Page 32 of Accidentally on Purpose

Our next stop was the Grand Prismatic Spring, but when I pulled into the parking lot, Arlene insisted that Reese and I take the path up to the overlook while she ate her lunch and waited in the car. There really was no arguing with her, and Reese was starting to see that. So, we headed from the lot over a small bridge and found our way to the Fairy Falls trail that led to the overlook.

“I don’t know—” Reese stopped at the trail sign and looked back toward the car.

“We’re going.” I framed her hips with my hands and propelled her up the start of the path.

Heat prickled from my fingertips where they rested on the fabric of her leggings, itching to slide down and grip her perfect ass.

Thank god, she’d started walking without protest because I couldn’t trust myself to keep my hands off her.

The trail picked up a pretty steep grade almost immediately, the sides of the path lined with trees that obscured the view out over the plains as we hiked higher. The only wildlife on the path were the other tourists who were making the same trek we were. There weren’t that many since it was the middle of the week, but enough.

“I’m sorry,” she said a few minutes into the hike.

“Do you think you need to worry about her like you do?” I knew I’d asked her that before, but now…things had changed.

“She’s all I have,” Reese answered. “I want her to know I’m here for her. That she doesn’t have to be so independent all the time.”

I made a low noise of agreement but had to force my gaze to remain in front of me. I wondered if she realized the same could be said for her.

“Decker…about the calls…” She trailed off, and I tensed. “I don’t want to make things complicated.”

I swallowed over the lump in my throat. “Okay, then make them clear,” I charged.

I felt her eyes flick to me, but I didn’t meet her gaze. I wanted to know her terms. I wanted to know just how much I’d have to sacrifice to have her.

“This—our relationship—it’s fake,” she started as though she were trying to figure out exactly what those terms were. “And I’m leaving to go back to the city in two weeks.”

“I know.”

“So…that’s it. I’m not really your girlfriend, and I’m leaving.”

A pang shot through my chest. It made no sense because those were both facts that I knew, yet it was still there.

“Okay.” My head bobbed. “So, are you saying you want to continue to orgasm every night or not?”

“I do—I don’t want it to get complicated.”

“Okay, then I won’t let it get complicated,” I looked at her and said.

Her jaw slackened, her lips parting in a way that made me want to kiss her to seal the promise, but then a group of teens came barreling down the path from the opposite direction, their laughter breaking the moment.

Reese charged ahead to where the path narrowed, forcing me to walk behind heras it zigzagged to the overlook. The trees started to break, birds appearing in the clearings through the leaves. Slowly, the open plains came into view. Mountains. Trees. Grass.And the sway of her ass in front of me.

“Look, over there!” Reese stopped suddenly to point to small black dots—bison—where they grazed in the distance. And I didn’t stop fast enough.

I grabbed her hips as I bumped her from behind. She was a step higher than me on the path, which meant her ass pressed directly to my waist—directly on my dick that was about to go on strike for how I kept tormenting it.

“Fuck,” I wheezed, pleasure—pain—zinging through my veins as my body hardened.

“Sorry.” She half turned, putting her face right where it should be for me to kiss her.

Instantly, all I saw was the face of the woman who’d come to the sound of my voice last night. Those eyes. That mouth. I wanted to see it—to see her let go. And I wanted to be the reason for it.

But not here.

“Keep going,” I grunted, giving her a little push forward and then sucking air into my lungs. If I kissed her now, I wouldn’t be able to stop there. And we’d both end up seeing somethinggrandandprismatic,butoverlookwasn’t the correct o-word for what it would be.

Her pace skipped forward a little quicker, almost as though I were a hunter following her, and she was my prey. But it was only for another minute or two before we reached the top of the path, the overlook opening to a clear, panoramic view of the surroundings, including the giant basin below.

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