Page 68 of Could Have Been Us
“What was?” I ask, forcing myself not to smile.
“Your face. You really tried.”
I slap his chest. “Jerk.”
“Stella, I’ve known you for a really fucking long time, and you have never once gone hiking, have you?”
“No.”
“I am not going to force you to start now.”
Now I almost wish we were going hiking so I could prove myself. “I could hike.”
“If you were dying and needed to.”
I shake my head. “I mean for fun. You do it.”
“I like the outdoors, nature, and the land.”
“I could too,” I counter.
Of course, as luck would have it, some kind of flying object streaks by me, getting entirely too close to my face as it passes. I fall to the ground, letting out a very . . . loud screech as I go down.
Jack resumes his fit of laughter as he drops down on his haunches. “That was . . .”
“Shut up.”
He tries to cover another laugh with a cough.
“Jack, if you ever want to see my breasts or any other part of me again, I really urge you to choke on your laughter before anything else escapes.”
He clamps his mouth closed and nods. “All right, for the boobs, I’ll do it. And those . . . whatever we’re calling your boots.”
I roll my eyes. “I didn’t think we were hiking.”
“We’re not.”
Jack rises and extends his hand, helping me up. “Well, if we’re not hiking, what are we doing?”
“I didn’t sayIwasn’t hiking.”
“If this is a riddle, you really suck at it.”
His fingers brush my cheek. “I’m going to be the only one hiking.”
“You’re leaving me here?” I ask with a hint of panic.
Instead of answering, he bends down and lifts me up over his shoulder. “I’ll never leave a man behind.”
I giggle as he moves through the woods, carrying me as though I weigh nothing. We go over a few rocks, but his gait never wavers. After we cross over a brook, he stops and puts me down.
“Get on my back,” he instructs. “We have a little way to go.”
“I can walk.”
He turns to me, his eyes moving across my face. “I want to feel your body against mine, Stella. Let me carry you.”
Well, I don’t know that I am going to turn that down.
