Page 20 of Dead Air
Normally, Niall wouldn’t dream of fooling around outside his cabin but it was early spring and his part of the mountain wasstill closed. You had to have authorization and check in at the visitor’s center and they notified Niall when he had volunteers at the summit. Niall could have been blowing him behind every tree in the forest and riding him like a four-wheeler but Chance wouldn’t take the hint.
“Whoa! Calm down,” Chance laughed and tripped behind Niall.
“You okay back there?” he asked, raising a brow as he turned. If he didn’t know any better, he’d say that Chance was blushing. About what, Niall had no clue. He’d been lost in his thoughts and brooding about the possibilities for several minutes.
“I’m fine. What are we looking for?”
“Um…” Niall scanned the brush around them and pointed when he spotted some basketgrass. “That.” He marched off the trail and hunkered down next to the invasive weed and began pulling all the vines with wavy leaves. “Mark this location and I’ll come back with a bag of flour, baking soda, cinnamon and a spray bottle of water to treat whatever’s still here,” he murmured as he worked.
Chance hunkered down next to Niall, nodding as he wrote. “Oplismenus,” he noted and marked their location. Once he was done, he helped Niall pull the remaining weeds. “I don’t mind getting dirty,” he said as he worked, causing Niall to throw him a startled look.
“Okay…” Had Niall mumbled something out loud while he was pondering hygiene and butt stuff? “You are very…polished?” Niall attempted awkwardly. “For someone who sleeps in a tent and works outside.”
“I’m blessed with supernatural genes, I guess.” Chance rocked to his right, bumping his shoulder against Niall’s. “You always look and smell like a dream.”
“Like a dream?” Niall said weakly, his heart slowing to a dragging beat.
He was desperate for a kiss but baffled as well. Had Chance guessed that Niall was having dreams about him? He had chills but Niall didn’t know what had caused them. Was it because Chance looked like he was about to pounce or because it was a touch uncanny, the way he kept reading Niall’s mind?
“I’m surprised I get anything done. You’re distracting enough as it is,” Chance said, giving the end of Niall’s nose a playful boop before standing and searching around them. “There’s more over there,” he said and pointed, then took off to record the location.
“I’m distracting?” Niall wondered out loud. “Is that a good thing or is it a problem?”
“Are you coming?” Chance called as he waved the clipboard.
Niall sighed as he rose, dusting off his hands. “I’d like to be.”
Matters hadn’t improved by mid-afternoon. They were back at Niall’s—and the bears’—favorite creek, checking to see how many rainbow trout they could catch. The species was threatening to overtake the park’s fish population so the staff was keeping a close eye on them. Niall had used that as an excuse to get out a pole and Chance proved to be excellent at fly fishing, he practically charmed the fish out of the water.
“What do you think?” he asked as they crouched over the net and examined his catch as it wiggled with the current.
They would release most of them but Niall was hoping he could lure Chance up to his cabin for dinner if they kept two. Niall rarely ate meat but cleaned and kept any fish or dead deer he came across in the course of his duties if they were safe for eating. Having fish and meat in his freezer made the winter months a lot easier and more comfortable because Niall had to forage less and the extra calories kept him warmer.
Niall whistled at the net. “The park is going to have to remove or relocate a ton of these rainbow trout because they’ll overtake our brook trout,” he predicted. “I’ll get permission to keepa bunchand I’ll be eating well this winter.”
“What will you do with all of it?”
“Well…” Niall’s nose wrinkled as they stood. He was mentally cataloguing the supplies he had on hand and how much time he’d want to invest when he got his next trout haul. “I could build a little smoker or just clean them all and freeze them. Storing is tricky without using a lot of plastic but I freeze whole trays of cleaned fish on paper and then stick them all in one big zipper bag. It used to be for bird feed,” he explained and rolled his eyes. “I was wondering why you haven’t put the moves on me but it might have something to do with my old bag of frozen fish.”
Chance laughed, draping his arm around Niall’s shoulders. “I did ask and that sounds pretty smart. I was going to suggest dinner. I’ll clean and you cook?” he suggested.
“Perfect!” Niall brightened. “I’ll make berry tea and rice pilaf and set up my camp grill while you get the fish ready. I think I saw some ramps while we were weeding the basketgrass.”
“Wow. I might put the moves on you,” Chance said but Niall snorted wryly.
“Don’t get my hopes up,” he huffed and Chance turned him.
“Hey!” Chance caught Niall’s chin and pinned his gaze with a loaded look. “I’m sorry if it seems like I’m playing games or leading you on. I have never been this…captivated by anyone before.”
“Captivated?” Niall’s eyes began to burn, he’d gone so long without blinking.Hewas captivating?
“Yes.” For a moment, Niall was so sure Chance was going to finally do it. He cradled Niall’s face in his hands and stared down at him like he was the most precious thing on the planet. Niallfeltlike he was the most precious thing on the planet. “You have the most beautiful wildness. Not a destructive wild like a tornado or a mountain lion, but a graceful wildness like a deer.Instead of trying to dominate nature, you honor and coexist with everything around you peacefully. You belong out here.”
Niall grabbed hold of Chance’s wrist and rested a hand on his chest as the forest swayed around them. “Right,” he croaked, leaning in because surely, Chance was going to kiss him now. He had to after saying something likethat.
“But…”
“But?” Niall frowned, his pout returning. “Don’t say but!”
