*Okay, so at the start of the Covid pandemic, I said that romance/erotica writers SHOULD write more stories that portray and encourage mask-wearing. So here's my first attempt at a #MaskUp romance story.
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RUNNING HOT
Listen to an Excerpt
Donna’s gaze dipped as Nathan bent low to stretch, the muscles of his legs, back, and ass flexing. As a Korean-American, his tanned skin was sun-kissed as it stretched taut over his limber body. She, as a black woman, couldn’t help but think about what a contrast it would be against her own darker skin.
God, quarantine was doing a number on her if she was checking out her best running buddy. But it’d been so long since she’d touched or been touched by anyone other than her vibrator. It wasn’t like she hadn’t had dry spells before—most had lasted longer than the lockdown—but this felt different.
Touch seemed so taboo now. All the small, everyday encounters—handshakes from acquaintances, hugs from friends, to say nothing about the intimacies from lovers—now carried with them this looming sense of risk.
Hell, she hadn’t even stepped out of her house without a mask in months.
And the barrier between her and the world felt so isolating.
Donna didn’t know what she’d do if she didn’t have her morning runs with Nathan.
“You ready?” His voice was muffled as he stood up and adjusted his mask.
Adjusting her own mask, Donna nodded before they both started to jog along the park pathway. “I don’t think I’ll ever get used to wearing masks, especially while running.”
Nathan grunted in agreement. “Still better than the alternative.”
Fair enough. A mask was better than a ventilator. But still. “I know they say that they don’t obstruct your breathing, but I always feel out of breath when I wear one.”
Nathan nodded. “Yeah, I get that.” He shrugged. “You know how I’ve got a thing about closed spaces?” Yeah, Nathan was one of those people who never shut doors, if he didn’t have to. He was always quietly aware of where to sit or stand in a room, by a window or a door, so he didn’t feel shut in. She wondered how the lockdown was affecting him. If she was going stir-crazy, she couldn’t imagine what it was doing to him. He picked up his pace a bit. “Well, wearing a mask feels similar. Something about the mask being right up against my nose and mouth. Especially when I first put one on, I get this feeling like all the air has been sucked out.”
Donna frowned. “You can take it off, if you want.” She looked around the empty early-morning area. It was the nice thing about being early-risers. “No one’s here but us.”
Nathan’s stride slowed for a moment before he shook his head. “I don’t go many places, but I go out. To the grocery store. To the drug store. To get gas. Even to go on these runs.” He sighed. “I don’t feel sick, but you just never know.” He glanced at her for a moment, before he turned to steadfastly stare at the path ahead. “And I would never put anyone’s health—especially not yours—at risk just for my own comfort, especially not for something as quick as a run.”
It shouldn’t have, but that short second that their gazes met over their masks felt...electric. She felt that look straight through to her soul. It was somehow, strangely more intimate than any touch she’d ever experienced.
Damn, this was an absolutely awful time to need to get laid.
She fell a couple steps behind Nathan. It was really hard to not look at him with pure want. He was a genuinely nice guy who cared about the people around him. He was hardworking and smart and had this innate way to make people feel at ease around him. And, Lord knew, he was nice to look at. Thick, black hair that begged you to run your hands through it. Chiseled cheekbones and a strong jawline peeked out from behind his cloth mask. His eyes were often dark and intense, but could spark with a playfulness that always intrigued her.
Yeah, Nathan was objectively hot. She’d always known that; as his friend, she’d seen him literally charm the pants off of enough women. Why did that thought suddenly feel different? Donna felt sweat begin to drip down her brow, her face, her throat. She swallowed hard and felt her breath heave.
She shook her head. She needed to run. Run off all this extra...energy. That was all this was. Cooped-up stir craziness manifesting as horniness. She just needed to run.
So she picked up the pace to match Nathan’s. Next to him, she couldn’t look at him, right?
Except she could hear him breathing. Could feel the heat of him beside her. She was so aware of every movement of his body. The steady rhythm of his feet on the pavement. The strong, controlled swing of his arms as his powerful legs propelled him forward. Even his mask moved with a kind of grace, puffing in and out with each breath. Every time he breathed in, she could almost see the outline of his full, parted lips against the cloth. She imagined the feel of it against his lips, even as she couldn’t ignore the feel of her own against her mouth.
On a gasp, she tripped over a rock on the pavement that she would have easily avoided, if she hadn’t been so distracted. Not even remotely ready for the fall, she stumbled forward awkwardly before hitting the pavement hard on her hands and knees.
“Donna!” Nathan dropped to his own knees next to her. His hand on her shoulder, after months of no physical contact, stole her breath. “Are you okay?”
She winced and shifted to sit on the pavement, so she could inspect her hands and knees. “Just a few scrapes.” She brushed away the larger pebbles and clumps of dirt sticking to her now bloodied skin.
It wasn’t until he took her palms in his that she realized her hands were shaking. She’d never been good with blood, feeling too exposed. With her blood oozing out, her mind couldn’t stop thinking about what things—germs, bacteria, and whatnot—could get in.
Nathan squeezed her hands. “I’ve got a first aid kit in my car; can you make it to the parking lot or would you rather wait here while I get it?”
She stared at the small, but vibrant streaks of blood on her knees and felt her legs go weak. “I think I’ll just wait here.”
“Okay.” He helped her to a bench not far away. “I’ll be right back.”
She nodded. “I’ll be fine.” She shook her head. That sounded weak. “I’m fine.”
He touched her shoulder again. “You are.” He tucked a stray tendril of her hair behind her ear. “And you’ll be even better after we get you cleaned up.”
She watched him jog away toward the parking lot and felt beyond foolish. What was she doing? Literally tripping over herself over a guy. Not just a guy; Nathan. A friend. Who she had no business thinking about like that. She wasn’t going to risk their friendship—the comfortable routine of their relationship—just because she hadn’t gotten laid in months.
Hell, how would a romantic relationship, or even a sexual fling, work under quarantine? Sure, running together wasn’t exactly the most distant of social distancing, but sex brought that to a whole other level. They couldn’t even go on a date; there weren’t exactly places—movie theaters, restaurants, museums—to go to. No, it was a bad idea that she needed to let go of. Now.
“Hey, are you okay?”
Donna looked up to see two men with a basketball standing next to the bench. It was odd that the first thing she noticed was that they weren’t wearing masks. Before, she’d probably have thought that they were kind of cute. In their early thirties, they looked like clean-cut corporate types dressed down for a casual weekend. The taller blond had brilliant blue eyes and a pronounced Cupid’s bow, while the shorter brown-haired man had broad shoulders and gym-sculpted muscles.
Donna would have thought, especially after basically undressing Nathan with her eyes all morning, that she would have been doing the same with them. But she wasn’t. She felt oddly cold under the rising summer sun.
It was strange and a little disturbing to see and interact with an unmasked person. The pandemic had only been going a few months and she didn’t even like wearing masks, but all it took was a moment of being around an unmasked person to remind her why she wore them anyway. Better than the alternative, indeed. She forced herself to smile behind her mask and nodded. “I’m just taking a break. I took a little fall, but I’m okay.”
The brown-haired man shook his head. “What was that?” He bent forward, bringing himself closer, making her instinctively lean back. “Why don’t you take off that mask so we can actually talk to each other?”
All she could think about were those infographics and news stories she saw about droplets and the spread of the virus. Not to mention all the stories of BIPOCs being harassed, or worse, for just being out in the world. Donna stood up, putting at least six feet of distance between them. “See, I’m fine.”
They moved closer. A coolly amused smile stretched over the brown-haired man’s face, his hard gaze taking her in from head to toe. “You’re bleeding.” He reached out to her.
Backing up, she looked around the empty trail. “I was just waiting for my friend to come back.” Fear began to build like bile in the back of her throat. A part of her hated that. They were just two guys. Out for a game of hoops. At a public park. She was making too big a deal out of this. She wasn’t in danger. She shouldn’t feel afraid. Still, Donna dug in the pocket of her jogging pants, trying to fish out her phone.
“Hey, calm down.” Irritation wrinkled their noses as they looked down at her. The blond shook his head. “We’re just trying to help.”
She shouldn’t be afraid. She didn’t want to be afraid.
Except they were unmasked strangers and were rather aggressive about it, disrespecting her personal space and utterly disregarding social distancing. There was something inherently threatening in that, wasn’t there? At the very least, it made it clear to her that, no matter what they said, they didn’t care about her health or well-being. What was it that Nathan had said? That they had no problem putting their comfort before her safety.
Which made her angry. “I have to go.”
The brown-haired man scoffed. “You know, I thought maybe you might be pretty underneath that mask.” He dribbled the ball, the rubber seeming so loud against the pavement. “But only an ugly girl would be so rude about it.”
Yep, she was angry. Donna straightened. “I’m leaving.”
As she walked away, she felt blood trickle down her leg but she absolutely refused to let them see her cringe or limp. She shut her eyes but kept her head high.
She heard them laugh behind her. “Maybe that’s one good thing about ugly girls wearing masks; you don’t have to look at their faces.”
“What did you say?”
Donna looked up and saw Nathan, carrying a first aid kit in his gloved hands. His eyes looked positively livid and his jaw was clearly set even from behind his mask. He gripped the first aid kit in his hands tightly.
Donna rushed up to him and grabbed his arm. “Let’s go.”
He turned to her. “Are they bothering you?” She could feel his muscles tense in fury.
She shook her head. “It doesn’t matter.” Those jerks weren’t worth starting a fight. She didn’t want to get Nathan in trouble or hurt for her. She tugged on Nathan’s arm. “I just want to go home.” She tilted her head and silently pleaded with him. “C’mon.”
She watched as Nathan just stared them down, his mask billowing as he seethed. Stiffly, he just nodded and let her turn him back toward their cars.
“Ah, see that’s why they’re wearing masks.” The men’s laughter grew. “Look at him; they’ve clearly already got it.”
Donna whipped around. The hell did they just say? Her fists balled as she took a step toward them.
But Nathan grabbed her arm, the rubber glove jarring against her skin. “Don’t.” He gently turned her back around. “You’re right; they don’t matter. Let’s just go home.”
Silently, they walked back to their cars. Donna knew it wasn’t possible, but she felt like she could hear those men laugh the entire way. She bit her lip as Nathan wordlessly went straight to his car. Not knowing what else to do, she got into hers.
But, before she could reach over to shut the door, Nathan made his way to kneel at her side. “Turn around. I just wanted to grab a fresh set of gloves before I cleaned your wound.”
She shook her head, keeping her hands on the wheel. “I can do it, when I get home.”
He opened the first aid kit and began rummaging around. “Or we could just do it now.”
Donna bit her lip, but didn’t move. It was ridiculous, irrational, but she didn’t want to be touched right now. With the sound of those men’s laughter in her ear, she just wanted to be alone.
She heard Nathan sigh. “Okay.” He shut the kit and moved to get up.
“Wait.” Donna took a deep breath. he was right. It was silly to drive home with a bloody knee, when Nathan, her friend, was right here with bandages and antiseptic wipes. She wasn’t even entirely sure she had those at home, not that she couldn’t make due. But why should she, if he was right here, offering?
She swallowed hard and turned. “Thank you.” She shook her head and shrugged. “I’m sorry.” She didn’t even know for what. Sorry for her reaction. Sorry their run had been cut short. Sorry about those guys. Sorry that Nathan had to be there to deal with them. Thankful that Nathan had been there to deal with them. Thankful for his help. Thankful for his patience and understanding.
Mostly, she felt ashamed. They were both people of color and, Lord knew, this wasn’t either of their first brush with racism or harassment. Wasn’t even the worst, by far. But it always left her with a deep well of shame, whenever it happened.
Which was ridiculous. Intellectually, she knew that, if anyone should feel ashamed, it was those men. But, still, she always did. She always felt like she should have handled it differently—told them off or beat them up—as if there even was a right way to handle that kind of thing. She always felt like she didn’t do enough, in her everyday life—didn’t speak up or act out enough—to make it so that kind of thing would never happen, as if she was the reason the world was so messed up. It was irrational and she knew it, but it always just left her feeling like she was never enough.
And to have it happen in front of Nathan… It just made everything worse.
His gloved hand gripped her leg behind her knee before his other one dabbed at her wound with the wipes. “Don’t worry about it.”
It was strange. Even through the gloves, Nathan’s touch didn’t feel as strange as she thought it would. She would have sworn a moment before that the thought of being touched—at all, by anyone—would make her body want to recoil. But not with Nathan. His touch was steady, thorough, but gentle as he cleaned the blood and dirt from her knees before bandaging the worse one.
She felt...cared for.
He held out another wipe. “Do you want one for your hands?”
She nodded and took it, wiping her hands thoroughly before handing it back to him, so he could throw the wipes and his gloves in a nearby trash can. “Thank you.”
He put his hand on her car door to shut it, only to pause. He looked at her, an unreadable mix of thoughts swirling in his dark eyes. “Call me, when you get home, okay?”
She nodded and bit her lip. “Maybe we can watch a movie together.” She shrugged. “You know, like, over the phone.” Did that sound absurd? “Or something.” She just didn’t want to be alone.
No, that wasn’t quite true.
It wasn’t that she just didn’t want to be alone.
She wanted to be with Nathan. However she could.
He nodded, the corners of his eyes crinkling as he smiled behind his mask. “That sounds great.” He stepped back to shut the door. “It’s a date.”
Available as an eBook on Kofi
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