water from my Nalgene and tried to steady my breathing. “When Ben touched me—”
I felt Jesse’s body tense.
“He touched me places no one has touched me before. And when you said that thing Karen said about the five hundred things people can do to each other that aren’t sex . . . I thought about him. But I don’t want that to be the thing I think about. I want to think about happy things. I want to think about you.”
Jesse was quiet. “I want you to think about me, too. How are we—you? We? Going to do that?”
I clipped my water back onto my backpack. “Not exactly sure . . .” I glanced at his face—his deep brown eyes caught mine, but then he bit his lip, worried. My core felt warm. Suddenly, I felt steady. Grounded. “But I think tonight’s the night to find out. You ready?”
“Uh, yeah.” He stumbled, then regained his footing.
The rest of the hike was quiet with both of us lost in our own thoughts.
As we approached a bend in the trees, I stopped him. “It looks different in the dark, but I think this is it. You’ve seriously never been up here before?”
He shook his head.
“Okay. Turn off your headlamp. And take my hand . . .”
We turned the corner and stepped out onto a large, flat overhang of rock. When I had been there a couple days before, I could see for miles, but at night, we were treated to a bright, full moon, and more stars than I’d ever seen in my whole life.
“Oh,” Jesse breathed, and my lungs expanded as big as the sky. He squeezed my hand. “Thank you for bringing me here,” he whispered.
The air was cool, and I welcomed his warm lips on my cheek. “I’m glad I finally got to show you something you hadn’t seen before,” I murmured.
He smiled. “You want to sit?”
I unzipped my backpack and pulled out a soft, thick wool blanket I’d found in Karen’s cabin. “How’s this?”
We took off our boots and settled ourselves side by side on the blanket, stretching out our legs. Jesse opened his backpack and plucked out a little chocolate and more water. I happily accepted the chocolate and kissed each of his eyelids. “You know, I’ve been thinking about that section of the woods that was burned down by the fire.”
“Yeah?” Eyes still closed, he smiled and took a bite of chocolate.
“I sort of feel like that.”
Blinking, Jesse considered this. “Ben burned you down?”
I nodded. “But I’m growing back. Differently.”
Scooting closer to me, he smiled slowly. “Do you remember what I said about that section of the woods?”
I nodded again, the corners of my mouth tugging upward. “It’s your favorite.”
He reached out and boinged one of my curls. “That it is.”
I laughed and batted his hand away. “That’s your one free boing,” I said, pointing a finger at him. “There are consequences from here on out.”
Chuckling, he leaned in and kissed a spot under my ear. “Like what?” he whispered.
I breathed in his warm smell of coconuts and pine and sweat and earth. Bravery surged through me. “For starters,” I said, plucking at his collar, “this shirt’s gotta go.”
Expectant eyes met mine. “You sure?”
“Don’t get any big ideas,” I said, suddenly not sure what I was agreeing to. “No one’s having your babies any time soon, Mr. Rose-Eerdmans.”
He dropped his head, laughing. “I happily agree to your terms, Ms. Bailey-Cho.” He sat up straight and removed his shirt in that mysterious way boys do by grabbing the back of the collar and pulling it forward. My marvel at that universality was short-lived, however, because it was replaced by his lean, firm chest and arms.
I exhaled a shuddery breath. Then I sat up a little straighter and eyed his bare chest. I’d touched him through his shirt and even under his shirt, but he’d never taken his shirt off for me like this. It felt . . . different. Exposed.
He grinned. “If this is my punishment for boinging your curls, you can expect a lot of boinging from here on out.”
I laughed. “I believe we have moved on to the exorcism portion of the evening,” I said in a lofty voice, trying to hide my nervousness.
Nodding, he cupped my cheek, and I tilted my head into his hand. “I’m all in,” he said in a low, quiet voice.
A while later, Jesse touched his forehead to mine. “You are awesome. So awesome, I think I need some water.