Chapter 8
Chapter Eight
Ezra
I woke up slowly, stretching my arms up and my feet out until they brushed the nylon tent wall, my muscles quaking happily since I always slept curled up tight and woke up achy.
Yesterday Skylar and I had driven a couple hours north to a state park that had hiking, other rec activities, and hot springs with campgrounds next to them. I’d never been here before because I’d been roughing it and climbing Fourteeners basically my whole life, while Skylar had never gone camping and was a hiking beginner, so he picked an easy spot.
I had agreed to come almost out of defiance, not liking the thought I’d had recently that nothing new or different ever happened to me, and Skylar was definitely different.
Before we left, I’d wondered if it would be an awkward disaster or kind of okay.
But it was actually… fun so far.
On the drive, Skylar had controlled the music and sang along, giving me time to get used to being with him, without having to try to talk. Once we got to the campground, Skylar might never have pitched a tent, but he had built the hell out of a fire. Not to mention, he’d brought beer and s’mores ingredients. He’d wanted to stay up until midnight so he could see all the stars, so I kept him company, not wanting to seem like a stick in the mud.
Even though we’d gone to bed around one, it was just before dawn now. I didn’t know what had woken me up, but once I was up, I was up for the day. Tugging on cargo shorts and a Peak Veterinary Clinic tee, I got out of my tent.
When I looked over at Skylar’s tent, it was unzipped. Panic that he was sleeping with a family of bears warred with panic he’d snuck off because he wasn’t having fun. I darted over to look inside and saw it was empty. I took a deep breath, admitting that I was being silly.
Noticing that there was a thermos out on the site’s picnic table where there hadn’t been last night, I walked over to it. I found a note stuck under it that read, I woke up SO early!! Went to check out the hot springs. Here’s coffee, if you’re a bear in the mornings without any. ~Skylar
The enthusiasm and the thoughtfulness to leave me coffee made me smile.
Unscrewing the lid to taste it, I hummed in enjoyment, then meandered down the path towards the hot springs about a half-mile away. It was barely light out, but I could see fine.
As I flashed my wristband at the drowsy employee at the entrance, I heard Skylar.
He wasn’t splashing around—probably someone who grew up on the ocean swam really well—but he was singing quietly and it was carrying pretty well in the near-silence of dawn.
I didn’t know the song, but it made me smile again as I walked toward him.
There was no one else out here and I could pretend it was only us.
Just when I was about to call his name and hopefully not surprise him too badly, he popped up from the water like a dolphin a lot closer than he had been, the water at his hips.
Still singing, he shook out his hair, which looked brown instead of honey blond now that it was wet, and a hunk landed in a cute curling fan on his forehead. He went up the first shallow step, eyes still closed, and one big thigh surged against the surface of the water.
I realized that he wasn’t wearing a swimsuit, he was wearing briefs.
These were not like my boring, loose cotton boxers. These were skintight and waterlogged and white , ending a couple inches down his thighs. His body was objectively average, about my height with softness around his middle, but it also… wasn’t average.
Gulping, my eyes shot skyward.
It didn’t stop me from still seeing Skylar, though. His torso was smooth, his shoulders looked hefty and capable, while his hips flexed subtly as he pushed up the stairs. I liked his gently squared jaw and how adept his hands looked skimming the water. The way his body perfectly reflected his warmth and sweetness and his enjoyably over-the-top rambling.
Well, okay, this was…
New?
“Ezra?” his surprised voice floated over to me.
I had no grip on whatever was happening to me right now, so of course now was when he had to see me. It was a good thing that working with wild animals gave me a lot of experience exuding outward calm no matter what was going on in my head or I would’ve probably lost my cool and said some dumb shit that would make him think I was pissed off.
“Hey,” I managed with only a minimal amount of croaking. “I saw your note.”