Chapter 19
nineteen
*LEO*
He wraps an arm around me while I lean against his chest. He is wearing a warm, fluffy sweater, which makes me even drowsier.
“We can start later,” he says. “I am sorry, I should have thought about that in advance.”
“No, I am an adult and should be able to keep an eye on my schedule. Plus, I want to do this hike properly,” I yawn. “Just give me a moment to wake up.”
“Here.” He hands me a gigantic cup of coffee. “I fetched it on the way. I had a feeling you would be sleepy.”
The scent from the coffee and Soren’s chest mixing together makes me a bit dizzy.
I wish I could just hug him like an octopus and cling to him and soak up his scent completely, but something tells me we wouldn’t get anything done then.
Soren has been looking forward to this, so have I. I don’t want to ruin this experience.
Barkley jumps around me, his tail moving so much that his whole body shakes. This successfully wakes me up from my drowsiness. “I am ready.”
When Soren looks at me with raised eyebrows, I try to give him the cutest look I am capable of. “Almost,” I add.
“Good enough,” he chuckles. “I can’t believe how adorable you are.”
He ushers me into his truck before helping Barkley into the huge, spacious trunk.
In the car, he makes sure to go through all the details with me to check if we have brought everything.
I was aware enough to pack my backpack before I went to Robin last night, and Soren is routine enough not to have forgotten anything anyway.
Soon, he maneuvers the car out of the town and towards the mountains. The road gets narrower soon. One glimpse outside shows me that there is fresh snow everywhere. “Funny,” I say. “I didn’t even realize we had snow.”
“Our town didn’t,” Soren says. “Weird how different the weather can be sometimes, only a couple of miles further away.”
“It’s beautiful!” I look in awe at the passing landscape. “And it means we will have a beautiful, untouched wintery landscape all to ourselves!”
Soren looks happy at my words. “I was thinking the same.”
I use the hour and a half that we drive to wake up a little.
The coffee helps, talking with Soren helps too and constantly having Barkley either barking, sneezing, or farting is an additional help.
He is going to enjoy this hike so much, so will I.
Plus, we are going to stay the night in a cozy hut, all alone, just the two of us and my pup.
Soren parks his truck at a safe parking lot, securing everything before sorting through our stuff. We both carry a small backpack.
“Did we really bring enough stuff?” I ask.
“The hut is prepared for us and has the basics,” he reassures me. “They are used to having guests. During the summer season, they are always booked out. Winter is less popular because you can’t reach it by car.”
“How do they maintain it?” I follow Soren onto a small path, leading us into a forest.
“The owners usually take their truck and can drive as close to it as possible. The rest of it they do on foot. In winter, they do have a snowmobile.”
The air is crispy and cold, and I need a while to adapt to everything. Soren and I walk slowly with Barkley off the leash and happily jumping through the snow, his tail wagging so fast I am wondering how he isn’t spinning around yet.
Similar to the last time I went hiking, I am breathless pretty fast, obviously not used to this. Soren keeps me distracted, though, by telling me his current best-of jokes. His most memorable banger being:
“Leo, I have a question.”
“Huh?”
“What do you think is yellow and swims on the water?”
I stare at him, furrowing my brows. “I have no idea.”
“A leaf.” He pauses. “And what’s yellow and doesn’t swim on the water?”
I blink. “Again, no clue.”
“A tractor.”
The silence around us is deafening. Even Barkley pauses and tilts his head to the side to watch us. Then, however, I burst into laughter, grabbing some snow and tossing it at my very handsome but kind of unfunny boyfriend.
Soren grins while brushing the snow off his shoulders. “What?! That was one of my favorites!”
“Something tells me that if we ever have a child together, you will embarrass them with the worst dad jokes ever.” I smile. “And you know what’s even funnier? I would be absolutely digging it.”
Soren wiggles his brows, an indication that he is about to say something silly or dirty. “You would be dicking it.”
“Oh no!” I groan. “Have mercy.”
Soren laughs before he looks at me with a smile. “Children, huh?”
My cheeks flush pink when I realize what I just said. I basically hinted that we could adopt in the future. We haven’t even been dating for a month. Way to get ahead of myself. “It was just… You know, don’t take it seriously. I was just creating a situation.”
“What if I want to take it seriously?” he asks.
My heart stutters before beating so fast I am scared I will suffer from a heart attack. “Are you for real?”
“Obviously, it’s nothing I plan on doing immediately,” he says. “But I am not planning on letting you go. So, why not dream about a future together?”
Again, my heart makes a dangerous leap of joy. “I want a place with a garden,” I say.
“Obviously.”
“For Barkley and our future alpaca.”
Soren laughs. “You are really not letting go of that alpaca idea.”
“I mean, I have a vet at home, don’t I?”
“You do!”
“So, it’s safe. We probably could have any pet.” I grin. “Even a snake.”
“No,” Soren says seriously. “Because the only snake—"
I cover my ears, picking up my pace. “I don’t want to hear it!”
“You don’t even know what I wanted to say.”
“Probably some lame ass, sex joke.”
Soren looks at me sweetly. “Talking about ass…”
I groan. “See? Come, Barkley, save me.”
Barkley indeed saves me by jumping around me excitedly and urging me to throw snowballs for him. Soren just walks next to us, smiling whenever our eyes meet. It only strikes me later that he probably did all that to distract me from the exhausting first part of the hike.
The last part we walk over a smooth area, which is probably a meadow during summer. Then, protected by strong rocks and big trees, I spot the hut. “Is that it?” I exclaim.
“Yes.” Soren takes my hand. “We made it.”
“Finally!” I let out a sigh of relief. “My feet were getting tired.”
“You really did amazing, though. This was not an easy hike, especially due to the fresh snow.”
I feel the endorphin rush again, just like during my first hike.
There is something about the way my heart pumps and my body feels after such a hike.
I am tired, but not in a bad way. My body feels exhausted but sated, and my mind feels a lot calmer too, almost like I was meditating.
I hope during the summer, we can truly get up a mountain and reach its peak.
With Barkley hot on my heels, I run towards the hut.
Behind me, Soren laughs. “I can’t believe you still have the energy for a sprint!”
“The comfort of the hut is already drawing me in!” I call back.
“Well, you will be happy to know that they have a hot spring.”
I halt, almost dropping over into the snow. Soren catches up with me and grabs my arm. “Careful,” he chuckles.
“A hot spring?!”
“Yes. One of the owners, the wife, is from Japan. They built an outdoor hot spring into this hut. It’s pretty amazing. Just to have a hot bath while being outside in the snow.”
My mouth drops open. “You didn’t mention it before! That’s awesome!”
“It was supposed to be a surprise.” He looks at me. “Good or bad?”
“Fantastic!” I exclaim, wrapping my arms around him and kissing him. Before he can deepen the kiss, I pull away, though. “If we get started like this, I won’t be able to check everything out before the sun sets.”
Soren laughs. “Maybe you are right. Let’s keep that thought for later. Come, I will show you around.”