Chapter Twelve #3
“It’s okay, I’m not mad. You had a lot of space free since I was packing all the food. And now we are all packed,” Aspen said, clicking in the last buckle. “Make sure every time you unpack this, repack it the same way. It’ll do wonders for your back.”
“Thank you.” Mo smiled, rolling and stretching her shoulders in anticipation. “Now, how do I wear it correctly?”
“Well, first we have to loosen all the straps,” Aspen instructed, waving for Mo to kneel next to her as she pulled each strap out enough to start from scratch. “Technically, this should have been measured for your torso, but we can’t really do much about that now.”
“She was only an inch shorter than me,” Mo offered as Aspen finished her task.
“Good, then this pack will probably be fine.” Aspen motioned for Mo to step forward. “Go ahead and put it on, and I’ll show you how to adjust each strap.”
Mo donned the pack with a slight groan. She stood awkwardly, obviously not enjoying the weight. Aspen swallowed nervously, knowing the next few steps would mean she would be in Mo’s personal space.
“Now, can I touch you?” Aspen asked, stepping closer to Mo.
“Yeah,” Mo agreed, her focus bouncing between Aspen’s eyes.
“First thing first.” Aspen moved even closer, instantly feeling Mo’s hot breath on her forehead as she looked down at Mo’s waist. With unsure fingers, Aspen reached forward and grabbed the hip belt hanging near Mo’s sides.
She clipped it together at Mo’s hips, the backs of her fingers warm against Mo’s lean lower abdomen.
“Hip belt. This will take most of the weight off your back.”
“Oh, I didn’t have this clipped,” Mo said, her voice a tad wavy. “My bad.”
Aspen tried to keep her breath even as she slid her hand under the belt on one side, her knuckles now resting against Mo’s right hip bone.
She pulled on the strap until her fingers felt the pressure, removing her hand to tighten the strap more.
She then moved to do the same thing on the other side, Mo’s breathing slightly hitching at her actions.
“All right, hip belt done. Next are shoulder straps.”
“Mm-hmm,” Mo hummed but left her hands at her sides.
Aspen swallowed her nerves, electric energy bouncing around in her body. She cleared her throat before grabbing each shoulder strap, pulling down until they looked tight and even. “Does that feel good?”
“Oh wow, yeah,” Mo responded, her eyes firmly on Aspen when she looked up to confirm.
“Good, load straps are next.”
“Load straps?”
“Up here.” Aspen reached her hands up and over Mo’s shoulders, almost like she was initiating a slow dance.
Her hands brushed lightly past Mo’s neck and shoulders, causing Mo to groan ever so slightly.
The power Aspen found in this easy movement was intoxicating, and she fiddled around a bit longer than normal, enjoying this closeness.
“They are straps connecting the top of the load to the rest of the pack.”
“Got it.” Mo’s voice sounded thick.
Aspen pulled down, her wrists making contact with Mo’s shoulders, which in turn had Mo reaching out to steady herself on Aspen’s hips.
Her body reacted positively to Mo’s touch, and it took everything inside of her to keep herself from rolling her hips in response.
Aspen kept her arms around Mo’s neck, moving closer so that their bodies were now lightly touching.
“Is that it?” Mo finally asked, slowly removing her hands.
“No,” Aspen replied, making it seem like she was testing the buckles near Mo’s neck. “Chest strap is last.”
With that, she fished each section of the chest strap from the crook of Mo’s arms and snapped it lightly over her chest, trying her best to avoid brushing against Mo’s breasts.
But Mo’s body had other ideas, leaning into her touch so that Aspen’s forearms could feel the softness of Mo’s chest right below her wrists.
Aspen, not wanting to make it awkward, quickly pulled on the strap until it seemed proper before stepping back away from Mo.
“Done.” Aspen looked up, finding Mo’s eyes closed.
Before she could comment, Mo opened them and smiled down at her. “Thanks.”
“Does it feel better?”
Mo took a few moments to move around, like she hadn’t been paying attention the entire process. “Yeah, much better. It feels almost…lighter?”
“Yeah, it’s like magic.” Aspen grinned before moving to grab her own bag, her body still buzzing from their closeness.
“Need me to help you?” Mo offered, causing Aspen to drop her pack in surprise.
“No.” Aspen’s voice was a few octaves too high, and she quickly adjusted her straps, hoping she hadn’t made a fool of herself. “I’ll get it situated, and we’ll head out.”
“Damn,” Mo muttered so quietly that Aspen almost missed it. She was sure she heard disappointment in her voice.
Aspen couldn’t help but grimace, wondering if she had just made a mistake in refusing Mo. But when she turned around to gauge Mo’s facial expression, she found apologetic softness instead of the usual grumpy lines. Aspen breathed a sigh of relief.
“Let’s get going,” Aspen announced, nodding her head in the correct direction.
This trip was all over the place, and Aspen just hoped she could keep up.