Chapter 4
EVERLY
I could feel his muscles flexing underneath my arms as I clung to his body.
He was so broad my arms almost didn’t wrap fully around him.
His back radiated a heat that blanketed me during the cold night, and I could hear my duffel bag flapping around with each bump we hit.
We had decided to hide my car in one of their garages just in case someone came looking for me, then I threw my stuff onto the back of Grave’s bike.
I’d never ridden on one before, and with a grin he promised me he would take it slow.
And I found that I enjoyed it.
The wind whipping through my hair. The dust splattering against my skin.
Grave’s body pulsing against mine. I could feel my excess filling the crevices of his muscles.
Pressing into his chiseled back as he hunched over the handles of his bike.
He was strong. And big. And warm. Like a bear.
His bike roared across the desert, passed by seemingly endless miles of brush and sand and cracked ground.
How in the world could anyone find their way out here?
For some reason, I was comforted by Grave.
I came looking for Knox, and ended up getting the flirt.
But our interactions were more than that.
He seemed genuinely concerned for my well-being.
His sentences were clipped and his demeanor was hardened, but beneath that surface was a man who seemed to be worried about the situation I was in.
So much so that he offered me a place to stay.
I pressed my cheek against his back and felt his muscles twitching.
With every move he made, his body shifted.
His legs would tense or his back would jump.
His sculpted abs I laid my fingertips into as a way to hang on would rise and fall with his breaths.
I could feel Grave’s heartbeat against my cheek on his back. Like a lullaby singing me to sleep.
It was a comforting sound.
His bike came to a stop and I lifted my head. A part of me was disappointed the ride was over, but I was beginning to get tired. Grave offered me his hand and I took it, sliding down off the seat and planting onto my feet.
It was dark. The pitch black of night the woods had to offer.
And it was beautiful.
I craned my neck back and surveyed the thousands of stars in the sky, peaking through the trees. Above my head, an entire solar system spun. Twirling and cascading and ricocheting its light down onto our planet. I felt my jaw drop open as I slowly spun around, taking in the magnificence of it all.
It was so dark I could see the curvature of our sky.
“That’s why I live out here,” Grave said.
I jumped at his voice, my feet stumbling me back into him. His arms wrapped around me, pulling me closer into his body. I steadied myself against him and closed my eyes, comforted by his grasp. His arms were thick with muscle. Strong and defined, with veins still bulging from his forearms.
I wanted to dance my fingertips across them.
“At a certain time of the year, you can see the Milky Way from my porch,” Grave said.
“Really?” I asked. “You can see something like that out here?”
“You can. If you time it right.”
I craned my head to look up at him and found his eyes cast down towards me. With the way the shadows of the night played on his face, I could’ve sworn he was grinning at me.
But I wasn’t sure if I was seeing things simply because I was tired.
“Come on. Let’s get you settled in.”
I walked into Grave’s home and it was nothing like I expected.
It was small. Cozy. But with three entire bedrooms and two whole baths.
The walls were painted an Easter green and there was white baseboard trim as well as crown molding throughout the entire house.
The kitchen had granite countertops and there was a handmade wooden kitchen table prepared to sit two in the corner.
The living room had a television mounted on the wall with plush microfiber furniture surrounding it.
There was even a wood-burning fireplace off in the distance.
“The winters get cold out here,” Grave said.
“This house is…”
“Not what you expected?”
I giggled and shook my head as I walked down the hallway. I slid my hand across the wall, taking in the textured feeling of the plaster. His house was beautiful. Like it was once fit for a family.
“Does anyone live here other than you?” I asked.
“Nope. Just me. The guys come out here sometimes to drink beers and sit on the porch.”
“You have a porch out back?”
“I do. It’s got some chairs and a firepit. Nothing fancy, but the view is great.”
“Can I see?”
“Sure,” he said. “Make yourself at home.”
I walked towards the back of the house and found the sliding glass doors.
But even I could see why the guys liked it before I stepped out.
There were lounge chairs in a semicircle around an in-ground fire pit, but the chairs were facing the horizon.
Facing away from the town of Redding and straight on into the large trees in the distance.
There was nothing but cold, cracked ground, the etched outline of the shadowed mountains, and stars.
So. Many. Stars.
I spread myself out on one of the lounge chairs and adjusted the back. The night air was becoming chilly, but I wanted to enjoy the view just a little while longer. I tried counting the stars in the sky and stopped at three hundred, losing my place amongst all the twinkling beams.
Then, I felt a blanket flutter over me.
“You’re shivering,” Grave said simply.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be out here for so long.”
“You’re fine. Take your time. I put your bag in the room that looks out to the backyard.
If you walk through the glass doors, take a right.
It’s the only door on your right after that.
The bathroom’s right across the hall. It’s shared by the other guest bedroom, but it’ll be solely yours while you’re here. ”
“I can’t thank you enough, Grave,” I said as I turned my head. “Your kindness is-”
“You’re doing us a service, too,” he said. “Thirsty?”
“No,” I said as I shook my head. “I’m okay.”
“Don’t stay out too long.”
“Okay.”
I heard Grave walk back inside with his heavy footfalls as I slid down into the lounger.
I pulled the blanket up to my chin as my eyes began to droop.
The view was spectacular, and the warmth of the large blanket around me was pulling me into a deep slumber.
I felt my eyes fluttering closed as I worked to keep them open.
I wanted to see if I could stay up and see the Milky Way.
Maybe it was that time of the year and I could witness something as spectacular as that.
But the last thing I remembered was being lifted into the air. Lifted and pressed into a warmth that was growing familiar.
And I nestled into its presence before my eyes succumbed to sleep.