14. Millie
CHAPTER 14
Millie
ELODIE
What do you MEAN he carried you down the mountain?
Over his SHOULDER?
I would simply pass away!!!!
I need all of the details.
Are you still alive????
MILLIE
Yes, alive.
Traumatized, but alive.
ELODIE
I can’t believe his hands were near your butt!!!
You are BLESSED, Millie.
Do you know how many girls would sell their soul to be thrown around by Caden Thompson?!
MILLIE
Please don’t.
I need to forget.
Pour me the stiffest drink you can find.
I can still feel the imprint of his hand on the back of my thigh. Every inch of my skin is tingling, my cheeks hot with shame. I have no idea how this man managed to carry me for a whole ten minutes, barely breaking a sweat, but I’m equally mortified and grateful that he did.
I pull my boots off, exposing the raw, bleeding flesh at my heels. I should’ve paid attention to all the articles I read about breaking in new hiking boots. I saw the warning signs, but I ignored them, like I do every time.
There are too many miles between me and a hot shower.
My skin is coated in a mixture of sweat, dusty earth and sunscreen. I’m exhausted and I need to wash everything off of me, including the way Caden’s fingers felt digging into my skin.
I won’t let my body remember how natural it felt to be near him.
I look everywhere but in his direction as we drive through the mountain bends. The journey seems to take twice as long as it did on the way here.
As we pull into the lodge parking lot, dusk is painting the sky in swathes of lavender. It’s a beautiful sunset – so beautiful that the rest of the hikers have pulled out their cameras to capture it, but I sure as hell won’t be sticking around.
I’ve got to get myself far, far away from Caden and his ridiculously oversized hands.
I make no attempt at pleasantries as I leave, grabbing my belongings and scuttling over the creek towards the staff house in perfect agony.
I should’ve known better than to text Elodie about the debacle on Caden’s shoulder.
All I want to do right now is lie down in silence and erase the last six hours. All she wants is to drag me through it all over again.
“So tell me.” She gestures a hand towards me, pacing back and forth along the thin strip of carpet that separates our beds. “How did it feel ? Were his hands rough and calloused? Did he make you feel safe? Are you falling truly, madly, deeply in love with the Beast?”
“He carried me over his shoulder like a bag of potatoes, El. There was nothing remotely endearing about it. I think you need to stop reading so much romance.” I launch a copy of her latest cowboy smut fest in her direction to make my point.
“Respectfully, I won’t be doing that,” she replies, throwing herself down on the bed and flicking through the pages until she finds her bookmark. “I really wish you two would stop pretending to hate each other already. I want to fast forward to the part where you’re fucking. Let me live vicariously through you, I want to hear all of the sordid details. You can't let all of this tension go to waste. ”
“Stop!” I blurt, my throat tightening as I pull my pillow down over my face. “I don’t need to hear any more.”
“Plus,” she leans towards me, pulling at my pillow just enough to expose my ear, “I’ve heard he has a massive cock.”
“Elodie!” I choke, rolling over to turn away from her.
Everything about that man pisses me off.
I don’t care how big his dick is.
Or if the veins in his arms were handcrafted just to taunt me.
There will be no fucking.
Yet, even in my certainty, my mind can’t help but wander to a place where his body is pressed up against mine. Our breathing entangled, shared hatred turning into something different entirely, crossing any lines that exist between us.
A single spark of untamed desire, igniting me in all of the ways it shouldn’t.