Page 15 of Boys of Fall

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Autumn

“Wow it’s pitch black away from the fire.” I blinked to force my eyes to adjust faster to the dark.

“My truck is out next to the fence.” Jerry’s smile widened as he took my hand, a flash of white teeth that caught the watery moonlight. “But don’t worry, I can find this place with my eyes closed.”

His palm pressed hot and dry against mine as his fingers linked our hands together. The night air held the cold bite of fall, but the warmth of Jerry seemed to chase any potential chills away.

“You know your way around out here pretty well,” I said as he led us safely past a stump hidden in the grass.

“Rob and I hunt out here. It’s part of his grandfather’s property,” he said before he drew me closer into his side as the dark enveloped us. “I’m parked in one of my favorite spots.”

“Why is it a favorite?”

He pointed ahead of us. More of the moon had come out from behind the clouds and splashed white light all over the hood of his truck. The truck’s bed disappeared into the shadow of a huge tree.

He climbed over the gate separating the two fields. “Come on,” he said and clapped his hands as if I were a football about to be hurled at him. “I’ll help you.”

I wobbled from laughing as one leg swung over the top. The world instantly narrowed to Jerry’s hand pressed against the small of my back. Heat pushed into the cotton, soothing and exciting all at the same time. Straddling the top pole of the gate, it should have been very cold between my thighs. It wasn’t. Need pulsed in time with my heart and burned away any possible chill from the metal.

Jerry licked his lips, face titled toward me. “Can you make it over?” He almost seemed disappointed when I nodded and climbed the rest of the way down. His hand lingered on my back, fingers flexing gently before he let go.

That simple touch set off a frenzy of nerves in my belly, and I cleared my throat. “That’s one big tree,” I said and tugged my sleeves back down.

He nodded. “Rob says it was planted by his great grandfather back when he was a teenager,” he said and took my hand again. I shivered but this time not from cold. “Says it’s a red maple.” He turned to face me. “Second prettiest thing I’ve ever seen.”

“Second?”

He nodded.

“What’s the first?”

“You.”

Jerry squeezed my fingers when I huffed a laugh and stepped in closer. His smile so close, much closer than I’d ever been to him, made his lips look so soft.

“I was hoping you’d hang around with me tonight so I can show you how red it really is.”

I laughed. “It’s so pitch black out here I can barely see my hand in front of my face. Much less the color of a tree.”

Jerry’s hand rose to cup my face, his thumb moving gently across my cheek. “I was hoping.” He paused and gently slipped my glasses off to tuck them into his front pocket. “That maybe you’d hang out with me until sunrise,” he said softly. “The leaves are the brightest red you’ve ever seen.”

“Oh, really?” I said as my stomach quivered.

He nodded.

“And what’s the best way to observe this glorious wonder of fall?” I asked and cocked an eyebrow at him.

“Laying under a nice warm blanket and opening your eyes to the leaves first thing in the morning.”

“Uh huh,” I said with a snort. “I take it you’ve done some leaf watching that way before?”

He licked his lips and smiled with a nod. “All the time, but never with anyone else.”

That weird stutter-flutter from this afternoon bounced off my ribs again. “Never?”

He shook his head. “This is my special spot. A place I come to when I need to focus, or pray, or just get a break from life.”

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