Chapter Ten

"Mornings tend to be awkward after you spoon and then somehow manage to get naked to share body heat. There is no other reason other than heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Swear. It's only heat."—Hazel Titus

Hazel

It was warm, so very warm. I was suddenly pumped I hadn't brought a tent because this one was amazing. There was no need for me to be upset about the fact that I'd forgotten—

My eyes suddenly blinked open, and I stared down at the blanket I was clutching. Not a blanket, not a blanket.

No, that would be a sweatshirt that belonged to an arm, and that nice, warm, comfy feeling would be the person attached to all the things pressing close against me.

I should pry free, but I was freezing.

And he was so warm.

His face rested right above my boob, and one arm was on my waist—the same one I'd been holding like a blanket—while the other was wrapped around my head.

It was nice.

So nice that I almost imagined this was a normal scenario, us just sleeping in a bright yellow tent, spooning, heating each other up.

I closed my eyes when he moved against me. Oh, wait, he was getting closer. August jerked me against his chest and rolled onto his back, taking me on the journey with him.

Suddenly, I was half on his body.

And he was moaning against my neck.

I froze.

He kept moaning.

The tent moved with our bodies.

"Nice," he whispered in a sleepy, raspy voice. "You feel so nice."

Me? Or was he dreaming about somebody else?

"Hazel," he groaned. "So warm."

And leaning toward getting very, very hot.

He pressed a hand to my hip and squeezed. "Mmmm, so nice."

I opened my mouth to say something when that same hand dipped into my jeans and touched my bare hip.

Oh, shoot. Yeah, that felt nice, warm. His fingertips slid down farther and kept going until he was cupping my ass. I moved against him just a bit, and then I was fully on top of him as he rubbed slow circles on my skin. His erection pressed against my stomach, warm and solid, like steel you actually wanted to wrap your hands around and squeeze.

I let out a loud exhale when he rolled his hips.

This was bad, so bad. Should I wake him up? Pretend to be sleeping and slap him in the face?

All options were bad, and then nature, or the universe, quite literally provided as the sound of a wild animal filled the air.

August jolted awake, nearly headbutting me, and sat up while I tumbled backward. "Was that a bear?"

I stared down at his lap.

His eyes followed my gaze. "Morning."

"I'll say."

"What was that?" He grabbed a blanket.

"It's a great morning. So many reasons to be perky and ready for the day." I laughed and looked away while he grabbed our solo pillow and slammed it against me. "What?"

"Very funny. How'd you sleep?" He yawned, stretching his arms over his head. "Good, I hope."

"Probably not as well as you," I joked, earning another slight pillow slam before he actually reached for me and tugged me back down against him. I didn't resist.

"Don't." He held me close. "Don't make this weird. We never talk about this, but that was the best sleep I've had in a really long time. Can we please have a few more minutes before things get all chaotic again and you build more shrines?"

"Sure." I smiled to myself and yawned, then turned into his chest. "But just like five minutes."

"Just five," he agreed.

Two hours later, we both jolted awake at the sound of rustling.

August rubbed his eyes. "How did we sleep so long?"

I shook my head. "No clue, but I keep hearing noises, and it's not your snoring."

He gave me a slight shove. "Yeah, okay, one who purrs at night. Don't think I didn't hear you wake yourself up at least three times from your own noises."

"I was scared."

"So your throat just automatically went—?" He started making snoring noises while I shoved him to the ground, laughing, only to hear another rustle outside the tent. "What is that, you think?"

"A bunny, a deer? Not a bear. Maybe a fly got super aggressive. Who knows?"

I rolled my eyes. "Fine, fine. Let's forage for our breakfast. And when I say forage, I mean you cook, and I'll go find more kindling."

"Deal." He held up his hand for a high five. "I brought sausage."

We both paused.

Do not look down, do not look down.

He winced. "So many words that should not be shared or said. So many jokes, too. It's almost painful."

"I'm sure something is," I said sweetly and then, in a moment of pure insanity, ran my hand down his shirt and paused at the waistband of his jeans. Then, I pulled away. "I'll be back with that wood…" I grinned. "And kindling."

"Tease," he yelled. "That's mean. I'm not that strong."

"You'll survive. It's nature."

"You'll survive!" he yelled back.

"Dude, that was your comeback?"

"Oh, I'm sorry." August threw up his hands. His hair was all over the place, and his face was full of what seemed to be terminal frustration. "I'm sorry I'm horny as fuck and was forced to sleep next to this gorgeous human I've crushed on for years while living emotional trauma in my dreams."

I paused. "What did you just say?"

He frowned. "Nothing. I was thinking."

"Yeah, you said all of that out loud."

"When?"

"Just now."

"Right now?"

"Yeah, like seconds ago. I'll wait for it to sink in. You're really one of those people, aren't you? I almost didn't believe it, but now I do. You have no censor and forget that words actually come out of the mouth and don't always stay between the ears."

He jumped to his feet, nearly knocking over the tent, then stomped out. "I'll just go see a bear about that firewood."

"You do that," I called, then grabbed my shoes. "Just be safe. Remember, act big when you're small."

"I am big," he snapped.

I held up my hands and followed him out of the tent, still laughing, though the laughter was short-lived once we were five minutes into our walk for kindling.

"August," I hissed. "Don't move."

I saw everything before he did. He was clearly still delirious from waking up with a boner and had zero brain cells left. I was still triumphantly telling myself it was because I caused it, made him dizzy with thoughts and confessions. I should hate him, but in those moments, I kind of wanted to throw myself all over him and make him crazy again just to see what he'd say.

August held up his hands without looking back at me. "Why am I not moving? If this is your weird idea of freeze tag, I'm not a fan. I'm too hungry, tired, horny—and yes, I said horny, so get over it—to deal with a prank right now."

"It's at the campsite behind us. I think it's a bear, or maybe that raccoon again. It's hard to tell from here with the tree branches blocking a lot of my view."

"Is it white? Brown? Black? Does it climb? Is it a matter of life or death? Is it eating my chocolate? Because I swear if those Hersheys get stolen, I will lose my shit."

"It's not eating your chocolate; it's chewing on those tongs we used to move the hotdogs around."

He exhaled. "My fault. I should have put them away."

"Either way, it"s not looking like a grizzly," I said as the animal wandered off.

"He'll be back." He slowly looked over his shoulder, hands still up like we were in a holdup. "He'll be back for sure after tasting that wiener."

I stared.

August stared right back.

I stared harder.

He sighed. "It's still early. My brain isn't functioning."

"I kind of like not-functioning August." I winked. "And I think it's a she."

"How so?"

"Safe to say, the tree branches are no longer an issue, and she's huge. Like she's carrying her young."

"Shh, quiet. It could spur her to turn back and chew on things, mainly us. Us equals things."

"Well, she took our shelter, and we're seconds away from climbing up into our own tree right now. So, I'm sorry for panicking about the thief."

The sound of wolves howling filled the air. August cursed under his breath. "Yeah, well, that checks out, doesn't it? Why not add wolves to the mix of hell from nature?"

"Shh." I clapped a hand over his mouth. "They'll hear you. And I can't run faster than you."

August slammed my hand away. "That was actually an option for you? Letting me die?"

I winced. "I mean, as long as it's not me."

"You're impossible."

"And you're just—" My mouth dropped open. "Don't move."

He froze. "Those are not safe words in a safe sentence."

"Just…" My eyes were wide as I took in the situation. "It's not a big deal, just stay very still while I think."

"Think about what? What thoughts? What's going on?" he hissed between his teeth. "Hazel?"

"It's going to be fine." I said it like it was true while panic ensued.