Page 27 of Squatch Out!
“So, ah, what about you?” I clear my throat, like I meant to make the awkward noise.
“What about me?” She looks completely perplexed. Like she can’t imagine that I would want to get to know her. Fuck, she’s adorable.
“What brings you here, besides bigfoot?”
“Oh, um…” She tucks a strand of her straw-colored hair behind her ear and shrugs. “That’s the reason, mostly.”
I have my doubts, but if she doesn’t want to talk about it, I’m not going to push her. So instead, I ask her about what she wants to talk about. “Then why did bigfoot bring you here?”
She keeps her eyes fixed on the trail we’re following as her cheeks turn pink. “Well, I had a sighting, you know? I’m sure you don’t want to hear about it. It seems kind of silly now, knowing what I know.”
“Actually, I’d like to hear about it,” I admit it honestly. “Tell me about your sighting, Olivia.”
Her name on my tongue feels good, and when she looks up at me, her smile is back, along with the sparkle in her eyes. Sharing this is important to her, and if talking about bigfoot keeps that look on her face, then I’ll listen all day long.
“I was seven when my family visited St. Helens,” she begins.
I watch her intently as she tells me about getting lost in the dense forest. My heart pangs as the memory of her fear flickers across her face. I’m mesmerized by her excitement when she tells me how the squatch led her back to her family, and my stomach flutters along with her embarrassed flush when she admits that her sighting sparked her obsession and how long she’s been planning to come back here.
“My parents were older when I was born, and I was their only child. I was in college when I lost them, one right after the other.” She lets out a shaky breath and drops her gaze to the path again. “That was a rough time. They were the only family I had. I know they didn’t mean for it to be like that for me, but taking care of them and school was pretty much my whole life for a really long time. So, my only friends were the ones I made online. Like Tony.”
Hearing that, I decide that maybe Tony might not be so bad after all.
“Anyway, I was born here. In Washington, I mean, and I’ve always felt like something has been trying to pull me back. Iused to think it was bigfoot, but…” She looks up at me and then around the lush forest we’re walking through. “But I think it’s just this place. Being here feels like home.”
Olivia grows quiet again, and this time I let it stretch for a bit while enjoying the comfort of walking beside her, wondering which of my cousins she ran into that fateful day when she was seven.
“You know,” I begin slowly. “Squatch don’t show themselves to just anyone. They have to have a really good reason, so the fact that one helped you means…” I look over at her, and my heart kicks in my chest at the way the dappled sunlight is shining across her face. Our eyes meet, and warmth floods my body at the way the sun turns her eyes from warm brown to blazing amber.
She smiles up at me and—my God, she’s beautiful. For a minute, I worry I’m about to squatch out again, but when nothing happens, I continue.
“It means he saw something special in you. That he could trust you.”
I let what I just said sink into my own thick head, then I add, “I’m sorry about your parents.” Shoving my hands into my pockets, I let out a long breath. Losing our parents when we were young is a hell of a thing to have in common. “I lost mine in an accident. They were driving in bad weather and…” I shrug.
Her fingers squeeze around my arm, and when I look over at her, her eyes have turned shiny with unshed tears. Her sadness for me and for my loss is unexpected. My heart swells in my chest, and I realize that if I ever look back on this moment, no matter what happens after today,thisis the moment I’ll remember as the first time I started to fall in love.
Our steps slow, and my eyes drop to her lips. I want to kiss her. To find out if she tastes as sweet as she smells.
My feet shuffle to a stop.
My heart jumps as her plush lips part with her next breath and her head tilts back so she’s looking up at me. Taking another step, I close the distance between us. Electricity snaps down my spine when our hands brush. We’re so close that our chests are nearly touching. I’m looking down at her, while she looks up. The tip of her small, pink tongue darts out to wet her lips and I swallow down a groan as I lean in to press my lips to hers. It’s tentative, a feather-soft brush, like a question.
Is this okay?
Fuck yes,she answers when she leans in, pressing her lips firmly to mine.
Her hands glide up my arms to my shoulders, and I curl mine around her back, pulling her against me. She opens for me with a sigh and I sink inside the warmth of her mouth. Moaning at how she’s just as sweet as I imagined. She tastes like coffee with a hint of honey and a flavor that is all her.
I groan, savoring the feel of her soft curves pressed against my hardness. My tongue dips and slides with hers. Her hands roam higher, up to the back of my neck, where she presses, asking for more. And I oblige, pulling her closer, wanting to feel every inch of her against every inch of me.
Our kiss turns hungry. Olivia meets my tongue with brazen flicks, and her blunt nails dig into the back of my neck. Holding her tightly, I grind my aching cock against her soft stomach.
Until the sudden sound of voices breaks me out of my reverie. Olivia tenses against me andreluctantlyI pull back. Her eyes are glazed, and her lips are plump from my kisses. Fuck, I want to kiss her again. Actually, I want to do far more than that.
I push aside thoughts of how she’ll look spread out across my bed as I taste every inch of her bare skin. Gathering what’s left of my willpower, I take her hand and twine our fingers together. We walk the rest of the way in silence.
Just ahead is the trailhead where Owen’s old forestry truck is waiting in the parking lot, right where I left it. It’s about two decades past its prime, but the thing runs like a dream thanks to my brother’s handiwork. Owen is a genius around a motor. I always told him that he should have gone into some kind of engineering field, but he would just rattle off some bullshit about how his heart is here in the mountains.
