Chapter 27

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Charlie

T hat was the moment I lost her, even though didn’t know it then. I’d been waiting for the right moment to tell her the truth: How much I disagreed with my father and his plans for the company. How I was trying to save her job. But I said nothing, quietly debating myself as she took my phone and walked across the clearing, holding it up, praying for a signal.

I didn’t deserve anything from her, not after that. But I took everything because I was weak and deliriously in love.

“Sent! It says the message was sent!” she yelled across the field.

I instinctively stood up as I saw her stumbling towards me. She stopped one step away, her eyes shining with tears. “Rhonda replied. She’ll let my mom know. She’ll track the cell signal to get our location.”

When she jumped into my arms, I was officially lost for words. There was nothing left. I breathed in her scent, the air vibrating with palpable relief and joy. “That’s amazing, Bess,” I whispered into her hair, every part of my body suddenly awake and alive, blood pumping at double speed to reach all the locations.

I should have let her go and steered us back to that awkward conversation. I should have done the right thing. But that long, tight hug wiped my mind clean. I could only think of her soft body pressed against mine. The smell of her hair in my nostrils.

She’d been pushing me away, probably for a good reason, and I had no idea what had changed. But I didn’t want to question it. I only wanted to stay there, locked against her, with no words confusing things between us.

As though she’d read my mind, Bess took my hand and pulled me towards the hammock. I threw the last of the branches into the fire and helped her into it. She removed her sneakers but climbed in fully clothed, disappearing into the padded cocoon. After a moment, her face appeared. “Come on! We can’t let you die of hypothermia.”

She didn’t have to ask me twice. I removed my boots and jacket and climbed in with her, cringing at how the fabric and lines tightened under my weight. But the hammock held in place, gently swaying under the trees. It was pitch black inside it with the covers drawn, but it was warm. We’d survive.

As I settled in, gravity pushed our hips together. I felt her arms against my chest and her hair on my face. It smelled of something sweet, like honey. There were so many things I wanted to do, but the hammock was like a straitjacket.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

“Mmm,” she breathed against my chest. “It’s so snug. I’ve never been this close to another person.”

“Not even during sex?” I asked without thinking.

“It’s different. This is like being tied up, somehow.”

“You’re not claustrophobic, are you?”

My mind raced, trying to think of ways to calm her down. I couldn’t let her out into the night. I had to keep her here. Keep her warm.

“I’m freaking out a little,” her small voice piped up as she tried to create space between us using her hands. “I want to give you some space, but it’s really hard.”

“You don’t have to give me space.” I stroked her hair. “I don’t need space between us at all. But I apologize for my third arm. It gets a bit excited over this much proximity.”

There was nothing I could do about that hard-on, not when my crotch was practically pushed against hers. My cock knew where it wanted to be and a few layers of fabric did nothing to dampen its enthusiasm.

“It’s okay.” She wiggled her hand down to my jeans as if to confirm the situation. “You can take it out if it helps.”

I laughed. “I don’t think that’s a good idea, unless you want to be penetrated.”

Her voice turned low and husky. “Do you have protection?”

My breath seized.

I could hardly believe she’d spoken those words. “You’d have sex just to make room for my cock, Bess? That’s very accommodating, but seriously.”

Her voice was both breathy and amused as her fingers worked to unfasten my jeans button. “It might be the only way we survive the night. So, do you have protection?”

It was a tough question, because if I admitted to having a condom on me, which I did, I’d also admit to premeditating the strange situation we were in. And I hadn’t. Not really.

“If I tell you I have a condom in my back pocket, are you going to judge me? I only keep it on me because I’m an eternal optimist. I wasn’t expecting anything, I swear.”

“If you’d planned for this, you would’ve ordered a bigger hammock, right? With fairy lights and mirrors, like an insulated sex swing.”

I could hear the smile in her voice before I felt her shake with laughter. She could make fun of me all she wanted if it meant she was no longer terrified. Or mad at me.

“I need that thing. Where can I get it? Does it come with built-in speakers?”

“I’m sure someone somewhere will sell it for half a million dollars.”

“Buy. Now.”

She hiccupped with laughter and happiness radiated through my chest. “I guess we’ll have to make this one into a sex swing.” She dragged her hand across my pulsating crotch, her body pressing against my side.

With every touch of her hand, I got harder and the jeans became more uncomfortable. “You need to stop stroking me, unless you’re ready to face the consequences,” I warned, pushing her hand away.

“Where’s the condom, Charlie?” She snaked her hand around me, trying to reach into my back pocket.

I used the opportunity to grab her hips and bring her directly on top of me. We lined up perfectly, her soft body molded against mine. I helped her out of her jacket, then slid my hands under her woolen layers, relishing the feel of bare skin against my fingers. For a moment, the awkwardness of being pushed together in a cramped space disappeared. We were just two people lying on top of each other, enclosed by darkness, desperate to get closer.

When she unzipped my jeans, I froze. I couldn’t go back on my word, even if this counted as an emergency, in every sense of the word.

“Wait!” I fought the words out against my will. “I told you—If we do this, it means something, Bess. Tell me this is not casual.” My voice rang with desperation.

“There’s nothing casual about trying to survive in freezing temperatures,” she joked, but I could hear the sadness. The uncertainty.

“Bess. You know what I mean.”

I’d never feared silence as much as I feared the seconds stretching between us. The longer she took to give me an answer, the more my stomach twisted.