CHAPTER 35
“If I didn’t love Amherst, I’d want to live here. These trees, the fresh pine smell, and the company are topnotch,” I say as Bennett and I hike through the forest to the waterfall. The trail has a slight incline, but it’s been a fairly easy few miles. One downside is how many people we’ve seen. There’s no way Bennett and I will have the waterfall to ourselves.
“Good thing you can visit for three months out of every year.”
“And Christmases, right? Evie said you guys come up here in December sometimes.”
Bennett puts his water back in his backpack and leads the way on the trail again. “Yeah, when we’re celebrating with the Hale side of the family, we come up here.”
Since Mom and Dad’s divorce, we haven’t discussed what holidays will look like from now on. Will my family get mad if I bail and join Bennett’s family this year instead? New Hampshire with people who like one another sounds way more fun than Ohio.
“How many Christmas trees do you have at the mansion, and are they real or fake?”
“What kind of heathens do you think we are?” He spins in a circle, arms outstretched. “Of course we have a real tree. Would it be Christmas in New Hampshire with a fake one?”
Dad refused to pay for a real tree. He said they were a waste of money and destroyed the planet. “I’ve only had an artificial tree. Am I missing out on having a real one?”
Bennett pretends to stab a knife in his heart. “You mentioned how good it smells. This? Right here?” He takes a deep breath in. “Imagine this in your living room with lights on it.”
“Promise me no matter where we spend our holidays this year, we’ll have a real tree.” I want to experience the difference myself. Though I have a feeling as long as I’m with Bennett, the other stuff won’t matter as much. “Wait. I’m getting too far ahead again, right?”
His head wobbles side-to-side. “In other circumstances, I’d say yes, but I really like the idea of spending the holidays with you.”
Christmas festivities with Bennett? Two thumbs-up. “Me too.” The rush of water crashing is faint, but grows stronger as we walk. “Are we close? I can hear the waterfall.”
Bennett points to a curve ahead of us. “It’s just up there.”
Too excited to keep our casual pace, I take off running. The moment the waterfall comes into view, I stop dead in my tracks. Bennett bumps into me from behind. We stumble forward, but manage to stay upright.
“A little warning next time?” Bennett jokes, holding on to my shoulders.
“Sorry.” Fifty feet above us, a waterfall cascades in a massive sheet to a pool about half the size of a football field. Twenty people are swimming and another ten sun bathe on the boulders and sand surrounding the pond. “I’ve never seen something like this in real life. Have you been under the spray before? Does it hurt?”
“Yes, and yes. Since you’re a good swimmer, you’ll be fine to try it.”
“Will you come with me?”
“Absolutely.”
I spin around, facing him. “Should we swim first or do the waterfall?”
“Waterfall and then we can relax after.”
Bennett takes my hand, leading me to an open spot on the left side of the natural pool. “I have a surprise for you on top of the massage later today.”
Shimmying out of my bike shorts, I say, “Bennett, you don’t need to do anything else for me.”
I yank my shirt over my head, then pull on my swim straps, hiking them higher on my shoulders. I went with my animal print suit since the top has more support. Why hasn’t Bennett responded?
Oh. Oh!
Bennett’s staring at me with intense heat in his eyes. He takes his time, scanning my body up and down, checking me out. My lower stomach gets all warm and tingly. We’ve seen one another in our swimsuits plenty of times by now, but we’ve been around the family and Bennett didn’t allow himself to think of me as anything other than a friend.
But not now.
With strangers who we will never see again, we can take our time fully appreciating our attraction to one another.
“You’re stunning, Mils,” Bennett says with awe. “Absolutely stunning.”
“Thank you.” I smile. “You’re not too bad yourself, professor.”
Bennett’s gaze hasn’t left my body. “Need help with sunscreen?”
Crackles of electricity shoot up my veins. The people and noise around us fade away. Bennett’s hands on my back and shoulders? I shiver in anticipation. “Actually, I do.”
Grabbing my SPF 30 from my backpack, I turn my back to Bennett and hold the bottle over my shoulder. I hear a squirt from behind. Bennett’s warm hands rub the top of my shoulders with the cold lotion. Methodically, he works the sunblock into my skin. His pinky slips under the band of my swim top and bottom.
I’m seconds from combusting. Desire for him swells in my abdomen, and it takes everything in me not to turn around and show him exactly how he’s making me feel. Not yet, Mils. There are people around, and kissing him right now isn’t a good idea. Give yourself time.
Unable to take his hands on my body one second longer, I spin around, facing him. “I’m ready for Armageddon with that excellent application. You ready for your turn?”
His pupils are dilated. “Yes,” he says in a husky tone.
Taking the container from him, I squeeze the cream that smells like coconut into my palms. Rubbing them together first, I start at Bennett’s shoulders like he did with me. Also like Bennett, I take my time massaging in the lotion, ensuring no white residue remains on his skin. As my hands skate over his muscles, my breaths turn ragged.
Why couldn’t we be alone? I really, really want to kiss Bennett right now. “You’re done.” And that pool better have cool water like Bennett said, because my body is burning.
“Should we jump in?” Bennett asks, sounding as affected as I am.
“Is it deep enough?”
“Yeah, it is.”
I hold my hand out, palm side up. “Together?”
“On three.”
We count at the same time. “One. Two. Three!” Running, we reach the edge of the pool and jump in. Our hands break apart when we crash into the water. The temperature is refreshingly cool, but not cold. Swimming to the top, I break the surface, looking around for Bennett.
He’s three feet away, smiling like a kid at his first baseball game. “I forgot how much fun this place is.”
“It’s the sunblock, isn’t it?”
“Eighty percent of the reason, yes.”
I chuckle, shaking my head at him, though my thoughts are the same. “Always be the one who helps keep me protected from the sun?”
“It would be my pleasure.”
We spend the next hour swimming around, going under and behind the waterfall, and lying in the sun drying off before heading to Scoops. Bennett gets his usual Death by Chocolate, and I try Beachy Keen. Three hours later, we’re back at the house, standing inside the entryway.
“I’m going to shower and then I’ll meet you in your room,” I say, turning toward the south wing of the house where my bedroom is.
“One hour?”
I shrug. “Depends. Do you care if my hair and makeup are done?”
“Mils, you make my heart race no matter what you look like or wear.”
He’s seriously the sweetest. “I’ll be over in thirty minutes then.”
“Can’t wait.”
I close my eyes, letting the feeling of being wanted, loved, and cared for wash over me. “Oh, one more thing,” I say. “By chance, do you own any tweed jackets with elbow patches?” None of my professors have made me fantasize about them outside of a classroom setting, but Bennett absolutely inspires some role-playing between us. Maybe when school starts up again in August?
“I do not.”
“Are you even a professor if you don’t own one?” Isn’t it a requirement when they hand you your PhD? Here’s your doctorate and a link to purchase a jacket.
A crease forms between his brows. “Is this a problem for you?”
“Most definitely. If I were you, I’d get one as soon as possible.”
“Why?”
I smile flirtatiously at him. “The moment you’re wearing it, you’ll know.”
Bennett runs up the left staircase.
“Where are you going?” I ask, laughing at his hasty retreat.
“To order a jacket online!”
Even better if the blazer arrives here. Bennett with his curly hair, glasses, and a jacket? Mmmm, I can’t wait.