Page 2 of Endless First Kisses

Chapter One

Six Months Later

Two things happened. Quickly.

One, she saw him. His distinctive face. His long hair tucked behind his ears. How could she forget him? It was really him. His body, lean and tall. Running along the Charles River. Looking at her intently. Smiling generously. With his eyes too.

Then, the second thing happened. She didn’t see it coming. How could she? She too was staring at him. Something hit her out of the blue. Or, she hit something. It didn’t matter.

Next thing Caroline McKenzie noticed was her body lying on the ground. Looking up and seeing the light pole that had the better of her. Then, he came into her view. All of him. Standing erect and tall. In his baggy shorts. And soon a peek of what lay beneath the shorts. Straight up to the junction of his runner legs. She had wondered about him. In her defense, he was stalk-worthy. A consensus 10 among her classmates. So, she had stalked him. She hadn’t seen anything wrong about it. But not this day. She would have been better prepared had she known she would run into him.

Caroline breathed heavy. Sighing to catch her breath. He leaned down next to her. It was really Jack Reiner. The same Jack she had succeeded in convincing to speak at her graduation. On behalf of the student body, that is. Definitely not because she had a crush on him.

They had exchanged emails. But she was absolutely sure he didn’t know her. At least as much as she knew about him. That was for sure. Now that she has seen more. She turned her head to face him, dealing with the mixture of the image of his crotch in her full view and the beginning of a headache.

His face closer to her now. His curly hair flapping in the wind. Smiling. Not grinning. That was the difference. He was really laughing at her. She was mortified. How could life be so cruel? She was blowing her only chance. She had read somewhere people make up their minds about others in the first fifteen seconds of interaction.

“Are you alright?” Jack asked. His face looked bright as if it was emitting light toward her.

“Y-y-es,” Caroline stuttered.

“You almost knocked the pole off the ground. And you missed me by few inches...” He said. His legs practically touching her. Within dangerous distance from her own sweaty legs... I need to get up quickly, she instructed herself. Otherwise…

Could he actually be not wearing pants? A silly question. She knew her mind won’t let her forget what she saw. She will certainly savor the image. Missed him by few inches? What happened to all the Leaning In she had been preaching?

Inside her body, a competition between the flutter in her stomach and the throbbing headache spreading rapidly from her forehead down to the ground. As if she were struck by lightning. It might as well have been one. Jack put his hand on her forehead. Hot and burning. Did he take pity on her?

The pole stood tall while she regained her bearings. This was no way to meet Jack Reiner. Not the way she wanted to make a first impression. In her skimpy sports bra and tiny shorts that clung to her ass tightly. She felt free when running like that. As if she were streaking in the wind. No better feeling in the world. Like the epic run in Chariots of Fire. Free, naked, and alive.

The difference now is he was looking at her. She had tracked his eyes as he scanned her body. Now focused on her eyes. No hesitation whatsoever. Well, didn’t she read something about how bold he was? Daring, too.

“I’m fine. Sorry…” Caroline sat up. Pretending not to feel dizzy. Helplessly aware of her own disorganized state. She was sweating more than the amount of distance she covered would justify. Maybe it was his hand on her forehead. A mixture of hot and cold. Her sweat mixing with his… And their skins touching. Oh God, she whispered silently.

Maybe she had a fever. Was that why he was leaving his hand there? She put her legs together. Tightly, embracing herself. The flutter and tingling sensation, spreading throughout her body like an earthquake. She smiled back in the hope of reassuring and disarming him. That was the only defense she had.

“Sure?” He asked, now sitting right next to her. One hand on her shoulders. She felt their skin sticking together. Big trouble.

“Yes, absolutely… Sorry for interrupting your run…” She said hugging herself tighter. She wasn’t sure what her hands would do in return. She noticed he wasn’t any better clothed than she was. At least they had that in common.

“I’m Jack,” he said. Relieved. She could have easily passed out. “I was just about to perform a CPR on you.” He laughed. His lips parted exposing an arresting smile.

Oh God! CPR? She now wished she had passed out.

“I could still pass out…” She said, randomly. Not even thinking.

If she really needed a CPR who better to administer it than Jack Reiner. And his lips. She wondered how it would have felt like… In all her musings about him, she hadn’t allowed for that possibility before. Not that she didn’t want it. It was just that she never thought it to be a possibility. It didn’t matter what everyone else said about him.

Jack had felt compelled to smile at her. Spotting her from a distance. Drawn by her free-spiritedness in the way she ran. Effortlessly bouncing off the pavement. The closer she came into his view, the harder he was taken by her. Her thin face, and twinkling eyes. The pale, ivory tan of her skin. Her arms and legs freed to enjoy the full exposure of the sun. Her wholesome breasts, resisting the flattening of the sports bra she was wearing. Her hair, wavy and long, swinging side to side from the pigtail. Smiling was the least he could do, making plans to stop and chat with her was in the works before she fell in front of him.

All that had captured his interest. Attractive? Yes, most definitely. He had seen many beautiful women in his time. He couldn’t be sure about something else. But then she got closer, and he was even more pleasantly surprised it was the same girl he had been curious about the past many months. The girl he knew by name and a picture he had searched on the Internet. Many of them from cross-country races. In various states of competition, but looking flawlessly beautiful in all of them. And a few from her father’s political campaign.

Jack had accepted the invitation in part because of the intrigue posed by this same girl who laid on the ground before him. Finding her even more attractive than he had concluded from afar.

“Caroline, Caroline McKenzie,” she said, holding onto his hand. He squeezed her palm. Not too tight. But enough to send a reverberating shock wave through her system.

“Well, be careful out there, Caroline,” he said, helping her rise off the ground. She leaned against the pole for help. It was either that or staggering more into his embrace. And that was a big no-no.

“Thank you,” she said. She couldn’t think of anything else to add.