by Amanda Wals
"Joshua, could I speak to you for a moment?" asked Julie. She grabbed my elbow and steered me away from my friends.
"You spent how much on my bike?" she asked in an angry tone.
"Thirteen hundred."
"You shouldn't have spent so much money on me. My old bike was fine. How much did you spend on it?" I had bought her a used, entry-level bike a year ago when I convinced her to start training with me.
"Two fifty."
"Son of a bitch. I had no idea. Why didn't you tell me bikes were so expensive?"
I shrugged.
"I'm serious. Can we take this new bike back?"
"I'm thinking of taking it back, but so I can trade it up for an $1800 bike. I hadn't anticipated you'd be willing to ride so far so soon."
Julie crossed her arms. "That's bullshit, Josh. No way can I pay you back for an $1800 bike." Julie's job at a mortgage processor didn't pay well and she hadn't made much of a dent into her student loans the two years she had been working.
I crossed my arms too. "I have plenty of money, Julie." I was an engineer at an engineering firm. I had gotten good raises all four years there and made good money. In the next year or two, I would probably be made a manager. I spent a lot on biking, but not much on anything else. My student loans were all paid off. "There's nothing I could spend my money on which would bring me more pleasure."
We stared at each other. Eventually, she looked away.
She looked back at me and asked, "How much did your bike cost?"
"Five grand."
"That's crazy."
"Connor's crankshaft - the part the pedals screw into - his crankshaft alone cost three grand."
Julie shook her head. "That's nuts. How can so many people afford bikes that cost so much? They look like bikes you can buy at Walmart for a hundred." She paused for a bit. "My new bike is a lot better than my old bike. Thanks for buying it for me. Would an $1800 bike be that much better than this one?"
"Over one mile, it'd be a little better. Over forty miles, it'd be tremendously better."
"Okay." She went back to my friends and resumed talking to them.
We had had a similar confrontation a year ago. When she had come to me depressed, I had suggested she start training with me. Dieting and going to the gym hadn't worked out for her and she hadn't been able to keep up either. I had been tired of her complaining about her weight. Her first excuse for not training with me had been that she wouldn't be able to keep with me. I was an avid biker and regularly did hundred mile rides. I had told her I would push her to ride as fast as she could, but would go no faster. She had countered with she didn't have money for a bike. I had said I would buy her a cheap one. We had gone back and forth until she finally realized that I wasn't going to take no for an answer.
* * *
Three miles beyond the first rest stop, we came to a steep incline. I knew Julie couldn't do such a hard climb without exhausting herself.
"Pull over, Julie. We're going to walk the bikes up the hill."
I turned to my two friends. "You guys go on. We'll meet you at the finish line."
"No, it's-" said Ben.
"Get out of here, guys," I said firmly.
They shrugged and took off. When I had been in high school, I could never have told guys like my friends to do anything. They would have laughed at me. In high school, everyone had called me "Little Joshie". I had hated it. HATED IT. High school had been hell for me. With my shirt off and long pants on, I looked like a 98-pound weakling. Everything below my waist though was solid muscle.
I took Julie's bike and we walked up the hill.
"Thanks for sending them off. They're nice guys, but I don't want them wasting their time with a poor rider like me."
"You're not a poor rider. You just aren't as good as my friends. I can tell they'd like to go out with you. I expect to get texts from them soon asking for your phone number."
"I don't want to go out with anyone right now."
I wrinkled my brow. How could she have worked so hard on getting into shape and not want to take advantage of it? I asked myself.
"Why?"
"I met them last year, right?"
"Right."
"And they ignored me. I want a guy who likes me and sees my body as bonus, not some guy who wants to date my body and sees me as a bonus."
I was disappointed. One of the reasons I had convinced her to come to this rally was to set her up with one of my friends.
* * *
"What should I eat?" asked Julie.
We were at the second rest stop, twenty-five miles into the ride.
"You did fine picking out foods at the first rest stop. Pick out something similar here."
When we had started training, Julie's weight hadn't changed much. It hadn't been until I had convinced her to let me make her dinner and a sack lunch every night that she lost weight. Until then, she had eaten fast food for almost every meal and fast food portions were terrible for someone of her size. When she wasn't exercising, Julie should have eaten 1500 calories a day. She had been frequently eating a Bacon Ultimate Cheeseburger, fries and a Diet Coke for lunch or dinner. That had been 1360 calories for one meal. Once I had gotten her eating homemade meals that were the right size for her body, the pounds had melted away. Now, she often asked me what she should eat whenever we were away from home.
It was a lot more pleasant cooking for her and me; cooking for only me sucked. After work, we rode bikes either outside or on trainers in our apartment and then I made us dinner while we chatted about our days. When she had graduated from college, she had gotten a studio apartment in the same complex where I had a studio, about ten miles from where we had grown up. Once I had taken over cooking for her, she had said it was pointless for her to have a kitchen. She had suggested that we get a two-bedroom apartment together to reduce the amount of rent we paid. When I had agreed, she had gone to the management and arranged everything. We lived mostly happily together with much less fights than when we were kids. Julie liked to joke she was training me to be a good husband.
"How are you feeling now?"
"I'm feeling it now, but I can finish the ride."
"I think you hit peak benefit of the ride around twenty miles. Every additional mile is less and less of a benefit, and it will make you sorer when we're done. Why don't we call a SAG wagon and get a ride to the finish?"
"I'm still getting a benefit for each mile?"
"Yes."
"Then we'll keep going."
* * *
I was so proud of Julie when we crossed the finish line. She had rode steadily the whole way without complaining, though she had to be hurting now. We rode over to the lunch area and my four friends were waiting for us at a table.
"Get a protein bar and some chocolate milk. I'll join you shortly." I put our bikes on the roof rack on my Subaru, locked them down and walked over to my friends.
Julie looked bad. She was definitely in pain. She was walking around awkwardly with little winces. My friends and I looked sweaty but not tired. For us, it had been the first ride of the season and we hadn't pushed ourselves.
"How are you doing, Julie?"
"My legs are on my fire. My feet hurt. Everything else is sore. You warned me I would hurt, but I hadn't thought it would be this bad."
"Walk around and see if you feel better." I knew she wouldn't. Her body had produced an excessive amount of lactate and she would be in pain until it was processed.
My friends tried to engage Julie in conversation, but she didn't respond. Pain has a way of making you not talkative. I finished my protein bar and chocolate milk. I didn't see any point in sticking around with Julie in such pain.
"Guys, we have a motel room and I'm going to take Julie there for a nap. Could you stick around and join us for dinner at five?"
They all agreed to stick around. I gave them the name of the Italian restaurant that I had planned to eat at. With that, I took Julie's arm and gently walked her over to the Subaru.
To convince her to do another bike rally, I had found a rally at a tourist trap town three hours from our place. I knew Julie had wanted to visit it, so I had suggested we drive out Friday night, get a motel room for two nights, do the ride and spend the rest of Saturday exploring the town. I had offered to pay for the motel room, as it didn't cost anymore for two than one. It had taken quite a bit of wheedling, but I had gotten her to agree. Now I was glad that I had gotten the motel room, as Julie needed a place to crash.
As soon as we got in the room, Julie collapsed on the bed closest to the door. I went into the bathroom and got some ibuprofen out of my toiletries bag. I filled a glass with water and went back to Julie.
"Here. Take this."
She leaned up a little bit to take the ibuprofen then sprawled back on the bed. I went out, got the bikes off the Subaru and brought them into the room. Julie hadn't moved.
"I'm going to take a shower. Are you going to be okay?"
She grunted something that I took to be a yes. I took a shower and came out in my shorts. While I was in the bathroom, Julie had stripped off her biking jersey and shorts, pulled back the bed covers and was now lying on top of the sheets in a dark gray sports bra and gray panties. Her panties were soaked with sweat and hugged her cute little ass. She wasn't moving.
I want back into the bathroom and found the baby oil I kept in my toiletries bag to masturbate with when I traveled on business. I came back out and approached Julie.
"I'm going to give you a massage, okay?"
She gave a weak grunt. I rubbed my hands together, poured some baby oil on them and began kneading her calves. I had never given Julie a massage before and hadn't planned to give her one after the rally. With her in so much pain, I felt like I had to do something. My ministrations provoked some groans. Her calves were very stiff and I worked quite some time on them to get them relaxed. Julie was getting bikers' legs - narrow at the ankle and knee with large, muscular calves. She had some muscle definition, but nothing close to mine.
My dick had gotten a little stiff when I had seen Julie lying on the bed mostly naked. Now that I was fondling her body, I was rock hard. I loved massaging a firm body. I hadn't massaged a body this nice since I had broken up with Kim and that had been four years ago. God, I missed Kim. Since we broke up, I hadn't dated a girl that could hold a candle to her.
I got Julie's feet relaxed and then worked up her body. She laid there unmoving and occasionally moaned. When I got to her lower back, I was hugely tempted to slide a hand into her panties. Her ass looked fantastic and was only inches away. Would she have had the energy to protest? Sick thoughts for a brother to think about his sister.
After an hour, I had finished her backside. "Turn over, Julie." She weakly moved and eventually flipped herself over. "Julie, you're going to be very relaxed when I'm done. Go to sleep and have a nice nap. When you wake up, text me and I'll come back."
I spent thirty more minutes massaging her front, starting with her feet and working up. As I kneaded her muscles, Julie got more and more relaxed. When I got to her upper chest, I was tempted to slip my hand into her bra. Her tits looked so big on her and again I wondered if she would have the energy to protest. I pushed the sick thoughts out of mind and continued.
When I finished, she was well on her way to dreamland. I finished dressing; got my wallet, cell phone and keys; and slipped out of the room. Across the street from the motel was an upscale burger place. I didn't want to go far, so I hiked over there. I had a double cheeseburger with bacon and barbecue sauce. It was ridiculously far off my diet. However, I knew I wouldn't be riding hard again for over 48 hours so it was okay. There was something about eating something forbidden that made it extra delicious. I couldn't remember enjoying a meal more.
I checked my cell phone while I was eating and sure enough, I had texts from all four guys asking about Julie's availability. I texted them back that Julie had said she wasn't interested in dating right now.
I played a game on my phone until I got a text from Julie - "Up. Taking shower". I headed back to the room and Julie was still in the bathroom when I walked in. She came out wrapped in a towel.
"I'll get some clothes and change in the bathroom," she said.
"No, change out here. I'll turn away." I wanted to get out as soon as possible to explore the town. The massage and nap had taken up a lot of the time that I had planned to spend exploring.
I turned around and faced the other side of the room. I could hear Julie rummaging around in her suitcase. I could hear her doing something, but I couldn't tell what. What was taking her so long?
There was a mirror on the wall in our room and I couldn't resist looking in it to see what was taking her so long. She was bent over the bed topless, holding up different shorts to the T-shirt she had gotten at the rally to see which matched better. I tried hard to not suck in my breath. Her tits were beautiful. They were pear-shaped and pert with no sagging. Her nipples were relatively large and light brown. In college, some of my Engineering friends had joked about a "Standard British Handful" for measuring tit size and she seemed like a 2 or 2.5.
I had never seen tits that nice. Oh, I had at strip clubs, but they didn't count as I could never touch those and they were probably fake too. These were all natural. Not that I would ever be able to touch Julie's.
Julie had gotten a few bras out and she was testing to see if they would show through the T-shirt. The T-shirt was white with a red and blue design on it. She decided a light blue bra that matched her panties would show through, but a light peach one wouldn't.
She looked up and caught me looking at her in the mirror.
"Sorry," I said, feeling very embarrassed. I looked away from the mirror and stared at the far wall.
"It's okay. I shouldn't have taken so long."
In few moments, she said, "Ready." I turned around. She looked great.
"How do you feel?"
"Sore, but much better. Where did you learn to massage like that?"
"Kim. She loved massages. We took three massage classes together."
"Damn, she was a lucky girl. I've had boyfriends give me massages, but nothing close to that good."
"She loved a massage after a hard workout. She would moan and groan the whole time I worked her body. When I was done, she would be like 'Do whatever you want with me'." I smiled at the happy memories. "Oh, that was TMI."
We had been getting our stuff as we had talked and now we headed out of the room. I drove us down to the main shopping area and we spent the time until five wandering around shops. Julie ended up buying a T-shirt with the town's name on it. I had so many T-shirts from bike rallies that I didn't need anymore. We mainly joked about how kitschy most of the trash was. I had a good time.
At five, we went to the Italian restaurant. We got a table for six and everyone showed up before the water arrived. We all ordered pasta to replenish our glycogen stores. After we ordered, my friends and I got into a heated discussion on the relative merits of various bike tire widths. Julie let us discuss it for ten minutes or so, and then she said, "This is so boring. Could we discuss something at least modestly interesting to me?"
We all gave chagrined smiles at getting caught descending so deep into bikegeekdom.
"How about some biking stories?" Connor suggested.
"Okay," said Julie.
"Last summer, I was on a hundred K ride" - a hundred kilometers or sixty-two miles - "and I was in the lead pack. We climbed this hill in two lines on a little, two-lane country road. When the leader got to the crest, I heard him yell, 'Cow!'"
"Cow?" asked Julie.
"Yeah. I came over the crest and there was this cow fifty feet in front of us in the middle of our side of the road."
"What did you do?" asked Julie.
"What could we do? The left line hauled ass past the left side of the cow while the right line zipped by on the right. Bossy gave us a good-bye moo and we kept on going."
Julie gave a little laugh while the
rest of us shook our heads. We swapped stories until they brought us our pasta. As we ate, Julie worked the table, asking each guy what they did and where they grew up. Everyone had a good time. She reminded me of how she had been in high school - full of smiles, cute and popular.
At seven, I said it was time for us to go. I knew my all friends were driving back home and I didn't want them getting back too late. Julie and I headed back to the room. When we got there, we found an on-demand movie that we were both interested in seeing.
"Do you mind if I watch the movie on your bed with you?" asked Julie. "My bed is a mess." She had sweated all over her sheets and I had spilled some oil. We had queens and there was plenty of room on my bed for both of us.
"Sure."
We got all of the pillows on my bed, got under the sheets and watched the movie. We both liked romantic comedies and we enjoyed this one. When it was over, we got up and brushed our teeth. I came out of the bathroom while Julie stayed a little longer to change into a nightshirt. I was in my bed when she came out.
"Would you mind if I slept with you?"
"No."
I moved over to give her half of the bed. She slipped under the sheets and grabbed my hand. That felt awkward and wrong, but nice at the same time. We soon drifted off.
* * *
I awoke the next morning to the sound of groans.
"God, I'm so sore," moaned Julie.
I checked the clock; it was 6:08. I got out of bed and took my morning piss. I checked the color of my piss to see if I was properly hydrated. I was glad to see it was a nice light yellow. I put some ibuprofen on the counter for Julie to take.
Julie used the bathroom after I came out. I gathered our breakfast - yogurt and a banana for each of us.
When she came out, Julie asked, "Would you mind giving me another massage? Yesterday's helped so much and I don't want to be sore and stiff on the drive home."
"After breakfast, sure."
Once we finished eating, Julie got a light peach bra and peach panties out of her bag, went into the bathroom and changed into them. She came out and laid down on the bed we had slept in. I poured some baby oil on my hands and started on her calves as I had last night.
