Grace
A cool breeze rushed across the top of the creek, sweeping up and over my slick skin. I sighed, instantly cooler, closing my eyes on a smile and tilting my face toward the sun streaming through the trees.
There was nothing like this.
It was easy to get swept away in how urgent everything seemed in life — get good grades, graduate college, go to work, pay your bills, find a husband, settle down, buy a house, make babies. It seemed we always had our eyes cast on the future, on following the grand master plan.
Meanwhile, life was happening all around us.
Jaxson and I had dropped our packs on the rocks at the edge of the water. I’d beat him across the bridge, and I was also the first one in the cool water of the creek. I waded in knee-deep, careful to avoid the current, and soaked it all in.
Distantly, I was aware of the sound of Jaxson wading into the water, too. I creaked one eye open, and then the next, before they both shot open wide.
He’d stripped off his shirt and abandoned it at the shoreline, along with his shorts.
He carefully edged himself into the cold water in nothing but a pair of black boxer briefs, his lips in an o as he made quick puffs of breath.
“Fuck, it’s cold,” he cursed, but he wore a smile, one more relaxed than I’d ever seen him have.
I, on the other hand, was shocked stupid, standing there with my mouth hanging open and no prayer of gathering my senses with him prowling closer in nothing but his underwear.
To be fair, I was in shorts and a sports bra. It wasn’t like I was being modest.
Still, I didn’t have muscles like that.
There was no better way to describe this man than thick. His chest was sculpted, pecs hard and round before they met the top ridges of his abs. And he didn’t have an ounce of softness there — it was a rippling eight-pack, the sweat from our hike teasing me as it cascaded down the valley that ran over his belly button before disappearing at the band of his briefs.
I couldn’t tear my eyes away from his arms, from the bicep muscles that were the size of a cantaloupe, or the black and blue ink that swirled from his right shoulder all the way down to his wrist. And as if the top half of his body wasn’t distracting enough, those briefs left nothing to the imagination downstairs.
His thick thighs were corded with muscle, stretching the fabric, and between those thighs there was an unmistakable bulge.
Fuck, he was big.
I started sweating again the longer I stared, and when Jaxson cleared his throat, I jumped, ripping my eyes up to meet his gaze.
He chuckled, cocking a brow and folding his arms over his chest. “You checking me out, Nova?”
My cheeks warmed at the nickname, the heat nearly unbearable when a sly smirk spread on his perfect lips in the next breath.
“Don’t act like you haven’t been staring at my ass the whole hike up here.”
“Me? I would never,” he said, flattening a palm against his chest. “Now, your tits in that sports bra, on the other hand…”
I reached down for a handful of water, scooping it as best I could and launching it at him. His deep chuckle rumbled through his chest as he splashed me back, and then I was running, skipping over rocks as best I could to dodge his advance.
Which was pointless.
He caught up easily, his strides more confident and surer than my own, and he swung me up into the air with water spraying off me like I was a sprinkler. The river was freezing, but his body was hot against mine.
Until he took us both down into the water.
I emerged with my breath completely gone, lips trembling as Jaxson laughed and shook the water out of his hair. Once my breathing was somewhat even again, I chased after him, climbing onto his back in my attempt to take him down the same way he’d done to me.
But again, it was useless.
He was gargantuan in comparison to me, and he just laughed and dragged me with him toward the shore. Jaxson reached around for me and pulled me to the front of his body, where I tried to cling to him and continue my mission of dunking him. But before I could find purchase, he threw me over his shoulder like a fucking caveman.
Which left me with a glorious view of his ass.
His briefs were soaked now, hugging every inch of him, and I watched that indentation in the side of his ass flex with every step he took. I no longer fought him, and when we made it to the rocky shore, he carefully sat me down in front of him.
Water seared down his skin in rivulets from his hair to his chest, each drop rolling over his abs or along the line in-between them before they slid to the band of his briefs.
My mouth was dry again, seeing that bulge highlighted by the wet fabric sticking to it. I thought I saw it twitch, which made me clench my thighs together as I dragged my gaze up to meet Jaxson’s.
He swallowed, his jaw tight, and then nodded toward our packs. “Let’s eat.”
We set up a picnic in the shady area by the bank, both of us keeping our distance now. I poured a smorgasbord of snacks out of my backpack while Jaxson retrieved two reusable water bottles from his, passing one to me.
We were quiet while we ate, the rushing water our soundtrack, and then Jaxson pulled a book from his bag and leaned against a tree. He was wearing his wire-framed glasses, and it was the hottest contradiction — this ripped, inked motherfucker leaning against a tree with a book in his hands and his brows furrowing over the top of those frames.
I would never pretend to be an expert on straight female sexuality, but there was just something about a man reading that made my brain short circuit every fucking time.
I studied the cover.
Healing the Masculine Soul by Gordon Dalbey.
Well, tits. He’s even hotter now.
Carefully, I pulled my phone out and snuck a photo of him before tucking it away. If I was the social media kind of gal, I’d submit that shit to one of those accounts that posted hot guys reading. As it was, I saved it purely out of selfish greed.
“I saw that,” he said without looking at me, licking his thumb before he turned a page.
I feigned innocence. “Saw what?”
“You being a creeper and adding a picture of me to your spank bank.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said, hopping up from where I was seated on the one blanket we had with us on this trip.
The corner of Jaxson’s lips curved up, his eyes skirting to me before he shook his head and went back to reading.
I strolled back down to the river, exploring a bit before I retrieved my slack line from my bag. Two large trees separated the clearing where we had our picnic, the perfect distance to set up. I attached one end of the line to each tree, pulling it taut enough to hold while leaving enough slack to play on.
Then, I stepped up, walking a few steps on the line with my bare feet, arms spread wide to help balance.
I took each step carefully, body leaning left and right to correct my stability when needed before I took the next one. I was relatively new at slacklining, which meant I didn’t have any cool tricks unlocked yet.
That didn’t stop me from trying, though.
Slowly, I started bouncing, making the line bend and warp until I had a little momentum. Then, I dropped down to my butt, sitting on the line like a trampoline for just a second before it pitched me into the air. I squealed with joy, stomach flipping from the drop before I landed on my feet. I threw my hands up in the air, turning to find Jaxson halfway up, book tossed aside like he’d been prepared to risk it all to save me from colliding with the hard clay.
I chuckled. “Ye of little faith!”
“What the hell are you doing, besides trying to give me premature gray hairs,” he grumbled, climbing to his feet and walking over to the line.
“The salt and pepper look is hot. You should actually thank me.”
He ignored the comment, and I hopped back onto the line, proud when I steadied myself and stayed on. That was a beginner trick, too, but it was getting easier.
“I picked this up in college,” I explained. “I had some friends who would hang out on the mall, playing Frisbee or whatever. And one day this kid brought a line. I’m not very good at it,” I added, stumbling off when I tried to turn around as if my body was keen to illustrate that point. I hopped back on just as quickly, though. “But it’s fun, and challenging — which I love.”
Jaxson folded his arms, watching me mess around for a bit. He nearly lost his shit when I did a front flip off the line, but I stuck the landing once again, winking at him when I saw his panicked attempt to catch me.
“What did you major in?” he asked when I climbed back on.
I snorted. “Does it matter?”
“I mean, for most people, yes.”
“Philosophy.”
“Philosophy?” he echoed on a laugh. “Good God, why?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know, I just picked something that sounded halfway interesting.”
“So, what do you want to do?”
“Right now? Land a flip on the line,” I said before going for another attempt. My left foot caught the line, but the right slipped, and I tumbled off, rolling to the ground with a laugh.
Jaxson pinched the bridge of his nose as I dusted myself off and hopped up again.
“I meant, you graduated,” he said. “So, what now? Do you want to… teach?” he guessed, but the way his voice raised, I knew he couldn’t see me doing that any more than I could.
“I want to travel,” I said. “I want to experience life through the eyes of a thousand different people. I want to watch the sun rise on the other side of the world. I want to eat foods I’ve never heard of and drink wine with the men who grow the grapes that make it.” I bounced on the line, smiling, but then blew out a long exhale. “As for a job? Well, your guess is as good as mine.”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning… I don’t really care about a career. I’ll do whatever job I can do in the place I’m at. Maybe I’ll bartend. Maybe I’ll be a waitress. Maybe I’ll farm seaweed or be a kayak tour guide or serve lunch at a kid’s camp.” I shrugged. “Every new job will be a part of the adventure.”
Jaxson smiled. “That’s pretty cool.”
His response startled me a bit. I was used to people hearing that little speech and promptly telling me I was irresponsible or lost, that I was a dreamer who would have to wake up one day.
“Is it?” I laughed. “I’m not sure my parents would agree, or most of America, for that matter. I’m living off the fund my parents promised me upon graduation. Past that? I have zero idea how I’ll feed myself. All I know for sure is that I can’t spend my life in an office.” I shook my head. “I’d rather barely have two quarters to rub together than be loaded and stuck in a cubicle all day.”
“Well, if you were that loaded, you’d probably have a corner office with a view.”
“I don’t want to look out at the world, though,” I said, hopping off the line to stand right in front of him. “I want to swallow it whole, to take every experience it has to offer, learn every lesson it has to teach.”
His eyes searched mine, the edges of them crinkling a bit as he did. “Anyone ever tell you you’re not like other twenty-two-year-olds?”
“Well, I turn twenty-three next month, so maybe that’s why. Your turn,” I said, pointing to the line.
“My turn?”
“Come on, you big baby. Get up there.” I smacked his ass with that, and he gawked at me before barreling out a laugh and planting his foot on the line. He stepped up easily, which made me slightly hate him.
“I really do think it’s cool, you know,” he said, his body shaking with the effort it took to keep his beastly frame balanced. He took a step, arms swinging out wide. “I admire that you’re not just doing what the rest of your peers are.”
“Well, don’t admire it too much. It’s more a sign of the fact that I’m not particularly great at anything, nor do I have a passion past seeing the world. It might be different, otherwise.” I nodded toward him. “Unlike you and Vince, not many people in the world know exactly what they want to do at the ripe old age of five.”
“Not many people have parents who don’t give them a choice, either.”
“You say that like you don’t love it,” I said, watching as he carefully turned around and didn’t fall.
Bastard.
“Which I know is a lie, because I’ve seen you play.”
He bobbed his head a bit, telling me without words that I wasn’t wrong.
I could sense that he didn’t want to dive in more on the subject, so I tried to edge the conversation away from his parents. Naturally, it led me to think of my own.
“I’m pretty sure my parents forget I exist until I show up at their house to do laundry.”
Ugh.
I hated the words even as I said them. I wanted them to come out as a joke, to sound playful and funny. Instead, I sounded jealous and bitter and resentful — three emotions I didn’t make space for in my life.
“Ew, sorry,” I said on a laugh. “That sounded petty as hell. I know my parents love me and care about me. The fact that I’m living off their dime proves that. And I know they’re interested in my life just as much as Vince’s.”
I didn’t believe those words even as I said them, trying to convince Jaxson and myself that they were true.
“I just don’t have as much going on at the moment. So, it’s all good.”
Jaxson paused, studying me before he hopped down from the line and walked over to where I stood.
“I fucking hate when you do that.”
“Do what?”
“Act like you’re not allowed to feel anything but happy, like being sad or angry or disappointed makes you a bad person.”
Everything around us quieted.
The water stopped rushing, slowing to a hushed trickle. The wind ceased to blow, leaving the trees standing still.
All I heard was my heart beating overtime in my chest.
All I felt was a man seeing right through me.
His eyes held mine, not apologizing, not backing down.
My next breath stuttered out of me, and I was all too aware of how my chest rose and fell like I was running a marathon as opposed to standing still. There was a hot, enigmatic energy flowing off him — his eyes holding mine, his chest heaving just the same.
Then, those eyes fell to my lips.
Do it, the voice inside me urged.
It was a whisper at first, and then an incessant chant. He was looking at my mouth like he wanted to cover it with his own, and I silently begged him to without moving a fucking centimeter.
Suddenly, common sense pushed through, and I closed my eyes, laughing as I stepped away from him and turned all the way around for good measure.
Listen to the words he’s told you, not your stupid heart, Grace.
God knows that thing can’t be trusted.
Once I was composed, I turned around with a beaming smile, running past him and jumping up onto the line.
“Watch this!” I said.
“Stop ignoring—shit, Grace!”
His attempt to get me to face the truth he’d spoken went up in flames as I attempted a backflip off the line, only to overshoot and land on my butt, rolling backward and landing sprawled out like a starfish.
“Fuck, are you okay?” he asked, running to where I’d rolled.
My side was in a stitch from laughing, and I clutched my stomach before I opened my eyes again and found him braced over me, hands on his knees and eyes laden with stress.
“Oh, stop,” I said. “I’m fine. I was a cheerleader, okay? I’ve had way worse landings than that.”
He didn’t seem convinced.
“Come here,” I said, reaching my hand for his. “Lie with me.”
That made the line between his brows soften, his eyes widening a bit.
“What — you too pretty to lie in the dirt?” I teased.
“No,” he grumbled, carefully lowering himself beside me. “Are you so weird that you don’t think lying in the dirt is anything out of the ordinary?”
“Shut up and close your eyes.”
“Rude.”
I didn’t open mine again, just smiled as I felt him settle beside me with a sigh. Once he was quiet, nature spoke to us. The water rushed over the rocks and trickled down in streams. The breeze blew through the trees, whispering tales of history in our ears. Birds chirped somewhere in the distance, insects singing along with them.
“Hear that?” I asked softly. “This is my favorite sound in the world.”
I inhaled a deep breath, reveling in the feel of the sunshine on my skin, the shade from the trees blocking it intermittently. When Jaxson didn’t respond, I peeled my eyes open, shielding them with one hand as I turned to look at him.
And found him staring right back.
His eyes were so beautiful it hurt — bright blue, almost see-through the way the sun illuminated them now.
“Grace—” he started, but then a low, threatening roll of thunder made us both pause. Jaxson frowned, sitting up with his hands propped behind him as he narrowed his eyes at dark clouds hovering over the mountain in the distance.
“That doesn’t look good,” I said when I sat up to join him.
“We’d better get going.” He stood, reaching down a hand for mine, and when I took it, he heaved me up so easily I nearly knocked into him. My hand flew out to steady me, catching his bare stomach.
We both froze.
Remove your hand, idiot.
But I couldn’t.
My palm was glued there, feeling the heat of him trembling beneath my cool touch. I swallowed, staring at the contrast of our skin, at how his was inked and showing signs of his age, while mine was tan and smooth and young.
I thought my heart was going to race out of my chest the longer we stood there, both of us watching where I touched him and waiting for the other to make the next move.
Mine would have been to slide my hand lower, to roll my palm over the bulge growing in his briefs.
But Jaxson heaved a sigh, peeling my hand away like I was someone he needed to pity, like I was his friend’s annoying little sister who had a crush on him.
My throat tightened with the truth behind that sentiment.
“Come on,” he said, eyeballing the sky. “We need to get back to the car before this breaks loose.”
Then, he started gathering our things with me still standing there like a fool.
