There was hardly any excess fat on her. Her breasts looked perky and firm, although it was hard to tell how much of that could be attributed to the sports bra she was no doubt wearing beneath her top.

I dragged my eyes back up. Luckily, she had her eyes closed as she nuzzled her other cheek against the glass. I tried to think of something to say before she noticed my silence. "So, eh... You run on the beach often? I've never ran into you here before."

She opened her eyes and finally took a sip of the water before answering me. "I do, although I usually run in the morning. But I recently started a new job, which involved some schedule changes, so now running in the evening works better for me."

It was clear I was out of practice when it came to talking to women, as my brain was struggling to keep the conversation going. It had been a while since I had talked to a cute girl and it seemed like she had shut down the entire language center of my brain. And by God was she cute, with her big brown eyes and small nose, which turned up ever so slightly at the tip. Now that I had gotten a better look at her face I estimated her to be in her mid-twenties, like me.

"What kind of job?" I asked. Wow, well done man. The local news station just called; they want their reporter back. I fumbled with the wrapper of my protein bar and took a big bite before I said anything worse. Thankfully she didn't seem to mind my question though, or at least was polite enough to answer it.

"I just started at the local bakery the other day. Not actually baking, mind you. Just selling bread and stocking shelves and such." She looked me up and down for a moment as she sipped her water again. "So, what do you do? Besides struggling to keep up with running girls, I mean." She chuckled and started to unwrap her own protein bar as she waited for my answer.

I decided to ignore the last comment, although it did get a chuckle out of me. "I'm an accountant. It's about as exciting as it sounds. That's why I like to run here. I need some fresh air and exercise after spending my days between spreadsheets and stacks of papers."

She frowned and leaned forward a little and took another good look at me, while at the same time giving me a better view of her cleavage. "You don't look like an accountant to me."

"Eh, thanks? I guess?" I chuckled awkwardly at her intense stare. "What do you picture an accountant to look like then? An overweight old man with small round glasses?"

"Well, no... I mean... Maybe..." She laughed, shaking her head. "I was trying to give you a compliment, but you ruined it."

I laughed with her, feeling myself relax a little. Was she flirting with me? She did seem awfully chatty for a random girl that I had only just met, and she'd tolerated my sub-par social skills for a while now. There had to be at least something more to it than just basic friendliness, right?

We continued talking for a while about running, work, the hot summer and our favorite food among other things. I learned that her name was Penny, and it turned out we had a lot in common. Time seemed to fly as we talked. We ordered some beers after our water was gone, but all too soon she pulled her phone from her pocket and frowned.

"Oh fuck, is it that late already? I'm sorry, I have work in the morning. I really need to get going."

I looked around, realizing it had gotten quite dark already. "Same here..." I said with a disappointed sigh. We both started getting up, but she grabbed my hand as I reached for my wallet.

"Na-ah," she told me as she pulled out hers and approached the owner behind the bar. That had to be a first for me, a girl offering to pay on the first date. I stopped myself. Was this a date? It hadn't been planned, but... I guessed it might qualify. It certainly was the closest thing to a date I had had in a while.

Penny returned with a satisfied smile on her lips. "Well, I guess I'd better go find my car..." Despite her words, she seemed hesitant to go. I was glad my brain managed to pick up on the obvious hint she was dropping. I really would have been beyond saving if it hadn't.

"You want me to walk with you?" I offered. It had gotten pretty dark, and while she looked like she could handle herself it still didn't feel right to let her walk alone.

Her smile got brighter and she nodded. "Thanks, that would be nice." Penny turned around and started towards the nearby parking lot. Well, nearby... We still had to walk to the edge of the beach before we reached it. Those minutes were spent continuing our earlier conversation, and we had reached the parking lot before we knew it.

She stopped in front of a red car and turned back to face me. The warm yellow light of a nearby lamppost cast strange shadows on her face as she looked up at me. "I'll be running again on Friday, same time as today. Any chance I'll see you then?"

"Yeah, that works for me." Although I managed to keep my face neutral, my heart jumped at her suggestion. She really did want to see me again. I swallowed to make sure my voice was steady as I did my best to play it cool. "I guess we'll meet at the bar if we happen to miss each other, then."

"Sounds good. Looking forward to it." She smiled, but I could see some hesitation in her eyes as she looked at me. Then, out of nowhere, she flung her arms around me and hugged me tight. It took a second before my body reacted and returned her hug.

She felt surprisingly small and fragile in my arms, despite all her firm muscles. The only exception were her breasts that were being squished against my chest. I had almost forgotten the feeling... We lingered for a moment before she pulled back. As she did, our arms stuck together slightly from our mutual dried sweat.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry! I forgot I was still gross from running." Penny gasped and put a hand in front of her mouth in embarrassment, giving me a horrified look.

"Well, I don't exactly smell like roses either. Don't worry about it." I chuckled and gave her a comforting smile.

"I guess that's true..." She giggled and seemed to recover. "Alright, see you on Friday then, stinky." Penny punched my arm and gave me a wink before she unlocked the red car and stepped inside. She drove off with a final 'Bye!' and an accompanying wave through the open window.

I waved back and watched her car vanish into the night until finally the tail lights disappeared behind a corner. It took me a moment to realize I still had a stupid grin plastered on my face. I shook my head in disbelief. What a night...

* * *Finally, Friday night was there. The ball of excitement that had been building in my stomach for the last few days had reached an all-time high, making me feel restless all day. Still, I was really looking forward to meeting Penny again. While I wasn't entirely sure if our last meeting counted as a proper date, tonight certainly would.

I did my stretches and checked the time on my phone. It was only a few minutes later than I had started my last run, but I still felt a need to get going. Part of me was worried she'd go home if I didn't show up on time, but the rational part of my brain tried to convince me that there was nothing to worry about. She'd need to rest for a while at the bar anyway before leaving, so there was plenty of time for me to meet up with her even if I managed to miss her during the run.

Despite my attempts to calm my nerves, I still found myself running a bit faster than usual. I had to consciously slow myself down or else I'd burn through all my energy before I even got to the halfway point. Now that would be embarrassing, to make such a rookie mistake.

Along the way I cast a hopeful glance towards the path she'd taken down to the beach the last time, but to my disappointment there was no Penny running towards me. My nerves returned and I worried if she would show up at all. I wouldn't know until I reached the bar, and even then I might be the first and would need to wait for her.

As I was slowly getting worried, I spotted someone running ahead of me in the distance. While it was a bit too far away to properly recognize her, there was no mistaking the bright pink shorts and swinging ponytail. I let out a deep sigh as a wave of relief washed over me. I really needed to stop worrying so much.

I felt an urge to call out to her but decided against it. She was pretty far ahead of me and I didn't want to distract her. While running at low tide was safer, it still was easy to trip if you didn't look where you were going. What if I startled her or she looked over her shoulder and fell? I wouldn't want to have that on my conscience, especially not after how well our last meeting had turned out.

Penny reached the bar well before me and stopped to catch her breath, exactly like she had done last time. Then she turned around and stopped, waving at me excitedly before she walked over to the bar. I gave her a little wave back and smiled, although I wasn't sure she could see that from this distance.

If it had been difficult to control my speed before, the last stretch was even harder. Now that she'd recognized me, I really wanted to catch up and reach the bar already. It took a lot of willpower, but I managed to keep myself from going into a full-on sprint.

When I reached the bar, Penny was already sitting at a table, two glasses of iced water and two protein bars sitting in front of her. I collapsed in one of the chairs, feeling more exhausted than usual despite my attempts to go slower.

"There you are. I was worried you wouldn't show up." Penny smiled at me, her chest still heaving and a loose strand of her brown hair plastered against her forehead. I had to take a few deep breaths and a gulp of cool water before I could talk.

"Of course I'm here. I wouldn't leave a girl like you waiting," I said in between pants.

"A girl like me, huh?" She grinned mysteriously. "What kind of girl would you say I am then?" Was this a trap? It sure felt like one. I held up my hand and tried to recover my breath before answering, racking my brain for the right reply in the meantime. What would she want to hear?

"Well... you're incredibly cute, for one," I said, hoping I was on the right track. Her eyes gave me zero clues, and I had no choice but to continue. "You're a talented runner, funny... Do I need to continue?"

Penny had folded her hands beneath her chin and was grinning at me. "I wouldn't mind if you did."

"Eh... You give nice, sticky post-run hugs?"

She laughed and swatted at my arm from across the table. "Hey! You were sweaty too, in case you had forgotten." Despite her words, her eyes were twinkling and she had a big smile on her face. I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. Apparently, I had picked correctly.

"Okay fine, we were both gross. But it was a nice hug, so I didn't really mind." I smiled, opening the wrapper of my protein bar and taking a bite.

She smiled and drank from her glass for a moment. "Did you have to walk far to your car, actually? After I left you, I mean."

"Oh, I wasn't here by car. I live very close by, so I usually just walk."

"Huh... Well, I'd have offered you a lift if I knew." She was playing with her still wrapped protein bar with her finger, slowly twirling it around in a small circle.

"I guess you could make up for it tonight?" I suggested.

"Yeah, I think I will..." Her eyes lit up with that same twinkle I had seen earlier and her mouth was twisted in a half-smirk.

I laughed, suddenly feeling slightly uncomfortable at the way she was staring at me. The moment didn't last long though, and we quickly fell into a continuation of our last conversation, talking about life and work and such. At some point Penny had shifted her chair closer to mine, claiming the setting sun was blinding her. Within the next 15 minutes, her head had slowly lowered until it was resting on my shoulder.

I couldn't believe it at first, but it was as clear a sign as any. Analyzing the situation, I decided that it was time I made a move too. Tentatively I lowered my hand and gently rested it on the tanned skin of her leg, right above her knee. Penny didn't stop me, which I saw as a good sign.

My hand squeezed her leg slightly, feeling the strong muscles hidden beneath a small layer of softness. She let out a soft sigh in response, nuzzling her head more firmly against my shoulder.

"Finally," she breathed in my neck. "If this hadn't worked, I would have had no choice but to just start stripping in front of you." She giggled, and while it was clearly a joke, I felt my cock stir at the imagery her words conjured nonetheless. "I was starting to worry you would never make a move."

I turned back a little so I could look at her properly and lifted her chin with my finger. Her big brown eyes were staring at me in anticipation before I brought her closer and pressed my lips against hers. She eagerly returned the kiss, roaming a hand through my hair and pressing her body against me.

I shifted my hand up along her leg and stroked her thigh, making her gasp against my lips. Her other hand went exploring as well, finding its way beneath my shirt where it roamed the firm muscles of my stomach. While I wasn't ripped by any means, I had been exercising beyond just running and my stomach was flat and toned. It was no six pack though, at least not yet; that would still take a little while, but the foundation was definitely there.