Page 109 of The Road That Leads to Us (Us 1)

His laughter boomed around us in the night air and my lips lifted in a closed mouth smile.

“Goodnight, Dean.”

“G’night, Willow.”

***

I shivered and moved impossibly closer to the wall of heat I was wrapped around.

Grass tickled the bare skin of my ankles and I wrinkled my nose.

Grass?

I slowly became more aware of my surroundings and sat up

, my palm pressing into the wall of heat.

The wall of heat moved and groaned.

“What the hell?” It muttered.

Not wall of heat, clearly, but a person.

I rubbed my eyes and blinked around. “We slept outside,” I stated the obvious.

Dean yawned and sat up, stretching his arms above his head so that the plain white t-shirt he wore beneath his plaid one rode up his stomach revealing the dark trail of hair disappearing into his jeans. I stared greedily at the exposed bit of skin like someone stranded in a desert seeing a mirage. I licked my lips and the gesture caused Dean to clear his throat and lower his arms.

I met his gaze unabashedly.

“Enjoying yourself?” His lips lifted into a sleepy half-smirk.

I took a moment to take in his sleep rumpled messy brown hair, half-cast green eyes, and pouty lips. Finally, I nodded. “Very much.”

He chuckled and ducked his head, stretching out his legs completely and laying back down on the ground.

“I didn’t mean for us to sleep outside,” he muttered around a yawn and pressed the heels of his hands to his eyes. “Especially considering that room cost me two-hundred for one night.”

“It’s okay,” I shrugged, “I’ve always loved sleeping under the stars.”

“You do this often?” He jested, raising his brows.

I pushed his shoulder and he mock-winced. “Not since the last time we did it,” I admitted.

His forehead wrinkled in thought. “I was fifteen, right?”

I nodded, tucking a piece of hair behind my ear. “Yeah, and I was thirteen. My dad kept checking on us all night. It was hilarious.”

“That’s the time he woke us up by drumming on the pots, isn’t it?” Dean laughed.

“Yep.” I nodded. “He certainly has a unique take on parenting.”

“Your dad’s awesome,” Dean supplied, “even if he scares the crap out of me. But,” he drew out the word and stood, his joints popping with the action, “that’s only because I want him to approve of me. Of us.” He held out a hand to me and when I took it he hauled me up so fast I nearly got whiplash. “Whoa.” He chuckled, wrapping an arm around my body to steady me. “You okay?”

I rolled my eyes at the silly question. “It’s going to take a lot more than that to get to me.”

“Right.” He laughed. “I forget that jumping out of planes is as easy as walking to you.”

“Hey, I’ve only been skydiving once,” I defended, stepping out of his hold. I looked down at my shirt and began to pick off the bits of grass.

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