Page 31 of Bigfoot Boss
I squeeze her hand and help her strap into one of the seats. In a few moments, we are high above the ground, the city fading from view as we head into the mountains. It’s almost impossible to have a conversation in the helicopter, but I enjoy the way Bay wiggles nervously as she watches our trip from the window.
Sudden unease form a pit in my stomach. I hope she doesn’t mind this trip. I’ve been so convinced she’s meant to be mine it didn’t even occur to me to warn her where we were going. When the helicopter lands in an empty field about a mile from my parents cabin in the woods, I’m more than a little nervous.
“You don’t need to carry that. It’s heavy,” Bailey protests as I pick up her oversized luggage.
“Please. It’s nothing,” I say. “Besides, it’s a mile walk, and you don’t need to carry your bags when I can do it for you.”
She bites her lower lip in an alarmingly alluring way. I don’t know how I would live without that lower lip. I am going to have to make the most of our time together, to convince her to stay with me forever.
She follows me down the narrow trail into the forest. I’ve always found the woods I grew up in calming. Only a few moments of being dwarfed by giant trees, and my neck muscles already feel more relaxed. The fresh air in my lungs makes my chest lighter, and the echo of city noise dissipates from my ears. After a few twists in the trail, we approach the small red cabin with blue shutters.
“Is this where we are staying?” She sounds surprised.
“The whole weekend.” I turn to see the confused expression on her face. “Is it that bad?”
“No! It’s adorable, really! I just—I expected something—else.” She shrugs.
“A chateau?”
“A turn-down service and a day spa, to be honest,” she laughs, “But this is great. It’s really sweet. Really.” Her voice lowers a register, and I know she’s being genuine.
“I should have explained better. I grew up here.”
Her gaze scans the tall trees, taking in the seclusion, the absence of any sign of civilization, before she skeptically asks, “This is the childhood home of a tech magnate?”
“Humble beginnings and all that.” I say. We cut through the yard, passing the old fire pit with hand-carved benches around it, the untended remnants of my mother’s vegetable garden, and the rope swing they pushed me on when I was little. The place is full of cozy memories of my childhood.
We step up on the covered porch, and it still feels like home. The uneven wide-planked floors, the familiar scent of the wood burning stove in the corner, and our well-used kitchen table with a few handmade chairs surrounding it. There’s a couch in one corner, and shelves full of books in another.
“That won’t work here.” I indicate the cell phone Bay’s pulled from her pocket.
“I figured.” She looks chagrined to be caught checking it, before she shoves it back into her pocket. “This is where we’ll be staying for two whole nights?”
“Don’t worry, my parents moved out when I went to college. They live off the grid now.”
“This isn’t off the grid?” She laughs.
"You’ll have total privacy.” I point to the door that leads into a second bedroom. “You have your own bedroom.” I wince, wishing I’d thought this through better. When I asked her to come with me, all I could think about was being with her for the whole weekend. Now that we are here, the awkwardness of close proximity with someone I really want to sleep with seems more obvious.
“I kinda thought we’d be somewhere with more people—are you sure you won’t get sick of me?” Her voice gets quieter as she continues to talk.
“I won’t get sick of you,” I say, “two days is hardly enough of you.”
She squirms, but a light flashes in her eyes that gives me a wild hope she might spend more than just this weekend with me. I’m going to do everything I can for the next two days to keep herby my side. I need her to know this isn’t just about sex for me, it isn’t just physical, this is everything. She’s mine completely, and this weekend, I will tell her everything. I’ll explain that we are mates, and that we are meant to be together forever.
“You can unpack,” I suggest, “I’m going to the river out back, to catch us dinner.”
“Fishing? Can I come?” She has a wild grin. “I’ve never tried before!”
I love her enthusiasm for new things, but it’s my turn to squirm at her request. I shake my head. “You might not appreciate the way I do it…”
“I wouldn’t like the way you fish?” she asks with a laugh.
I grunt an affirmative, and she schools her features when it’s clear that I’m uncomfortable.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to laugh. If you really don’t want me there, then I’m happy to wait here, but now you’ve piqued my curiosity. I really do want to come with you, if you will let me. I don’t think I’m going to be upset by it.” She continues rambling through the strange tension in the air. “It’s just really hard to imagine you doing something I wouldn’t like.”
She’s going to see me act like a beast eventually, now is as good a time as any. I take a deep breath before gesturing at her bedroom door. “Change into something you don’t mind getting wet, and meet me outside.”
