29 - Melissa

29

Melissa

The campfire cast an inviting orange glow on everything in a ten-foot radius, and sent long shadows dancing across the field. It was a dark night, clouds obscuring the stars and moon, which made the area seem like a pocket of life in an otherwise endless black sea. Ash’s dark eyes were unreadable as we approached.

“Room for three?” Noah asked.

“It’s your land,” Ash replied in a deep voice.

“Doesn’t mean I get to barge in on you whenever I want.” Cut logs were spaced around the fire, and Noah sat on one across the fire from Ash. I took one in between the two of them.

“Drink?” Ash asked, nudging a cooler with his toe.

“Whatever you’re having,” Noah replied.

Ash’s gaze collided with mine, and he raised an eyebrow.

“Same,” I said.

He handed a can of beer to Noah, then stretched across to give one to me. Our fingers brushed for a split second, and it was like electricity arced between us. The memory of our kiss was still sharp in my mind. I wondered if it was the same for him.

“You’re not cold?” I asked. He was wearing jeans and a white tank top.

Ash pointed with his beer. “Fire.”

“Oh. Yeah.” I moved my log a little closer to the pulsing heat.

Noah chatted with Ash for a little while, allowing me to relax in silence. They discussed his short trip to Ouray, and the contract with the Colorado Parks Department that Jack had taken today, clearing away debris after the storm.

“I can’t believe it stormed that hard the other night,” Noah said. “I slept through the whole thing.”

Ash’s gaze cut over to me for a fraction of a second. “I bet you did.”

I winced. It was eerily similar to what Jack had said when I mentioned the storms.

“Dude,” Noah said, “did you see who the Avalanche signed?

Ash let out a growl. “Yeah. Awful. They always spend money on the wrong players.”

My plan was to have one drink and then go inside, but Noah and Ash seemed like they were having a good time. And it was a nice night to sit by a campfire.

Noah got a second beer, so I did too. Paired with the first beer and the drinks at dinner, I soon had a nice buzz going.

But the alcohol made the guilt come bubbling up again. And as soon as it reappeared, it refused to leave. Not even imagining all the sexy fun Noah and I would have tonight could take my mind off things. If anything, it made the guilt of my lie of omission worse.

Ash casually leaned back on the ground and rested a thick bicep behind his head. God, he was sexy. The campfire illuminated his tattoos in a way that made them come alive, almost dancing in the flickering light.

His eyes cut over to me, and I quickly looked away.

But I couldn’t stop thinking about the way he looked, and how intense our kiss was. It had been so brief, a fire extinguished before it could really begin to burn.

That burning was inside of me now, a jumble of confused emotions.

Until, eventually, I couldn’t take it anymore.

“Ash and I kissed today,” I blurted out.

Ash sat upright and stared daggers at me. Noah blinked in surprise. I could see the information taking hold, his mind processing it and deciding what to do. I began to panic, imagining him kicking me out and refusing to see me again.

“Actually, I kissed him,” I quickly clarified. “It happened at the top of the via ferrata route. I’m the one who initiated it. Ash didn’t do anything wrong—he actually stopped the kiss and immediately brought me home.”

Noah’s expression was completely blank. Infuriatingly unreadable. The fire crackled as each second went by, an eternity while I waited for his reaction.

He responded with the last thing I expected. He started laughing softly.

“What… what’s so funny?” I stammered.

“I know you two kissed,” he replied. “Ash texted me the moment he got home this afternoon.”

It was my turn to stare blankly, processing what he had said. Then I whipped my gaze toward Ash. “You told him?”

“‘Course I did,” he said simply.

I turned back to Noah. “You’re not… upset?”

He and Ash shared a look, then started laughing again.

“Maybe it’s the beer,” I said, “but I’m extremely confused right now.”

“I’m not upset. That’s actually why I wanted to sit by the fire—so we could get it all out in the open. No awkwardness, no guilt.”

None of this felt real. Their reactions were completely illogical. I’d run through a dozen scenarios in my head involving Noah finding out about the kiss, and none of them were like this .

“I really expected this conversation to go differently.”

“We both know this is just a fling,” Noah said softly. “As soon as your ankle is healed, you’re leaving. You’re amazing, Melissa, and I’m having an incredible time with you… but we’re not in a relationship.”

Did he sound sad? Maybe it was my imagination, or I was projecting my own emotions onto him, because hearing him say it out loud made me sad.

“Besides,” Noah added, “Ash and I are already eskimo brothers.”

I frowned. “Eskimo brothers? What does that mean?”

“Two Eskimos who go fishing together,” Noah said with a coy little smile. “Ice fishing.”

“I feel really stupid, because none of what you’re saying makes sense right now. You two go fishing together?”

“It’s a metaphor.”

“Think about it,” Ash said.

I opened my mouth, then closed it. I pictured two Eskimos fishing together, each of them dropping their lines into a hole in the ice…

The same hole. Sharing .

I felt my cheeks blush.

Ash let out a deep chuckle. “She gets it.”