by C. T. Oliver
Pulling my head out of the bedroom, I take pity on Cory’s heavy breathing. “Don’t worry, the site will be worth the climb and the rappel down can’t hurt, right? We can take our lunch break at the end of the trail.”
“Thank God! I’m starved,” Cory huffs.
“How is it that he’s not five hundred pounds?” I ask Craig.
“Are you jealous of my figure?” Cory smirks, wiggling his eyebrows up and down.
“She’s saying you’re a pig!” Ben states.
“I can’t help when I’m hungry, I’m just hungry! And now I’m cranky.”
We walk up the two-mile trail to a picnic area. I snap a few shots of the striations on the wall outside of the entrance with my Canon. Turning around I take a few shots of the guys goofing off as they set out our lunch. Feelings of jealousy creep up in my heart. Being an only child, I didn’t get a chance to experience a relationship where I can joke around or talk freely as they are. My relationships with my family were always respectfully well-mannered and impersonal. It wasn’t until Blu and Pen came into my life that I was able to fill some of that void.
Craig looks up at me with a look that I have come to recognize is one that he has just for me. A look that has me squeezing my thighs together and feeling happy in the pit of my stomach. My insides warm and I just want those strong arms around me. Oh man, I have it bad.
Sitting next to Craig across the picnic table from Cory and Ben, I’m eating the most delicious sandwich. In mid-conversation about places Ben has hiked and climbed, a squirrel comes leaping down a near by tree and lands right on Cory’s lap.
Cory frantically tries to usher the squirrel off his lap while trying not to scream making his face red in the process. Ben and Craig simply gather their food closer to them and keep eating. Feeling a little shocked by their lack of helpful action, I rush over with some bread, trying to bribe the squirrel away from Cory. Cory stands up and tries to shoo the squirrel off with one hand and the other raising his sandwich high in the air, but the squirrel only clings to his shirt and climbs up to his shoulder.
“If you stop moving, maybe I can get him off you.” I try to hurry after Cory, chasing him as he flails around slowly.
“It’s fine, I just can’t lower my sandwich, or he’ll get it,” Cory says, shifting back and forth.
“Just give up your sandwich!”
“No! It’s myyyyyy sandwich! You hear that squirrel? MINE!”
“Let me get the trail mix, maybe tha—”
“No! That’s my snack woman!”
“Give up your snack, or he’s going to eat off your face!”
“I’ve had my SHOTS!” Cory screeches. The squirrel scratches at the arm holding the sandwich high in the air.
“Here squirrelly, you can have my some of my cashews, here squirrelly…” I hold out some cashews in my hand. The squirrel actually takes a second to decide whether to continue his attack or go for the nuts. The nuts win.
“Thanks, I would have gotten him off, though,” Cory says, taking a big bite out of his sandwich as he sits back down at the table.
I go back to table. “I can’t believe you guys just sat there while he was attacked by a squirrel!”
“Amelia, you think that’s the first time something like that has happened?” Ben asks seriously.
“After you’ve been stampeded in the middle of the night by a mama deer and her fawns because he packed food in his sleeping bag, you learn to let him fend for himself,” Craig says while he lightly rubs his left shoulder as if the memory brought back a phantom pain.
I laugh at the idea.
“You think it’s funny? Pay attention to all the other critters that will appear once they smell Cory coming,” Ben states.
“I can’t believe she gave away some nuts,” Cory pouts.
“Better than you losing yours,” I smirk. That causes a riotous snort of laughter from Ben and Craig.
“I could hold my own.”
“Against a squirrellll…” I deadpan. Craig laughs, pulling me next to him and places a kiss on the side of my head. The comfort level that I’m finding naturally with him is both alarming and calming at the same time. Again, I sigh contentedly as I lean into him.
Chapter 10
We layer on sweaters after cleaning up our lunch, and then head inside the Cave. I can’t believe how incredible Amelia is. She is so sassy. There’s never a dull moment when she’s around. She puts up with Cory’s antics, which is rare for any girl who isn’t trying to get into his pants. She is ‘wisely smart’ as dad would put it. She’s smart, but doesn’t flaunt it. She only opens her mouth to make well thought out statements. Statements that even keep Ben intrigued. I wager she was the one who set the curve in class and probably still does. And man, is she sexy. When she first started to climb the wall, if I had any blood left in my brain at that moment, I would have had a stroke right then and there. It would of have been a hell of a way to go. She’s strong but graceful at the same time. I was right about one thing—she does have great legs.
The whole climb up, all I thought of was making it up the wall and getting her into my arms, hoping to ease the ache in my pants. No such luck. If anything, it only made the ache worse and the want for her even stronger.
Waking up with her in my arms, I just knew. Amelia is not a fling kind of girl. She is the full-hearted, in over your head, all or nothing, in for the long haul kind of girl. While she was lying on top of me, I waited for the worry to set in that I might hurt her soon, but the feeling wasn’t there.
Reason was there.
I reasoned with myself that I still have a hill to climb to make my mark in the law firm. Amelia is ambitious, too. If we decide to make it work, I will make time for her. This won’t be hard seeing as she is such a fun person to be around. I factored in that I’ll be moving this summer, but I can make it work. I reasoned Seattle is only two hours away. We’ll make it work if this is important enough, and I think is. It will work because I see myself with many mornings waking up with her snuggling into me, warming me, and calming me. When all reasons were justified, I had to laugh to myself; dad is right. When it’s the girl you want to be with, you will want to try.
Going about five meters into the Cave, Ben and Cory break off to where the heart of the Cave is. For whatever the reason, Ben wants a rock where the eruptions occurred. Once Ben and Cory were out of sight, Amelia pulls me up a narrow path. Five minutes later, we’re in another cavern. This one has blue and green crystalline hanging a foot long from the ceiling, making them a few feet over my head.
“WOW!” I breathe.
“I know, right? It’s breathtaking,” she says, her eyes widening with excitement. “This is my favorite part. I’d make the climb every day just to be in here.”
In a room full of beautiful crystals she still out shines everything. Whenever I look at her face, a warm and happy feeling creeps up over my heart and I just want to spend all my time making her feel as happy as I feel when I’m with her.
“What?” she asks when she notices I’m look at her instead of all the crystals in the room.
“You take my breath way,” I slowly tug at the hand I’m still holding. Even through her layers, I can feel her shivers of excitement.
She lets go of my hand only to reach up and wrap her arms around my shoulders as I pull her hips up to mine. “Can we make up now?” she whispers with her eyes widened.
“Hell yeah!” Her lips open for me right away. She tastes sweet and minty from her Chapstick. Her tongue meets all of my demands and I feel her hand digging into my hair. I tighten my hold on her hips urging her to wrap her legs around me. I snake my hands around and grab her firm cheeks and push her warm center into my erection. She starts moving, gripping my hips with her thighs and rubbing herself up and down my erection. Her fingers tighten in my hair as her tongue seeks to taste mine. I run a hand up under the hem of her shirt. God, her skin is like silk. I skim my hand up and down her stomach, any skin I can get my greedy hand on. Sh
e is moving faster against my erection and I can feel her need becoming stronger.
I break free of the kiss and look into her eyes. “Now baby, I want to see you. Let go.”
Amelia shakes her head. “No. What about you?”
“Amelia, let go. I want to see you take pleasure while I’m holding you,” I push my aching erection firmly against her warmth. Her eyes dilate into blackness. She pulls my lips to hers and gives me a no-hold-back kiss while she pulls, pushes, and rotates her center on me. She suddenly breaks off the kiss, resting her forehead on mine so she can look into my eyes. One last tight squeeze against my hips and I can feel her orgasm surge from her core out through her whole body as she tightens her hold on me.
Wow, she is gorgeous. When she let go, it is the most satisfying feeling I’ve ever had. I want her to feel this way all the time. I want to be the person to bring her to that state of pleasure all the time.
I hug her tightly until she comes down from her high and the spasm between her legs stop. Allowing me to look her in the eyes is a connection I’ve never experience with any other girl. It’s like she wants me to see her true self and to understand who she really is.
“Wow…” she breathes.
“Yeah, no kidding,” I hug her tighter to me.
Suddenly her eyes widen. “You. What about you?”
I chuckle at her sudden concern. “We have plenty of time for more later.” Suddenly it’s like she can’t look into my eyes anymore.
“Amelia, what’s wrong?”
“There’s going to be more?” she asks innocently.
“Of course. I plan on a lot more.”
“Just more?” she asks, looking at the tip of my nose like it is the most interesting thing in the world.
“Not just more. I plan on getting to know more of you, maybe, over dinner? A dinner where Cory isn’t there to eat all the food, or Ben is talking our ears off. I want to see more of the amazing things that you can do. I plan on more dates like today.” My smile widens at the shy one that’s creeping across her face.
“Can I change something about your plans?” she asks, looking up at me through her lashes. She’s biting down on her well-kissed bottom lip that I just want to run my tongue over.
“Baby, with that look, you can change whatever details you want. Well, maybe not about Cory and Ben.”
Her soft laugh soothes the anxiety in my stomach. “Can I change how fast the plan is? I like your plan very much, just maybe the more can come after a few dinners and dates like today.”
I give her a quick peck on the lips. “Amelia, we can go at any rate you want.”
Her face brightens up before she wraps her arms tightly around me again and buries her face in my neck. With her in my arms, I can feel my world slowing down again just so I can take a breath.
“Damnnn, we leave you guys alone for thirty minutes and she’s already jumping you!” Cory blurts out.
Amelia struggles to untangle herself from me, but I’m not having it. I hold her tighter to me, and plant a full on ‘she’s mine’ kiss on her lips. When I finally let her down, a blush creeps up her neck to her already glowing face. Adorable.
Amelia takes us around the Cave, showing us her favorite places and introduces us to a few of the park rangers. Some of the rangers eye her a little too closely for my comfort. This feeling of jealousy is new to me, but I think it’s good instinct. I’m never one to go against my instincts. It has saved my life more than a few times in Army.
Having satisfied Ben’s adventure needs, we hike the scenic route to the rappelling site. Thinking about the jump, I can feel the adrenaline tingling down my spine. The last time I rappelled, it was out of a helicopter onto a rocky mountainside in Iraq. It was my last mission and also the mission where I almost lost my brother. Pushing the sad feelings aside, I go through the procedure of strapping on my harness. I want to be the first person down. There is no way I’m going to let anyone else have a view of Amelia coming down.
Donning the helmet, I do a final check on the ropes then attach the harness to the rappelling device, making sure I get the feel of the tension on the ropes before I glide myself over the edge and start my descent. Using my right hand behind me as the brake, I control the rappel and I’m down to ground in mere seconds.
Taking deep breathes to control my breathing from the adrenaline, I unhook myself and get ready to be Amelia’s belayer. Hooking up the belay rope, I look up to see Amelia checking the rope tension and getting ready to walk over the edge.
“Adler on rappel,” she shouts out.
“Patrice on belay,” I shout back.
Amelia blows my mind with the amount of skills and knowledge she has. She is not like the other girls that I’ve dated. She’s independent, knows what she likes and does her own thing.
I take a few steps back as she starts her descent. She takes a few test steps backing off the wall to gauge the tension before she leaps off the wall and descends about fifteen meters and catches her feet on the wall again. With one last leap, she drops all the way to the ground.
She unhooks herself from the ropes and harness with a huge smile on her face. I walk up to her and pick her up off the ground and plant a big kiss on her smiling face. “One of these days you’re going to have to tell me how you know how to do all this stuff.”
“I guess I like to be one of the boys. Thanks for being my belayer”.
“I think that was a sex joke, but you’re welcome.”
She laughs and gives me tight hug before stepping out of the way for Cory to start his descent, then Ben.
“Thanks for taking us today, Amelia,” Ben says, the ever so proper Southern gentleman.
“You’re welcome. Now you know someone who has the unlimited badge.” Amelia grins smugly at Ben as we make our way back to the SUV.
“Why do you have such a big car when it’s obvious you don’t need the head room, Shorty,” Cory says after chuckling for a good five minutes since Amelia started driving.
She sighs heavily. “I didn’t have a choice. My father dumped it on me and put his foot down about it, saying it’s for safety reasons or whatnot,” she shrugs. At first I thought she was getting annoyed with Cory, but after what she said, it seems there’s something there with her father. I look over to see her happy glow is fading at the mention of her father.
“Well, I guess he was worried people couldn’t see you, Shorty,” Cory laughs at his own joke.
She shrugs his last comment off. “Here, pick some music,” she says as she tosses her iPod at me, seeming eager to change the subject.
Scrolling through her playlist, I’m sure she cloned my iPod. Her music is so similar to mine, I feel as if I found my musical other half. I’m sure there are people who like the same kind of music, it’s not uncommon, but for someone our age, it is kind of rare. It looks like I’m not the only ‘old soul’ in this car, but I’ll keep that label to myself.
I pick a playlist labeled ‘Lil’ Country’ and look over at her with a raised brow. “Does someone fancy herself a little country?”
Her cheeks blush slightly as a little grin creases her lips. “I have an eclectic taste in music,” she states with a wink. If I didn’t think she was adorable before, that would have done it for me.
Half way back to the beach house, we all lose it when Amelia starts to sing Country Man out loud. In that moment, I can feel a little bit more of my heart being lost to her. Her voice is so sweet and I can’t help but fall for a girl that’s a little country.
On the last leg of the drive, Amelia flashes a mischievous grin as she bribes Cory into singing Cruise, saying she is going to bake him different types of desserts throughout this week. Laughing until tears fall, the drive to the house seems to ends in minutes.
It’s a little after two in the afternoon when Amelia pulls up to her house. “You guys are coming over for dinner tonight, right?”
“Of course!” Cory hollers.
“Maybe you should take the evening off. Rest up.�
� I reach to take her backpack off her shoulder. I can feel Cory’s I-am-going-to-kill-you glare on the back of my head for taking away his chance at a homemade dinner.
“Rest from what?” she asks, looking at me with wide eyes and a slight pout to her lips. That look is going to be the death of me.
“Amelia, we just went on a pretty vigorous hike. I don’t want you to have to cook for us all afternoon,” I reason.
“I’m not tired. Besides, it’s not going to take me all afternoon,” she rolls her eyes. God, this independent thing of hers is going to drive me crazy. For some reason I can’t stop smiling at her.
She raises her eyebrow at me, “Why are you grinning like a fool?” She looks at me sideways trying to look stern, which only makes my smile wider.
“You’re adorable,” I sigh. “But, we kind of cleaned out your fridge, and ours, this morning making lunch. We’ll have to go to the store.”
“That’s fine. Let me go wash up and we can head to the store.” She is so selfless that she reminds me of my parents. Most folks would be angry with other people helping themselves to their food, and having them clean out their kitchen. Amelia just goes out and gets more food.
I drive into town and park a couple of blocks away from downtown. Amelia insists on taking a walk with Larry. In the breezy early evening, she’s wearing a blue and white sundress with flip-flops and a wool scarf. This girl loves her scarves.
The moment she steps out of the SUV, I’m by her side ready to hold her hand. I have to say, not being in a relationship in the last few years, I have missed companionship. Holding Amelia’s hand though, makes all those lonely nights worth it.
We walk down the few blocks in comfortable silence while Larry takes breaks to mark the street. A few stops before the grocery store, she pulls me into a candy/ice cream parlor. Inside, it smells of fresh melted butter and sugar. The walls have shelves with individual baskets of every flavor of salt-water taffy imaginable. Next to the cash register, a freezer showcases twenty flavors of ice cream that can be made into any malts or shakes, according to the sign. To the left of the ice cream is a display of different types of fudge, chocolate, truffles, and a huge tray of caramel apples.