I suffer through the boner of a lifetime while I build us a fire and I pitch the tent. I’m glad I made the choice to bring the bigger sleeping back and one for her, just in case. Hell, I’m excited just to sleep next to this woman. What has happened to me?
It’s barely been a day.
I can hear Asher’s words in my head. When love hits, it hits.
It’s not love. It’s not. It can’t be.
Right?
I don’t say anything when I finish, I just strip off my clothes and join Erin where she’s swimming in the water, and the minute that my lips find hers, we get lost. We spend the afternoon swimming and kissing and chatting about nothing. I have things to ask her, but this isn’t the time. That can wait for later. Now I’m just enjoying her presence. And not worrying about what it means or what’s happening to me.
When the sun is fading behind the mountains, we get out of the water, and I help dry her off with the towel that I brought before spreading it on the ground. She puts on some clothes but I’ll fix that soon enough.
I put on a pair of pants before breaking out the food for the fire. A couple cans of sound and some bread. Some fruit too. And it’s good. We’re tired enough from the swimming that we don’t talk much while we’re eating. But when we finish, I pull her to me, sitting her between my legs.
“So,” I say, “why did I have to stage a rescue for you, even if I’m beyond happy that I got to spend time with you wet and naked?”
Erin sighs. “They’re so on board, Hudson. They want to plan a wedding. My mom wants to take me wedding dress shopping next week. And I…don’t know what to do. She was just going on like a runaway train, and I think that she was about to pick the colors of the bridesmaids’ dresses. What are they going to do when we ‘break up’? They’re going to be heartbroken, because they think that I’m so happy.”
I shrug. “So maybe we’re one of those couples that stays engaged for a really long time? It is our wedding, so we get to call the shots, right? We just outlast your mom’s wedding fever and then once it calms down, we can break the news.”
She turns, curling into me. Her face presses into my chest and she’s holding onto me. “You really want to do that? You want to pretend to be engaged for months or longer? I can’t do that to you, Hudson. It’ll be a drag.”
“How exactly?” Erin looks up at me, and I smile. “I’m the one that got you into this with my idiot mouth, Erin. And I’m going to be with you for as long as it takes to get you out of it. Besides, it’s not like I have much of a life to ruin, if I’m being honest. If you weren’t here, it’s likely that I’d still be in this exact spot. But I’d be watching the stars alone.”
Above us, the first of those stars are just sparking into existence.
Erin is still looking up at me. I’m not sure if us pretending to be engaged includes anything physical, but I lower my head and kiss her. She gasps softly, mouth opening under mine. There’s no resistance or hesitation in her body, but I’m not going to assume anything, even with our single tent only feet away.
“Do you want more?”
“Yes.” She breathes the word before the question is even fully out of my mouth. So I kiss her again.
Harder.
11
Erin
Hudson’s lips are hard on mine. Demanding in a way that I completely love. I know what follows this, and after hours of teasing kisses and glimpsing his body through the water, I want him.
Even if I’m still confused about what we’re doing and the whole situation with my parents. This one night isn’t going to make a difference, and my mind is exhausted from going over and over all the different possibilities. I feel like my mind hasn’t stopped spinning until this moment when his lips meet mine.
“Yes,” I breathe again.
Hudson shifts, laying me out on the towel that we’re sitting on. He moves like a man with a plan, and after what he’s shown me already, I’m going to let him and do what he wants with me. Thank fuck we’re out in the middle of the woods where no one will be able to hear me scream, because that is going to happen.
I already know.
Fingers curl under the soft waistband of my pants and pull them away. He moves quickly, stripping my panties off, and I hear the soft fabric of the tent rustle where he puts my clothes.