Her eyes bounce back and forth, letting me read into her soul like she’s doing to mine. “What about all the other girls?”
“There are no other girls,” I tell her, and it’s the damn truth. None of the girls I’ve ever met can hold a candle to Kelly.
“Stacy?” she questions, her brow flicking up.
“Mistake,” I respond, bringing her closer to me until her chest collides with mine and her hands land on my arms. “I was jealous because you were flirting with someone else. I didn’t know how to handle my feelings for you or how it might affect the business.”
“I didn’t even think of that,” she replies, biting her lip. “I just thought you only saw me as a friend.”
“I think I haven’t thought of you as just a friend since we spent that first night in the tree house.” I lift my chin at the wood box behind us. “In your sleep, you burrowed into me. I was awake while you slept and by the morning, I knew, knew you were special, that we were going to be together someday.”
“I remember.” Her voice turns throaty, while her body sways slightly into mine, her arms circling around my neck and I have to lower my head.
“You’re killing me, Morrison,” I groan, my lips so close to hers, but unwilling to take it there unless she says it.
“So take me on a date then Montgomery.” Her giggle wraps around her words. Before I can think, she lifts her booted feet onto her tiptoes, closing the gap, her mouth touching mine.
My hand cradles the back of her head, anchoring her to me while my mouth works hers over. This kiss is everything I imagined and more. The mint of her gum from earlier blends with a sweetness that is pure Kelly. Her teeth nip my bottom lip and I groan into her mouth, my fingers twisting in her hair and tugging lightly. We break apart, her eyes are glossy, lips red and puffy with a hint of a smirk on them.
“Saturday,” I tell her, absolutely no room for argument. “I’ll pick you up at ten. We’ll have the whole day.”
“Jase.” Her hands play with the hair at the base of my neck.
“Yeah,” I answer, stealing another kiss before she speaks again.
“I’ve been yours for a long time,” she tells me. My eyes search hers, reading the depth of what she’s feeling. She means it. We’re on the same page, and my greatest fear instantly fades. I’ll do whatever I can to keep her.
Jason
I dropped Kelly off at her house on Thursday night, after we finally left the woods. I could have stayed with her all night if given the option, but she reminded me I needed an early night for my run with Matt on Friday. I hate when she’s right, which is usually all the time.
I don’t know how I made it through Friday. Matt knew instantly something happened. Jackass accused me of smirking too much. I gave him the middle finger and we were on our way, packed into the tow truck with a scheduled pickup close to the South Dakota border. The whole trip would take us a full day. For the first time, I actually felt completely confident anytime we talked about the future on our way. My conversation with Kelly and finally declaring our feelings settled the storm of emotions I used to feel. My insides felt calm and serene for once. Every time she called to do her checks and gave us an update, my blood danced in my veins with awareness. I picked up on the confidence in her voice and the underlying hint of concern she had for us. On our way back, after we had picked up the vehicle, I started adding small things to the conversation to let her know Matt and I were okay. By the third exchange, Matt was catching on and he would say something to make her laugh.
When we got back, Mike asked me to help close up while Matt was asked to drop Kelly at home. I barely got a head nod in to acknowledge her presence before Mike was ushering me out the back of the building. After cleaning and locking up, I rolled in right as the sun was turning the horizon pink and passed out in my bed with an alarm set to wake me up on time. Nothing was going to ruin this date tomorrow.
I made it to Kelly’s on time, a smile tugging my lips when she came outside carrying her helmet, already in her snow gear. I had asked Matt to let her know my plan was to take the snowmobile today.
“Hi.” Kelly approaches me cautiously. I don’t give her a second to overthink it, grabbing the edge of her jacket and tugging her until she falls into my arms.
“Hey, babe,” I answer, before lowering my mouth to hers, molding her lips to mine, showing her how I want things to go every time after this. When I pull away, her cheeks are slightly pink and her eyes are shining. “Ready?” I ask.
She nods her head and gives me a smile, before slipping her helmet on and sliding onto the back of my sled. Once her arms are locked around my waist, I crank our speed and hit the ditches, trying to take the easier trails to the cabin. It a three-hour drive and I listen to Kelly humming along the way, sometimes singing at the tops of her lungs.
By the time we pull into the small town, the sun is high in the sky and the temps have risen slightly. We pull into the drive of my family’s cabin and Kelly hops off first, taking my key ring and unlocking the door. I grab some dry wood from the shed and bring it inside. We get a fire going before unpacking our backpacks. I made sure to grab everything we needed to roast hot dogs and Kelly, of course, remembered all the s’mores ingredients.
“Make me two right away,” she tells me, pointing to the hot dogs. My brow lifts. “I’ve been so hungry for over an hour.”
“Anything you want Kell,” I answer, loading up four hot dogs, two for each of us.
“They smell so good.” She laughs. “So how did everything go yesterday?”
“Good,” I tell her shrugging. “We kept you updated during the run. I helped Mike do the disassemble last night too and everything went fine.”
“I told Matt.” She throws out, her teeth clamping onto her bottom lip.
“Did you think I’d be mad or something?” I ask her, my brow quirking in surprise.
“I didn’t know for sure.” She grimaces.
“Kell,” I turn to her, my hands reaching out to hold hers. “This isn’t some secret or anything. I told Matt yesterday too and he doesn’t have a problem with us dating. He knows I’m serious about you. I’m not going to mess this up between us.”
“I was worried about what you said with it affecting the business,” she replies. “I’m serious about us too, I just didn’t want Matt to be blindsided or something. I don’t want the dynamics of us three to change.”
I snort. “Well, some things are going to change, babe.” Her eyes fly to mine, panicked. “I just mean I don’t plan to hide our relationship. If I want to kiss you or hold your hand, I’m going to do it.”
Her cheeks flush. “Okay. I’m looking forward to that.”
I swear my brain short circuits with every word that comes out of her mouth. The fact that she looks so innocent yet curious at the same time is my undoing. We eat our hot dogs in a comfortable silence. I’m so deep in my own thoughts that I have to do a double take when I realize she’s watching me, assessing, as if she is trying read every thought in my mind.
“Let’s go skate.” I stand abruptly, trying to keep my thoughts on anything other than the fact that we’re alone and there is a bed in this cabin. I see her mouth twitch, but she stands anyway and pulls her skates from her bag while I go grab mine.