12. So Many Legs #2
“Where are we going?” she asked.
“You’ll see.”
“Liam, I don’t like surprises.”
“That tracks.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Miss ‘stick to the schedule, I must get my eight hours of sleep, I organize everything’ doesn’t like surprises? That’s not…surprising,” I teased.
“Are you saying I can’t be spontaneous?”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying.”
“Well, you’re wrong. Let’s do this. Let’s go on an adventure. I love surprises and not knowing what’s around the corner. It’s great fun.”
“Are you trying to convince me or yourself?”
Cerise rolled her eyes as we continued on.
After another twenty minutes of walking, we reached a small grove of trees.
Deep green vines climbed the trunks and branches, glowing blue flowers growing along them.
Hundreds of bioluminescent noxious stoneflies, about an inch long, flitted between the blooms and throughout the clearing, bringing a magical touch to the jungle.
Cerise gasped. “This is beautiful, Liam. Absolutely breathtaking.”
She said my name with warmth, like it was something pleasant instead of the irritated way she usually said it. It made something flutter within my chest. I wanted her to say it like that again.
“How did you know about this place?” she asked, unaware of the way I couldn’t tear my eyes from her.
“I snuck out the other night when I was restless and went exploring.” I gestured to her net. “Now, get to catching,”
“What? You know noxious stoneflies release a foul odor when they feel threatened.”
“That’s exactly why we’re catching them.”
“Liam—”
“Stop asking questions and catch some,” I said, setting down the container and grasping my own net. “Whoever catches five first, wins.”
She stood there, mouth agape as I swiped the air and caught the first one. “You’d better hurry up, sunshine, or I’m going to win.”
Startled from her stupor, she turned and crept through the trees, sneaking up on one of the flies on a trunk.
We spent the next half hour in the grove, laughing and chasing after the insects, and after some time, Cerise let go and wasn’t as high strung. She was having fun. Distracted by the joy on her face, I stopped my bug-catching and leaned against a tree to watch her.
Lost in her pursuit of victory, she didn’t notice how my eyes never left her face.
Or the way I had to subtly adjust myself as her shirt slipped, revealing the curve of her shoulder.
I was struck with a sudden desire to nibble the skin at the base of her neck, wondering if it was as soft as it looked.
Fuck. I like her. A lot.
I was finding myself more drawn to Cerise as the days went on.
We were complete opposites in a lot of ways, but I was learning we had more in common than I’d expected.
Our passion for wildlife and nature, our interest in teaching, our love for cinnamon tea.
The fact that we both came from difficult backgrounds and families, and though I didn’t know Cerise’s whole story, any mention of her mother was met with a look of frustration and pain, though she seemed to think she hid it well.
A loud cheer erupted from her as she chased down another insect. “I got five! Did I win?” She jogged toward me with the last bug in her net and pure delight on her face. “What are you doing? Did you quit?” she asked when she saw me leaning against the tree.
“You had it covered.” I was unable to break my gaze from her smile. She was stunning when she smiled like that. Like her joy could light up the entire forest.
“Well…what’s my prize?”
I was silent, distracted by the sheen of sweat glistening on her chest. She had unbuttoned the top two buttons of her shirt and was fanning herself with it. The hollow of her throat was so tantalizing, I wanted to lick it. Wanted to run my tongue along her collarbone and down between her breasts.
“Liam?”
Her voice brought me back to the moment. I pushed off the tree. “What’s your prize? I hadn’t thought that far ahead.”
She knelt on the ground, releasing the last insect into the container with its peers and stood back up. “Well, that’s no fun. You must think of something. The graduate students got a prize.”
I took a slow step closer and lowered my voice, my eyes roving her face. “What do you want for your prize? I will give you absolutely anything.”
The pupils of her violet eyes expanded, her face flushed. “I don’t know,” she whispered hoarsely. “I’ll think on it.”
We remained quiet for a few moments. I clenched my fist at my side, pushing away the urge to cup her face and run my thumb along her bottom lip.
“Let’s go back and I’ll show you what we’re doing with these,” I said, breaking the silence.
Cerise swallowed and turned away, picking up our nets. I carried the box of insects as we made our way back to the campsite and set down our supplies in the research tent. Turning, I led her to the center of the camp and set the insects down beside the trunk of a large tree.
“Now what?” Cerise asked.
I gave her a mischievous grin. “Now we sneak them into Rosebud’s tent.”
“What?” she almost yelled.
Without thinking I clapped my hand over her mouth and pressed her back against the tree trunk. “Shh…you’ll wake everyone up.” Cerise wiggled in my grip, glaring at me as she tried to speak but I didn’t release her. “I’ll let go if you promise to be quiet. Or else you’ll ruin my prank.”