Page 61 of Forever Wild

“Maybe next week?”

“I’m sure they’re around.” We take a few more steps before she stops. “Wait, are you saying you’ll be in Wild Bluffs next week?”

I take advantage of the stop to pull her into a deeper kiss, reveling in her warmth. Finally, I pull away, saying, “Yep. The realtor thought it would be best if I was out of my house completely so he could stage it, so I figured I might as well grab a room out at WBCC. I’m actually planning on basing out of there until after the New Year.”

She laughs, jumping into my arms and pressing her mouth against mine. I catch her, wrapping my arms around her hips, and pull her tighter to me. “So you’re not annoyed that I’m going to be around for a month?”

Pulling back, she wraps my face in her ice-cold hands. “I truly think the only way it could be better was if I had my own place so we could stay together.”

Her eyes widen as if that was a confession she hadn’t been prepared to make. I lean down, softly biting her lower lip, before I lean back so I can look into her eyes. “You could stay with me. Waking up next to you for a month sounds…fucking amazing, B.”

She slides down out of my arms, leading me again to wherever she parked her car.

“Why don’t you park in the covered parking?” I ask when it’s clear she’s not ready to respond to my invite to essentially live with me for a month—an invite I had not been planning to make, but one I in no way regret.

“Have you seen how much it costs to park in covered parking?! My car is just fine out here, thank you,” she says, pulling out a travel-sized hand sanitizer and squeezing a dollop onto her palm.

I honestly have no idea how much it costs to park at an airport, in covered parking or not, so I choose to remain silent.

“There it is.” She points to the black Tesla along the back row of the airport parking lot.

“Lucky you were able to find a spot so close,” I say sarcastically.

I swear I can hear her eyes roll as we both climb into the car.

“It appears I may have done something to upset the parking gods. Perhaps a ritualistic sacrifice is in order.” She looks me up and down. “Eh, probably not their first choice, but you’ll do.”

I pretend to be offended. “I’ll do?!” I throw my arms up. “The parking gods would be lucky to receive such a fine specimen as a sacrifice.”

She chuckles.

“Plus, it’s not like we’ve got a virgin readily available to sacrifice. Those are hard to come by these days.”

When she doesn’t laugh or play along, I turn from the window to look at her. Her knuckles are white, she’s gripping the wheel so hard, and she’s working her bottom lip with her teeth.

“What just happened, B?” I reach over and rest my hand on her thigh, giving it a light squeeze.

She glances at me out of the corner of her eye. “There’s…” She bangs her head against the headrest. “Ugh. There’s something I probably need to tell you.”

Fuck. Fuckity fuck. This definitely does not seem good.

I clear that thought, trying to dislodge the huge lump of fear that landed in my brain. “Um. Okay. You can tell me anything.”

That sounded…good. Normal. That’s a normal response, right?

Bryn keeps her eyes focused on the road, slowing the car as we wait to merge onto the highway. I give her space to think, trying to tell my pounding heart that it’s not going to be something bad. She’s not going to confess to cheating on me. She hasn’t been banging random Canadian hockey players all week.

“I’m…” She massages the middle of her forehead with one hand. “Fuck it. I’m a virgin.”

She finally turns her head to look at me, but I’m actually in shock. She’s a virgin? How? She’s twenty-eight. She has had past boyfriends. Sure, we haven’t gotten into our past dating lives or our sex partner count, but…we’ve fooled around. How has this not come up? Wait, do I actually care?

“So…yup. I could be the sacrifice if we decide that’s the route we need to take. Actually, if you’re going to just continue to sit there with that stunned look on your face, just do me a favor and kill me now. No sacrificial altar needed.”

Damn it, I’m not handling this right.

“B. I don’t care. I mean, I do care. But it also doesn’t change anything.”

Her eyes dart my way again, and I can see the lights reflecting off the tears pooling along her lower eyelids.

---