Chapter 8
Eight
“I shouldn’t have sat down.” Aspen didn’t even try to hide the fact that she was rubbing at the sore muscles of her ass. “I think between the ice skating and the bed, I’ve worked out more in the past few days than I have in months. At least using muscles that don’t normally get used.”
“It gets better with practice,” Brooks insisted.
She shot him a glance. “Which? The skating or the… other things.”
He paused, then smirked. “Both.”
“God bless practice. But I’d bless it more if I had access to a hot tub.
Or at least a super hot shower. I’m not sure I’ve thawed out from the rink yet.
” She’d fallen so much that, by the end, she and the ice had been intimately acquainted.
But it had been a truly fantastic day. He had, yet again, gone to all this trouble to give her new memories and an experience she certainly wouldn’t have had on her own.
“If they have a hot tub, I don’t know about it. But we could head back to the cabin for a hot shower—”
“I notice you’re using the singular there.”
“Very observant of you.” He winked and swung their joined hands. “But I actually have a better idea.”
“Oh really? Well, those continue to turn out well for me, so lead the way.”
“We do need to stop by the cabin first to pick something up.”
“Okay.”
The something ended up being a couple of towels. He stuffed them in a backpack and slung it over one shoulder before leading her back out of the cabin and into the woods. As the sun was close to setting, the shadows of the trees stretched long, lending an eerie twilight to the area.
“If this were a different kind of story, you’d be taking me to where you hide the bodies.”
Brooks looked down at her. “Oh, that took a dark turn.”
“But,” she qualified, “it’s not that kind of story.”
“No?”
“Absolutely not.” She might not know much about Brooks, but she knew he was a good man and no threat to any part of her. Well, except her heart.
“What kind of story is it?”
With his hand warm around hers and all the memories they’d made spinning through her mind, she admitted the truth to herself.
It’s a love story. God help me, it’s a love story.
But she couldn’t say that.
Copping out, she shrugged and offered a smile. “To be determined.”
He gave her some side-eye, like he knew that wasn’t what she really meant, but he didn’t call her on it.
Aspen had no idea how far they’d walked before she began hearing some sort of dull roar. “What is that?”
“Well, if I followed the directions I was given correctly, we should be coming up on Firefly Falls, for which the camp is named.”
“Oh! I didn’t realize it was a real place.” Then again, she hadn’t looked too deeply into the history of the camp when she’d booked her stay.
“It’s supposed to be.”
“I’m surprised the trail isn’t marked.”
“I think that’s the point. To keep it hidden and special for those in the know. If we’re lucky, I timed this right.”
“For what?”
“You’ll see.”
A hundred or so yards later, the trail opened up and Aspen gasped.
The falls themselves thundered down into a wide pool maybe fifty or sixty feet across.
The pool was wrapped on both sides by rock that ended with only a narrow gap to allow the water to keep on flowing into Lake Waawaatesi.
Thick trees crowded around all sides, lending a sense of total privacy.
And everywhere she looked were fireflies.
Hundreds of them winking in synchrony in the last dying light of the sun.
“It’s gorgeous,” she breathed. “I’ve never seen this many at once. Especially outside the South. It’s magical.”
“Timed it right for sure.” Brooks stripped off his shirt.
“What are you doing?”
“Going swimming.”
“Oh, but I didn’t bring my swimsuit.”
He grinned at her. “Neither did I.” In one quick move, he shucked his pants and strode, gloriously naked, into the water.
Aspen had never been skinny dipping. Shocker. But the entire point of this trip was to rack up experiences, so she stripped down to the buff and went to join him.
“Eeep! The water’s cold!” Gooseflesh rose along her skin the moment her feet were covered.
“You gotta get out here to the middle, where the trees didn’t block the sun.”
“Okay, I’m trusting you. But it’s on you to warm me up if you’re lying.”
“That is a duty I swear to take very seriously.”
Taking a breath, she made a shallow dive fully into the water, hurriedly stroking out to where he treaded water.
Surfacing beside him, she swiped the hair back from her face. “Okay, you were right. This is better.” Tipping her head back, she stared up at the stars winking on in the darkening sky. “So beautiful.”
“Worth the hike, for sure.”
She moved her arms back and forth, kicking gently to stay afloat. “I’m pretty tired. I don’t know how long I’ll be able to make it, but I will absolutely give it the old college try.”
His arms came around her, eliminating the need to kick. “I’ve got you. We can stay out here as long as you like.”
On a contented sigh, she laid her head back against his shoulder.
She was aroused. They were naked together in arguably one of the most romantic spots in the area.
Of course she was aroused. But in the moment, it was more of a pleasant undercurrent.
It was enough to be held close, skin to skin, basking in nature and each other.
This was another of the mile long list of things she didn’t think she could ever get enough of, even if more than this week was on the table. Which she knew it wasn’t.
Turning her head, she brushed a kiss to his jaw—the only part of him she could reach without turning around. “Thank you for today. It was so incredibly fun, and I’m never going to forget it.”
Brooks pressed a kiss to her shoulder, as he frequently did. It was a small gesture, but one that would be burned into her memories every bit as much as all these big ones he’d given her. “It was fun to teach you.”
“Tell me what you love about it. Skating. Hockey. All of it.” Maybe if she could remind him why he loved the sport, it would help him make the decision whether to go back.
Going back was probably the right choice for him.
If he left now, it would be purely out of grief, and she thought he’d probably regret it.
He was quiet for a long moment, resting his cheek against her hair as they both continued watching the light show.
“I love the freedom of being on the ice. And I love the challenge. There’s always room to improve skills, whether that’s skating, puck handling, shooting.
I love the physical exertion. It’s hella good stress relief.
And of course, I love the camaraderie and the teamwork. Those guys are my brothers.”
“Was it some of your teammates who sent you here?”
“Yeah. They thought I was wallowing too much and that it would do me good to get the hell outta Dodge, as it were. Can’t argue that they weren’t right.”
“I’m certainly lucky they sent you. You’d mentioned you were struggling with whether to go back. If you decided to leave the sport, what would you do instead?”
“I don't know. I never truly considered doing anything else with my life.”
“Well, what else do you love?”
He considered that for a long while before shifting his hold, spinning her in his grip to face him. For a potent moment, he stared down at her, his hand stroking the wet hair back from her face. “I don’t know. But right now, I’m loving being here with you.”
Aspen’s heart began to pound. He wasn’t saying he loved her. That would be ridiculous. But they were coming to matter to each other, and that was a lot.
Sliding her hands over his shoulders, she whispered, “Me too.”
Then he kissed her again, and she forgot that she’d ever been cold.
“You look like you’re thinking deep thoughts.”
Brooks glanced over at Aspen in the kayak next to his. “Guess I am.”
“Want to share with the class, or would you rather keep it to yourself?”
“I’m not contemplating state secrets or anything.
Just thinking about what you asked me last night, about what else I love besides hockey, and what the hell I’d do with my life if I retire.
When I suggested to Grady and Colter—those are two of my teammates—that I might just quit the whole damned thing, I hadn’t given any thought at all to what the hell I’d do instead.
I mean, I don’t have to find anything immediately.
I’ve been paid well for the time I’ve played.
” He broke off, catching her eye again. “I guess it’s a little rude to say that. ”
Aspen jerked her shoulders. “I assumed you were making more than pennies by playing at your level. You couldn’t have pulled off some of the surprises for me if you didn’t have some kind of money. That just means you have a safety net. Presuming you aren’t the kind of guy to just blow it all.”
“No, I’ve been responsible with it. Growing up with a single mom, it was definitely important to me that there be savings.
The only thing I really spent excessively on—according to her anyway—was the fact that as soon as I was able, I bought her a house and a new car.
And airfare so she could come see me play whenever she wanted. ”
“Wanting to take care of her after she took care of you all those years is hardly excessive.”
“That’s what I said.” And Brooks could still remember the stunned delight on his mom’s face when he’d presented her with that house, even as she’d said it was too much. Nothing would ever have been too much for her.
Shaking off the memory, he dragged his brain back to the conversation. “Anyway, I haven’t given any real thought to what I’d do other than hockey. I’ve never done anything else. Never wanted to do anything else.”
“Don’t a lot of retired sportsball players end up as commentators or whatever?”