Chapter 31
Nine and a Half Years Ago
It’s twilight by the time Chase parks the truck outside a trailer that serves as a campground office. “Wait here a second?” he says, and Zoe gives him a nod.
He knows her so well that he can tell she’s nervous, even if she won’t say so.
So he’s nervous, too. Nervous, but also unavoidably turned on. It’s a heady cocktail, and he barely absorbs the instructions he’s given by the old man in the trailer. “Glamping tent number eight. End of the gravel road. Park and take a left down the trail.”
Luckily everything is well marked. “How did you find this place?” Zoe asks as he kills the engine in the gravel lot.
“Uncle Google told me about it,” he says, snapping the keys from the ignition. “And it’s Sunday night, so there was plenty of availability. But, Zoe…” He chooses his words carefully. “If you’d be more comfortable sleeping in your own bed tonight, I won’t be offended. Promise.”
“No way,” she says, putting a hand on his arm. “This is our one chance. I mean…” He can see her cheeks turning pink, even in the low light. “Look, I’m sure you can tell that I’m not exactly…”
She looks to him for help, but he doesn’t say anything. Not yet. She’s going to have to say what’s on her mind, because he does not want to get this wrong.
“I have no experience, okay? None.” She crosses her arms over her chest and flushes even more deeply. “But I want to be here. With you. Tonight.”
“Okay,” he says softly. “Still. We don’t have to—”
“Oh yes we do,” she says firmly. “Unless you don’t, um, want to.”
He lets out a strangled laugh. “That won’t be our issue. Trust me.” He gives her a cheesy wink and then puts a hand on her knee. “I just want you to be comfortable.”
“Fuck comfortable,” she says, and he instantly loses a hundred brain cells just watching her pretty mouth say fuck. “You and I don’t do comfortable. We go after the things we care about. And I care about you.”
Damn. His body fizzes with heat as he leans over to give her a soft kiss. Just for saying that.
Except it’s not a soft kiss, because she grabs him by the shoulders and gives it right back to him.
A minute later they’re hardcore making out, and his body goes from zero to sixty faster than a muscle car.
He has a few vague thoughts about the proximity of the back seat before he gets control of himself and sits back.
“Okay, let’s find tent number eight,” he says, his voice more broken and desperate than he was shooting for.
“Let’s,” she agrees.
Outside, he takes a minute to unload all his supplies and calm down. Even though Zoe made her wishes clear, he’s not going to maul her like a beast.
He’s brought along some drinks and snacks, and a lantern he picked up at Walmart.
But it all seems so pathetic now. Zoe wants to give him everything.
It’s a big deal. And he’s brought her to a tent in the middle of nowheresville.
It looked okay on the website. But if this place is sketchy, he’ll never forgive himself.
“Can I carry something?” Zoe asks.
“No, beautiful. I got it.” He locks the truck. “Let’s see this place.”
They find a marker for number eight and follow a narrow path through the trees and the undergrowth.
It isn’t very long until they’re stepping into a clearing with a wooden platform in the center, about a foot off the ground.
On top of that rises a huge safari tent with canvas “walls” that stretch to a peak at the top.
And there’s a soft glow of light coming from inside.
Welcome C. Merritt reads a tiny blackboard propped next to the canvas doors.
“Wow,” Zoe says, stepping up to lift one of the tent flaps. “Oh, there’s a mosquito net.” She crouches down to unzip the door. “This is really neat. Come and see.”
He follows her into the tent, which is tall enough for him to stand up in the center.
There’s an ornate carpet underfoot and a real platform bed set against a paneled wall in the center of the space.
The bed is done up in white sheets and a fluffy comforter.
There are two bedside tables as well, with flameless candles flickering in jars on each one. “Okay. This will do.”
She turns to him with an incredulous smile. “Be real. It’s magical.” She walks around the bed and peers behind the wooden wall and gasps. “This tent has a bathroom, Chase.” She laughs.
“Yeah, it said something about that.”
She returns a minute later to stand in front of him. She takes the cooler and the lantern out of his hands and sets them against one of the canvas walls. Then she zips up the mosquito netting, closing them into the space. “You can stop worrying now.”
He opens his mouth and then closes it again. Because he can’t, in fact, stop worrying. The tent is nice, but this is Zoe he’s here with, and she deserves everything. He wonders if he’s up to the job.
She stands in front of him again, hands warm against his chest. “Are you okay?”
“Yes,” he manages. “I’m great.”
“I’m glad to hear that,” she says, standing up on her toes and kissing him once. “Because I’ve been told all my life that boys only want one thing. And I think I’ll ask for my money back if it isn’t even true.”
A laugh tugs loose from his chest, and he cups her face with both hands. “You kill me. You know that?”
She shrugs, a smile playing at her lips. Then she gathers the fabric of his T-shirt in her hands. He lifts his arms overhead so she can pull it off. And now he’s standing there, half naked. Hoping he passes muster.
He hasn’t felt this exposed for a long time.
She puts a smooth hand on his bare chest and runs it across his skin, leaving goose bumps in its wake. “Where’d you get this scar?” she asks as her fingertips graze the spidery white lines near his collarbone.
It’s not a nice story, though, so he jokes his way out of it. “Shark attack.”
She grins. Then she leans forward to drop soft kisses along his jaw, and he nearly groans.
Heaven help him, but this moment he’s dreamed about is really happening. And he’s not about to let her do all the work. He tugs the snap on his shorts and then yanks the zipper down until they fall away.
Zoe’s eyes get big, but not in a scared way. It’s more like she can’t figure out where to look first. Her gaze roves his bare chest, and then her hands follow suit.
“Fuck, yes,” he breathes. “I want your hands on me so bad.” Then he kisses her, and Zoe practically climbs him like a tree. Any nerves she had at dinner have flown away, it seems.
His haven’t, though. Don’t fuck this up, he tells himself as he lays her down on the bed. He sends out a private thank-you to whoever set up this tent. The light is soft, and the comforter like a cloud.
But Zoe doesn’t take any time to admire it.
She grabs him by the back of the neck and pulls him down beside her, just like he’s always wanted.
And now they’re kissing again. They’re so good at this already that he may never stop.
And he indulges himself by running a hand up her smooth leg and under her dress.
He cups her ass, and when he runs his thumb along her hip, under the waistband of her panties, she moans into his mouth.
God. If boys only want one thing, it’s definitely that sound she just made. His next kiss is fierce. He finds her questing hand and guides it down to the front of his boxer briefs, where his cock has turned into an iron rod.
She strokes a hand over him. Then, without any hesitation, she slides her fingertips into his underwear and wraps a hand around his shaft.
He nearly shouts with joy. His body is basically an open flame at this point. He pushes himself up onto his elbows just to take in oxygen. “Can I unzip your dress?”
She answers the question by grabbing the fabric and pulling it up and off her body.
No zipper required. Then she sheds her bra, and he can only stare.
Except for a tiny pair of cotton panties, she’s spread out on the bed for him, all skin and curves.
He doesn’t know what to kiss first, so he starts with her collarbones and works his way down from there.
Go slow, he reminds himself as she shivers under his touch.
And he tries. He really does. But he can’t resist slipping a hand into her panties.
And you’d think he’d never done this before, because the slick heat between her legs makes his balls tighten.
When she spreads her knees and moans, he almost loses his mind.
After that, time becomes meaningless for a while. He loses himself in kissing Zoe and making her gasp. Somehow he loses his underwear, and so does she. Then there’s nothing between them at all, except the sounds Zoe’s making. Each one practically breaks him in half.
“Now, Chase,” she breathes against his lips.
His groin tightens at the urgency in her voice. “You sure?” He presses up on an elbow to look down into her flushed face.
She nods. “And I have an I-IUD,” she stammers. “So I never get my period in the middle of a competition.”
“Yeah, but…” He sits up and takes a fortifying gulp of air. Then he slides off the bed and finds his bag near the tent’s door. “We still need a condom. I’ll always be careful with you.”
Besides, he needs this break to get his head on straight. If that’s even possible. When he turns back to Zoe, she’s watching him with wide, curious eyes as he suits himself up. The candlelight flickers on her bare skin, and her long hair streams across the pillow like an angel’s.
He’ll never forget this night as long as he lives.
Zoe licks her lips. “Why are you still way over there?”
Good question. He goes back to lie down on the bed, beside her this time. He smooths her hair away from her face. Chase has never let himself get too caught up in anyone before. Too risky. And he’s supposed to leave her behind in three weeks? He almost can’t think about it.
So he climbs on top of her instead and kisses her neck.
Warm arms wrap around his back, and her knees rise up to grip his hips. There’s something electric about how strong she feels beneath him. They’re well matched in so many ways that he should really stop feeling surprised.
They kiss and kiss. He wants her so badly, but the anticipation feels necessary. Like he has to earn this right.
“God, Chase,” she pants as they grind hopelessly against each other.
Don’t overthink it, he tells himself. But it’s impossible not to. It’s her first time, and she chose him?
His body is screaming, though, which is why he finds the courage to lift her knee and fit himself against her. Then it’s as easy as breathing. They slip together like two halves of a whole.
Chase gasps like he’s just discovered oxygen, then comes nose to nose with Zoe, who’s watching him with a look of awe on her face.
“Hey,” he says, which ought to sound stupid. But somehow doesn’t.
“Hey,” she whispers with a smile.
“I love you.” The words just roll off his tongue.
“Oh, Chase. You know I love you, too, right?”
He does. But he can’t answer, because she tugs him down into a kiss that goes on and on. Then, finally, he lets himself move.
And neither one of them is too surprised when they are sweetly in sync now, too.