They were all leaning in close, grinning like fools.
Jessica felt her cheeks burning again. Reserved…yes, that was a good word for Mark, but she wanted to see him let loose. Ooh, yeah, she might make that her new mission in life. “Not much of a dirty talker, no. And yes, he likes to keep himself in control, but that’s kind of a plus because he always takes plenty of time for me first.”
Gabby nodded solemnly. “And kudos for that. There are way too many men out there who only think about themselves in bed.”
“Sad but true.” Jessica nodded. “Mark definitely scores a perfect ten on delivering orgasms, but—” She cut herself off and reached for her beer, semi-embarrassed by what she’d almost said.
“But what?” Carly asked.
“You can’t leave us hanging like this,” Gabby said.
“If you ever repeat this to anyone, I’ll ban you all from the spa.” She raised her eyebrows for effect, and they all nodded vigorously. “He’s holding back. There’s this passion, something really raw and intense. I can see it just beneath the surface, but he reins it in. I’m not sure he’s ever really let go, and I really,reallywant to see it. I mean, don’t get me wrong, he’s already great in bed, but Mark unleashed? That might be like holy shit, off-the-charts amazing.”
“Whoa,” Mandy said. “I may have underestimated you, Jessica. I always thought you were kind of buttoned-up, but you go, girl. I hope he takes you on the ride of your life.”
Jessica chugged the remainder of her beer. “If so much as a word of this makes it to Ethan or Ryan, you guys are dead to me.”
“Our lips are sealed.” Emma mimed zipping her lips with a grin.
“Absolutely,” Gabby agreed. “But you have to let us know how it turns out.”
“Girls’ night,” Carly said, “at one of our houses so that you can spill all the deets in total privacy.”
“Do I even want to know?” a masculine voice asked.
Jessica looked up to see Ryan standing beside their table, a wide grin on his face.
“Nope,” Emma told him. “This is for girls’ ears only.”
“Hmm.” Ryan surveyed the table. “Interesting. Very interesting. So who’s ready for the Adrenaline Rush this weekend?”
“Totally pumped,” Mandy said.
Emma pouted. “I’m so sad I can’t race this year.”
“Team Flower Power won’t be the same without you,” Carly told her.
“But we’refinishingthis time.” Gabby lifted her beer, a determined expression on her face.
“Yo, I have no doubt about it,” Ryan said, giving Gabby a fist bump. “All right, ladies. I’ve got to get back to the bar. Behave yourselves.” He winked as he walked away.
A mixture of excitement and trepidation swam in Jessica’s stomach. Maybe running in an obstacle course race wasn’t the best idea for her right now, but then again, why not? She had several appointments scheduled next week to have more tests done, and in the meantime, there was absolutely no reason she shouldn’t go about her life as usual.
Emma had to drop out of the race when she got pregnant, and they needed four members to compete, which meant Team Flower Power was counting on Jessica. If she was lucky, she might even forget about her aches and pains for a few hours while she was at it.
“Here’s to Team Flower Power,” Mandy said, lifting her beer.
***
Saturday morning dawned cold but clear. With a projected high of sixty-five degrees and sunny skies, it was the perfect day for a race. Mark was at Off-the-Grid by five to run final checks on the course.
“Fuckin’ freezing out here,” Ryan grumbled as he met Mark out front.
Mark nodded. Probably wasn’t much more than forty degrees right now, but that would change once the sun was all the way up.
“That mud pit’s going to be cold as balls,” Ethan said with a grin. “You guys ready?”
Together, they set out into the woods, checking and double-checking every obstacle on the course. This year, teams would start out on the ropes course and then navigate their way into the woods using compasses through a series of team-based obstacles ending in the mud pit. Once the entire team had completed the course, it would be a race to the finish line.
