froze and pulled away, his eyes wide.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
He looked like he wanted to jump out of his skin.
Oh God. Was my kiss that bad? Maybe I’d read this wrong.
“Don’t. Move,” he breathed and looked down at the water between us.
The next few seconds were weird. It was like time stopped and sped up at the same moment. I peered down and my brain tried to process what I was looking at.
Then it did.
Fucking snake.
A fucking snake slithering right between the gap that lay between Ashton and my stomachs.
“No,” I whimpered as every muscle in my body clenched.
I was about to bolt and start screaming and rip off what was left of my clothes and call 911 and have a general fucking panic attack, when Ashton’s arms came around me in a vise-like grip.
“Don’t. Move.” He was calm, as the snake slowly skimmed the water between us, and spots started to dance at the edges of my vision.
I couldn’t breathe.
I was going to die.
“Cottonmouth. Very venomous,” Ashton said as the snake’s tail passed us and then it was gone, swimming toward the shore like a fucking Jesus snake who walked on water.
Even though the snake was gone, its scales, head, its slithering motion, was imprinted on my brain. I still couldn’t breathe, I think I was having a panic attack.
“Shit. Hey. You okay?” Ashton asked as his gaze zeroed in on my chest.
I looked down, saw the red hives splashed across my chest, and then I blacked out.
Ashton
I shouldn’t have kissed her.
I mean shit … I loved kissing her, but maybe I’d cursed the god of widows or something because a fucking water moccasin slithered across my belly, breaking us up. That was a sign, right? A sign from her dead husband? I believed in spirits and shit, that stuff was real. I’d gone and kissed a widow after she told me about losing her husband in an accident and then a venomous snake broke us apart.
Then she broke out in hives and fainted?
This day was fucked. I was never touching her again, I didn’t care how beautiful she was.
I should just have my cousin drive her back home at this point.
After hauling her out of the water, I was scouting the ground for any more snakes when she stirred in my arms.
Jesus Lord almighty she was the most beautiful chick I’d ever seen. I kept my eyes on her face because it felt fucked up to check out her body while she was unconscious, but I’d gotten a glimpse of her sheer bra and white panties before she jumped in the lake and it was over for me. She was insanely hot … when she wasn’t fainting from snake encounters.
“Did I pass out?” She clung to my neck and eyed the ground, seemingly for snakes. Feeling her skin pressed against mine, having her grip tightly to me, I liked it. I felt … needed. Something I didn’t know I liked to feel.
I nodded. “Afraid of snakes I take it?”
She eyed the ground again and held on to me tighter.
“Terrified,” she yelped.
Poor thing. A red blotchy rash marred her chest and face. “The ground is clear, I’m gonna set you down so you can get dressed, okay?”
She seemed to realize she was hanging onto me in her bra and panties, because she let go and crossed her arms over her chest.
“Okay,” she squeaked.
I set her down and then spun quickly so that my hard-on could go away before she saw it. I wasn’t built for this kind of gentlemanly behavior. I wanted to take that kiss further, but the snake stopped us and now I knew why.
This was a train wreck waiting to happen. I hated this chick.
Right?
She’d been on my nerves for the past three days and now I was kissing her? The heat got me all crazy.
I was just thinking of a way to ask her if she wanted my cousin to drive her home, when my cell phone rang.
Gran.
Slipping into my jeans, I answered.
“Hey, Gran. We had some car trouble.”
“I know, Martha called me from the town over. She’s friends with Colton who’s the brother of Nick, who is your tow truck guy.”
What the hell? Small towns never ceased to amaze me.
“Well, Millie’s had quite a fright with a cottonmouth, so I’m thinking Richie should come in to town and bring her home.” I looked up to see hurt cross Millie’s features and cursed myself.
“Was she bit!?” Gran yelled.
“Nah, just a scare,” I reiterated.
I could hear