Page 29 of The Funnel to You

I am barely able to get out a thank you before I’m sipping on the drink. Why is this so good? We sit in companionable silence for a little while as Matt navigates to the park. Horsetooth is a pretty decent hike and shouldn’t take us too long. It’s about two miles each way so it’s enough of a workout that I won’t be upset if I spend all of tomorrow in bed. Which may happen because I haven’t hiked at all this season.

The roads are quiet this early in the morning and I giggle a bit when we pass the llamas in a few of the farms.

“I don’t know why but it still makes me laugh when I see llamas here. Growing up I always pictured them somewhere in the mountains of Europe,” I muse, mostly to myself.

“As opposed to the mountains of Colorado?” Matt teases back.

“You know what I mean. I know they must be in other places, but I just remember being little and learning about them and it never clicked that they were something that could survive locally.”

“Makes sense. Have you ever seen one up close?”

“No. I don’t particularly love the smell of farm animals. But they’re cute from afar. And make for a good phrase to use in content.”

He looks at me in confusion.

“Drama llama?” I prod, and he just shakes his head a little. “How have you never heard that? ‘Don’t be a drama llama,’ nothing?”

“Nope. But it is catchy. I can see why it has taken off a bit.” He chuckles quietly and then we are pulling into the gated off area to park and start off up the trails.

Chapter Eighteen

Matt

Iced Vanilla Hazelnut almond milk latte

Itake the time driving up to the park to calm my racing heart. I’ve seen pictures of Sasha in hiking clothes from last summer and when she posted videos after just finishing yoga with Kylie or Ashley, but in person is a totally different experience. And it is an experience. I know my eyes are lingering longer than they should be, but I can’t bring myself to look away.

She’s in her hiking boots and white socks that come up a bit above her shoes. Her shorts are like a second skin and a navy-blue color. Her tank top is a light pink and I can see the dark blue sports bra under it. She’s topped it off with a lightweight grey hoodie and a ball cap. I had no clue someone could look hot in a baseball cap, but there she is. Her hat is the same pink as her tank top and it contrasts well with her bright pink lipstick. I swear this girl is always wearing lipstick and it’s amazing. Her ponytail is the perfect amount of messy from being in a bun this morning, I’m guessing. She looks effortlessly beautiful, even with a full face of makeup.

We park in the shade so the car isn’t an oven when we finish the hike and start getting our things settled. I have a hard time not staring at her body as she adjusts her backpack and applies her sunscreen before putting the small bottle back in her bag. When I finally make eye contact again, I can tell she knows I was checking her out. And from the smirk on her lips, she’s not mad about it. I’m in lightweight pants that will keep my legs covered if we go off trail and a dark blue tee.

It doesn’t take long to get geared up. This is a fairly easy hike at just over two miles each way, so we didn’t need to do hiking sticks or a bunch of extra water and food. The weather is nice and the lot is halfway empty so this should be a pretty nice hike up to the falls. Maybe the end of the trail if we are feeling up to it.

Sasha goes ahead of me on the trail and we start making our way up. We offer the obligatory “good morning” to other hikers on the way up and stop a few times to take some scenic pictures for social media. When we are fairly close to the falls, I notice a space that has some amazing lighting. Being the brother to an up and coming influencer has taught me how to find these spots and take advantage of them. Ashley has told me more than once that I will make an excellent “Instagram husband” once I find someone to settle down with.

“Hey, let’s take a few shots right here.” I point it out to her and we start making our way off trail. I pull a small blanket out of my bag as we find a good space with lots of color from the trees and flowers. You can see the blue sky in the background and the sound of grasshoppers is still in the distance. I spread the blanket down on the ground and give Sasha some directions on how to stand so she is backlit for a few photos that we can use on the website. After several minutes of her looking over her shoulder and laughing at me as I pretend to be a professional, I have her sit down to reapply her lipstick.

Of course, she’s wearing her signature pink color today, so this is perfect. I have her take a few applying the color and then pretending to take a selfie. Then some of her with her favorite lilac water bottle. I really need to see about getting her a new one – this one is completely covered in stickers and she uses it almost every day.

“Why don’t you take off the hat for a few of these?” I suggest and I am not prepared for the eye contact I receive as she does just that. She takes off the hat and then loosens the hair tie so her hair falls down along her shoulders. She takes a deep breath like she is composing herself, all the while not moving her gaze from my own.

“What next, Matt?” It’s almost a whisper on her lips, but I don’t miss it.

And I don’t know how my brain continues to work. I just stare at her for a moment while the soft brown of her hair settles around her shoulders and her tank top straps.

“Lie back on your elbows a bit.” My voice is soft to match hers as I come closer to adjust her hair. She stares at me with a soft smile and then adjusts to a look that I don’t know how to interpret. I want it to mean that she wants me to kiss her lipstick off of her face, but I don’t know for sure. I can read an algorithm like the genius I am – women, not so much. So, I tentatively place my hand back on that spot on her neck where I held her last night when I felt her lips on mine for the first time. I take a picture of her, showing her hair falling over my hand and her lips slightly parted. Neither of our faces are fully in the picture, but the subtlety of it has my heart racing. I turn my phone around to show her. Part of me thinks of those “soft launch” photos that Ashley is always showing me and wondering if maybe this can be ours.

She smiles at me and then takes my phone out of my hand and sets it next to her. And then she’s got her hand on my neck and is dragging me down to her lips. And I decide in that moment, I will never get tired of kissing this woman. Several moments later I shift so my arm is under her and she can lay in my arms as I continue to explore her mouth with my own. Learning her little noises of contentment and pleasure as I press my tongue against hers. The intake of breath from her as I do this encourages me to keep going.

My hand tangles in her hair so I can deepen the kiss and I feel her hand going down my shoulders to my back. I’m not a small guy, and I don’t want to crush her, but it seems like she wants my weight on her a bit more.

“You’re not going to crush me, Matt. So, unless you think I smell sweaty already, I don’t mind you on top of me. I think I might like feeling the weight of your body pressed against me.” She says on a breath as she stares into my eyes again and that’s all the consent I need to roll us a bit so she is flat on her back and I am staring down at her. Her lipstick is a little messed up and I place my thumb next to her bottom lip to clean her up a bit. I follow my finger with my lips. Going from the corner of her mouth to her chin, to her ear, then down her neck. Once I hit the space where her neck meets her shoulder, she gasps a bit.

“Did I find something you like?” I ask her softly, smiling against the warmth of the pulse point I found as I do it again. My voice comes out a little rougher than I expected, but I can’t get enough of her underneath me like this.

“Yes. Please don’t stop, Matt.”

So, I don’t.

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