Page 174 of Knot Baked Out For This
We’re both still barely dressed—my bra straps askew, his jeans abandoned at his ankles, my leggings inside-out andsomewhere in the hay—but I don’t care. I’ve never felt less exposed.
I look up and he’s got this expression, half-dazed and half-daring me to laugh at him.
“You’re ridiculous,” he says, beaming.
“I’m not the one who broke the hay bale,” I shoot back, grinning.
He laughs, the sound low and warm, and it vibrates through my cheek where it rests against his chest. He tilts my face up and kisses my nose.
“I think I’m in love with you, Hazel.”
It should scare me, hearing those words. Instead, I melt, because the way he says it is like he’s finally letting himself believe it. The ache in my chest is sharp, sweet, and I don’t know how to answer, so I just kiss him back—slow, lingering, letting my tongue trace the seam of his lips.
Neither of us moves for a long, slow minute.
I listen to his breathing, the rise and fall of his chest, the way he never stops touching me—his thumb circling my elbow, his hand tucked in my hair, his knee brushing mine in a never-ending loop of reassurance.
My scent is everywhere, curling around us bright and sharp, cut only by the faintest smoke and cedar from him. I wonder if he thinks about this, too, the way we smell together.
Eventually, he sighs.
“Luca and Levi are going to give us so much shit.”
I snort.
“They wish they were this romantic.”
He kisses my forehead, then runs one palm over my thigh with a lazy possessiveness.
“You know, if we’re quick, we could beat them to the exit and pretend nothing happened.”
I grin, but the idea of moving is laughable.
“I can’t feel my legs,” I confess.
He grins back, wolfish.
“I’ll carry you.”
Of course he will. I nuzzle into his chest, feeling completely, blissfully safe.
“Rowan?”
“Yeah?”
“Next time, let’s try a hayloft. Less splinters.”
He laughs so hard I feel it in my bones.
As if on cue, voices echo from somewhere in the maze—Levi's laughter, Luca's drier tone. "Hazel? Rowan? You two get eaten by corn monsters?"
I stifle a laugh, scrambling for my clothes.
"Coming!" I call back, then whisper to Rowan, "Think they heard?"
"With Levi's hearing? Probably." He helps me into my sweater, brushing more hay from my hair. We managed to put our clothes back on, getting the last bits of hay out of…everywhere, when?—
"FOUND THEM!"
