Page 19 of Sass in the Grass

“Before we begin, I just want to tell you that if you ever find yourself lost in the woods, don’t panic. People get lost easily and often. To live an outdoor lifestyle, you may get turned around during a hike or a camping trip. You might break down on the side of a road that isn’t often traveled. There are a lot of ways it can happen, and what we’re trying to do here is just to give you a few basic survival techniques that can help you live through it.”

Jovian could listen to that voice all day. The tremble, the deep, resonating sound of it went through him like radiation, burning him all the way through.

As he was telling the class something about water, Jovian’s head fell to his shoulder as he silently sighed with the lulling the voice gave him.

“Now, drinking from water sources are scary things. If there is a dead animal up from where you are, bird shit, lots of things that cause dangerous bacteria in the water. If you’re way up high toward the source of the stream or creek, you have a much greater chance that it’s okay to drink but never take it for granted.” As he spoke, he walked back and forth, those icy blue eyes grazing over all the eager faces that stared his way. “Never, and I mean never, drink standing water. Never drink water that is discolored or that smells. Those are your first clues that it’s contaminated with some nasty stuff. What is the best way to make sure it’s good enough to drink when you find moving water?”

Alan stuck his hand in the air, like the teacher’s pet he likely wanted to be. “Sir?”

“Yeah?”

“Boil it first, right?”

“Well, yes, that is one thing that should be done, and if that’s all you can do, get the water to a rolling boil for three minutes, then let it cool.”

Jovian looked over at him, triumphant that he didn’t answer 100% correctly. That was a mistake. Dixon pointed to Jovian and asked, “What else should be done?”

Jovian nearly swallowed his tongue, being put on the spot like that. “To what?”

There were general laughs after he said that, and Jovian stared around at the group with daggers.

“Done to water before you can drink it?”

Jovian shrugged and said, “Bring some with you? Buy better water? I don’t know. Isn’t that why we’re here?”

“Well, at least you’re honest,” Dixon said, then turned to the rest of the group. “If it’s possible, it should be filtered and then boiled, and believe me, I know that will feel like it takes forever, especially when you’ve been without it a couple days and the sound of it running over the rocks makes you even thirstier. If you don’t filter or boil it, however, you could get so sick that you might die. The dehydration you feel beforehand will be nothing to what you’ll feel if you get sick and vomit for hours.”

Jovian’s attention perked again when he said vomit, but when he didn’t point to Jovian and laughed, Jovian figured he missed something.

“I’m going to show you a good way to filter water, and then we’ll take a quick walk in the woods nearby, those that can,” he said, patting the girl in the wheelchair on the arm. “I want to show you how easy it is to get lost.”

Getting lost in the woods with Dixon made him warm all over, but since the others were going along too, he lost his warmth in favor of scowling.

Wearing those tattered jeans and flannel shirt, Dixon looked the part of a mountain man, but he moved almost gracefully. As he squatted, Jovian got a good look at the man’s thick thighs, and the way the denim stretched over his ass.

A long back that was super straight showed his muscles that ran along his spine, and his wide shoulders were perfect to grab onto while fucking face-to-face.

“Jovian? Are you getting this?”

“Ohhh,yeah,” he said dreamily.

“Good. Get that water and make it drinkable.”

Jovian’s eyes widened painfully. “Pardon me?”

“You heard me. Take the water in that bottle there and run it through the procedure I just showed all of you.”

Not having listened to a bit of it, he struggled while staying on the log to come up with an excuse, but that man’s eyes were locking into his, and the chills he felt were going to freeze him right through.

When he froze into a block of ice, at least he wouldn’t be on the spot.

The eyes unlocked and Dixon moved them to Alan. “Why don’t you give it a try.”

Jovian’s fur was up even as his body returned to normal temperature. Alan…his competition and because he’d been fawning instead of learning how to make water drinkable, Alan was a step ahead of him in the race to the mountain man.

Frowns weren’t sexy, so he adjusted his face and waited for Dixon to look to Jovian again, but it never happened again while sitting around the firepit. They took the walk to the woods near the camp and Dixon then showed them how easy it was to get turned around in a place where every direction looked the same.

While the others were walking off to see what Dixon meant, Jovian sidled up to him. “You’re so good at this stuff, Mr. Dixon.”

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