"So, Heather and Brian eh? I guess I was wrong about at least one of Anne's friends!" Jo quipped, jogging easily along the trail with Susan puffing at her side.

They had been running once or twice a week since that first date and Susan had been training on the roads alone. She could now manage multiple kilometers without collapsing with her lungs on fire. That didn't mean she could keep up with Jo though, the ease she loped along beside her was amazing, Susan couldn't help feeling proud of her girlfriend.

"He's actually quite a nice guy when he hasn't worked himself up about something." Susan said, in between panted breaths.

"Yeah, and he tells me he hasn't smoked a cigarette in a week." Jo said in amazement.

"Well, you stopped ages ago, you never suggested you found it hard." Susan was close to stopping, the 'conversational pace' that Jo had set was a little fast for talk in her mind.

"Yeah, I was used to cold turkey weekends and evenings though. It's a bit harder now that I'm trying to stop the patches though."

Susan waved her down and they slowed to a walk. "I don't know how you smoked and ran, I've never had a cigarette in my life and my lungs are fit to burst."

They stopped for a minute to admire the evening view, over in the distance rain was obscuring the countryside.

"I'm faster now I think, so yeah it probably was holding me back." She was looking at the way the clouds were moving. "Might be best to turn back rather than do the circuit, I think the weatherman got it wrong."

They double timed it down the hill, the feeling of the wind rushing past and banking into the corners was exhilarating, unlike the first time she had run, Susan pushed herself on the downhill, gravity helping but not doing all the work this time. The gravel crunched rhythmically under their feet and all thought of conversation was forgotten. Susan felt that no matter how she pushed, Jo could have run double her speed, the way she ran seemed effortless.

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In the end they didn't make it back before the downpour, the sheets of ice cold rain were refreshing though, cooling the tired muscles and helping with the last push back out of the countryside and down the streets towards Jo's house.

When they arrived soaked and dripping into the house Jo's mum ushered them straight into the bathroom, "You girls have a shower and dry off, don't drip all over my carpets. On you go loves."

Susan was shocked, it seemed to her they were being told by Jo's mother to strip and shower… together. She looked at Jo as the door shut and saw her embarrassed flush, emboldened by this she smiled and stripped off her top. She took in Jo's attempts not to look and stepped forward, she took hold of the bottom of Jo's shirt and gave her a questioning glance. Seeing acceptance she lifted the shirt up over Jo's head.

She bit her lip as the tight muscle of Jo's chest was revealed and reached behind herself, unclipping her sports bra and letting it fall to the floor. Jo's gaze lingered on Susans body as she reached up and self consciously peeled off the nipple protectors from her own chest.

They were about to kiss when there was a bang on the door, "and no hanky panky!" Jo's mum shouted as an afterthought. The girls giggled and Jo tore her gaze away long enough to turn on the shower.

Susan picked up both their shirts and wrung them out in the sink then turned to see Jo hesitantly shrug out of her long shorts. Every inch of her body was muscled, Susan stepped out of her own shorts and into the shower, pulling Jo in behind her.

The hot water was a relief, the cold had become intense since they stopped running and her feet tingled like pins and needles in the hot water.

She kissed Jo, long and lingering and her hands wandered over her body. Before they could get far however there was another banging on the door. "You hear me girls?" Jo broke the kiss and called "yes mum!" Before looking apologetically to Susan, she bit her lip and said, "soap my back?"

There wasn't much hanky panky in the shower but also, there wasn't none.