Page 13 of Twink Heart

?I couldn’t help lifting an eyebrow in his direction. People? Good? I doubted it.

?“And besides, I don’t want to end up with three pounds of sand in my boots.”

?Yeah, I didn’t believe him. Positivity was one thing but blind trust? That was gonna be a no from me dawg.

?“I’ll take my chances,” I replied. “Besides, I need to break them in anyway.”

?“Oh? Do you hike a lot?”

?“Not at all.”

?He cocked his head to the side in confusion. “You bought boots just for this outing?”

?“I guess?” I glanced down at them, suddenly nervous. “Is that wrong?”

?“No. Just seems expensive.”

?“I guess I’ll just have to start hiking then.” I looked around at the woods surrounding us. “Don’t they say nature is good for your mood or some dumb shit like that?”

?James burst out laughing. “Yeah. I guess they say that.”

?“Probably about time I start exercising again, anyway.”

?“You look like that and you don’t exercise?!” He pointed at my arms and to my chest. “You’re kinda fucking built.”

?“You think so?” I glanced down at myself, not really seeing anything impressive. “I do some push-ups sometimes when I’m stressed out at work, but nothing crazy.”

?“Fuck.” James shook his head. “You must be really stressed out then. I didn’t realize it was so bad.”

?A grin threatened to spread over my face, but I forced it back. However, James noticed and a big smile filled his face instead.

?“It’s okay to smile,” he said gently. He was looking at me that way again, like there was something besides just friendship bouncing around in that brain of his. It shouldn’t have turned me on as much as it did. “I don’t mind.”

?“I’ll try to remember that.” I waved him on as I started toward the woods. “Come on. I want to see if this place was worth the boots.”

?“Have you ever seen a sunset on Lake Michigan,” James asked, hiking a backpack onto his shoulders.

?“No.”

?“Then don’t worry. This is gonna be the best hike you’ve ever been on. I guarantee it.”

?He strode ahead, his bare feet digging into the dirt as we started up the trail. I let myself fall back a few steps, a grin pulling at my lips again. From this position I could not only hide my amusement, but it also gave me a view of the nicest ass I’d ever seen.

?I doubted a sunset was gonna be better than that.

Chapter Eight: James

“I told you,” I laughed as Rowan plopped down at the top of the massive sand dune and kicked off his boots. He turned them over, pouring out an astounding amount of sand. “Bare feet is the way to go.”

“It's gonna be so much lighter walking back,” he sighed, watching the sand stream out of his boots. He pulled off his sock too, wiggling his toes into the sand. “You could've warned me how steep it was.”

“I figured you'd already seen the dunes from town. They're huge.”

“I did, I just didn't know we'd be climbing them.”

“What's a good hike without breaking a sweat?” I grinned widely. “It feels good!”

“You're one of those types aren't you? The kind that gets some sort of sick thrill out of being in pain.”

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