“So… no to hiking?”
She halts at the entrance to her kitchen, turning her head slightly. “Yes to hiking.” Her lips lift up into a grin. “But hell no to the boots.”
I follow her out of the kitchen, leaning against the doorframe after I place the boots on the floor beside me. “What’s wrong with the boots?”
Watching as she kneels down, ass in the air, she roots through her small closet, yanking out items and flinging them behind her until she shouts, “Aha!” She stands up and I tilt my head at the walking boots she’s holding up. “You don’t go hiking in new boots, you have to break them in first.” She lowers her voice. “Amateur.”
I laugh at her mocking me. “Yeah, yeah. And here I was thinking it was a nice gesture.” I wink to let her know I’m joking, my eyes trailing down the length of her legs. Dear God, I need to get out of here. I walk toward the door. “I’ll be waiting in the car while you get ready. I’ve packed everything else but you’ll need your bathing suit.”
I make it two steps away from the door before her soft voice whispers, “Nate.”
Turning my head around, I stare at her, her chocolate eyes shining with some unnamed emotion as she drops her boots on her unmade bed.
My heart rate picks up as she slowly steps toward me, my stomach dipping the closer she gets. She never fails to make me feel things I’ve never experienced before. I want to be with her all the time: just her and me.
Her hand lifts when she comes to a stop in front of me, the pads of her fingers trailing over my jaw.
“I missed not seeing your face this week.”
On instinct, my arms slide around her waist and I smile down at her. “You have no idea how much I’ve wanted to come over, but work’s had me crazy busy.”
She leans toward me and I close the rest of the distance. As soon as our lips touch, her body curls into mine, looking for support. I tighten my embrace and she moans softly as I trail kisses down her jaw, ending at her ear, whispering, “I’m going to leave now otherwise we’re not going anywhere today.”
“Okay,” she replies with a sigh, pulling back at the same time as I do, her fingers skimming over her lips as if to lock away the feel of mine on hers.
“Remember to put on your bathing suit,” I say with a grin before turning the door handle and walking out to my SUV.
I nearly lost it in there. I was so close to throwing my plans out the window and spending all day in her bed. It’s different with her and I know it’ll be worth the wait when it does happen.
Ten minutes later she walks around the corner of the house with a big smile on her face. Her hair is up in a high ponytail making her cheekbones stand out more, but the few strands framing her face soften the harshness. My gaze falls down to the white tank top I can see her blue bikini top through and I have to shut my eyes for a second, turning back to face her as she climbs into the SUV with a struggle.
“Couldn’t have bought a higher car?” Her question is dripping with sarcasm as she huffs and clicks on her seatbelt.
I chuckle. “Maybe I should, then I’d have a good excuse to ‘help’ you into it.”
Although she fights it, a smile lifts her lips and I’m finally distracted enough to look over the rest of what she’s wearing. Khaki green shorts show off her tan legs and the boots she dug out are on her feet with thick socks sticking out the top. A turquoise fleece jacket sits on her lap but I tear my gaze away and start the engine as I look back at the house.
“I saw Tris take the kids out earlier.” She turns her attention to me as I drive out onto the street. “Art class?”
“Yeah.” Her voice sounds sad, and when I cut my gaze to her, she continues. “He’s taking them out for the day afterward. I just hope spending time with only him and the kids makes things better around the house.”
“I’ve barely had a response from him since Izzie’s party last weekend.” Things didn’t go down well when Harmony painted a photo of Natalia and Izzie together. She doesn’t say anything for a beat so I add, “Have things really been that bad? I thought him and Harm would’ve sorted things out by now.”
“I’m guessing by the state of his mood and the fact he’s locking himself in his office when he comes home that they haven’t.” She tightens her ponytail. “The kids are seeing it and I know they can feel his change in behavior. I want to say something to him, but…” she trails off, shaking her head. “I don’t know; I feel like if I tell him to stop acting the way he is then all I’d be doing is banging my head against a brick wall.”
The couple of times I’ve messaged him this week, his responses have gone back to the clipped tone he used to use with me, but I’ve barely had time to eat and sleep never mind sort out his mood swings.
“You shouldn’t have to feel like this.” My grip tightens around the steering wheel. “This is his shit to sort and he shouldn’t be making the people around him feel uncomfortable. If he doesn’t get his act together then I’ll…” I don’t know what I’ll do. Talking to him doesn’t seem to work, in fact the only thing—or person should I say—to get through to him was Harmony. “I’ll talk to Harm.”
I hear as she blows out a breath before she says, “You know what?” I raise my brow. “I think the best thing to do is to stay out of it all. If he wants to be miserable, then let him. All that matters are the kids, and I’ll do my damndest to make sure they’re doing okay.” I feel her hand land on my forearm, and I look down at it before bringing my gaze back to hers briefly. “I don’t want to spend the day going over Tris’s latest drama. I want to talk about you and me.” Her lips lift up into a gentle smile before she moves her hand and places it back in her lap. “Tell me what’s had you so busy this week.”
She’s right, I’m ruining the mood. I relax in my seat, the buttery leather moulding to my shape. “Work’s been manic. I haven’t been able to sit down and have a minute to myself because my partner was away until yesterday on a case in Boston. That meant I had to micro-manage all the associates and interns which isn’t my job but…” I trail off and blow out a breath. “I want a work-free day today. All talk of it is banned for the foreseeable.”
“Sounds like a plan: no work talk.” I see her lean forward out of the corner of my eye. “Where are we going?”
Her question makes me chuckle. I’ve come to expect it since learning she doesn’t like surprises. “Is this going to turn into ‘our thing’?”
“That depends,” she replies. “Are you ever going to tell me where we’re going in advance?”
“The whole point of me taking you to nice places is to keep it a surprise until we’re there. If I told you every single time then it’d ruin it.”
“Yeah, but if you told me every once in a while, then maybe I wouldn’t keep asking.” She smirks but it changes to a slight scowl as I turn the radio on and press the volume button up, tapping out a beat on the steering wheel.
She huffs out a breath and says something making me point to my ear. “Can’t hear you, the music’s too loud.”
She fights a smile, turning her head to look out of the window and leaning back in her seat. After two minutes, I turn the music down to a reasonable level as we drive the rest of the way to the hiking trail.
Half an hour later, I park the SUV under the trees in my usual spot and climb out, opening the trunk and pulling out the backpack inside. As the trunk is shutting, Amelia walks around the side of the SUV and shields her eyes against the sun.
“Wow,” she says, her gaze flitting around.
“You haven’t seen anything yet.” I clip the straps of the backpack around my chest and waist and hold my hand out to her. “Ready?”
“Yep.” Her ponytail swings as she nods her head up and down before she rests her palm against mine.
I’ve been hiking around here for years and I’ve found somewhere I don’t think many people know about, somewhere I want to share with her.
We start up the trail through the woods on an incline and I stay behind her to mak
e sure she doesn’t fall—or at least that’s what I tell myself. But it turns out I don’t need to because she seems to be quite the expert, enjoying the hike.
“Hiked a lot before?” I heavily breathe out, swinging the backpack around and grabbing two bottles of water out the side pocket.
“Yeah.” She swings her head around to face me. “I used to go all the time as a kid. I’ve missed going out every weekend and finding new trails, or discovering ones that aren’t on the map.” She pauses, her brows lowering. “You okay there?”
She takes one of the offered bottles and I open and glug down half of mine before answering her. “Sure, I’m staying behind in case you fall. This hill goes on for another ten minutes before it starts to level out.” I pull in a deep breath before walking to her level. “Then that’s where we split from the trail.”
“Really?” she asks, her eyes lighting up with excitement.
“Really.” I slap her ass and she jumps. “Now get on up there, I’m dying to show you the view.”
“Alright, alright.” She hops a step forward before murmuring, “Slave driver.”
I chuckle and place the backpack back on, catching up with her after she disappears on the other side of a tree. She pulls her fleece from around her waist and re-ties it before slipping her hand into mine as we continue to walk side by side.
“So, without meaning to sound cheesy.” She flashes me a grin and waggles her brows. “Do you come here often?”
A deep chuckle rattles my chest. “Yeah. I’ve spent hours upon hours hiking these woods and figuring all the hidden trails out. I camped out here once—”
“You did?” Her eyes widen, a skip in her step. “I love camping! We should camp out here next time.”
I tilt my head to the start of the hidden trail that will lead us to what I brought her here to show her and she grins, pushing through the thick foliage. “I never would have pegged you as a camper.”
“Me?” She scoffs. “Why not? I could totally live in the wild and kill my own food.” She grimaces. “Okay, maybe I could be a herbivore—like those dinosaurs.” Nodding to herself she continues, “Yep. I could totally live off the land.”
Snorting at her, I let go of her hand and wave it in front of me. “There’s only enough room for one person at a time.” She steps forward. “Be careful, though, it’s steep.”
“I know what I’m doing, Nate. I told you I used to—”
My hands snap out, grabbing her around the waist as she starts to slip down the incline, her arms flailing by her side before her cheeks redden.
“You were saying?” I smirk.
“Shut up.” She laughs at herself as I help her up. “The tree root attacked me.”
Chuckling I keep one hand on her waist as I widen my legs, slowing us right down as I see the break in the trees about one hundred meters ahead.
My stomach flutters as we get closer and I almost want to slow this moment down, knowing what’s coming.
The first time I found it, I couldn’t believe my eyes. How something like this could be hidden was beyond me. But every single time I’ve come back, there hasn’t been one other person here. The path isn’t cleared, the trees hiding nature’s beauty.
Just before the small break in the trees, I tighten my hand on her waist and turn her around. Her head tilts back to bring her gaze to mine and I stare into her chocolate depths, getting lost in them for a second.
“What I’m about to show you, I’m not sure if anybody else knows about. But…” I trail off as I step closer, bringing my hand around to rest on the bottom of her back. “But you’re special and you deserve to know every single part of me. The surfing, my work, my house, all of it. But this, this is the place where I come when I need a break from the rush that is my life.”
Her eyes glaze over, her teeth sinking into her bottom lip as she whispers her hands up my arms, leaving them on my shoulders. “I want to know every part of you.”
I wait for her to say she wants me to know every part of her, but when she doesn’t, she distracts me with a soft closed mouth kiss.
I’m aware she’s still closed off and likes to be private, but I thought if I opened up every part of myself and let her read me like an open book it would allow her to undo the locks she has in place. Even if the keys are rusty and the locks are broken, I at least want to see her attempt to show me the parts of herself that no one else knows.
When she pulls away, I rest my forehead against hers, realizing she has opened up a little. I didn’t know she used to go hiking as a kid, but she told me that little tidbit of information and I’ll hold onto it like a life raft.
Breathing her in, I try to bottle up the rose scent always surrounding her before pulling back and taking her hand, stepping in front of her and pushing through the trees. She dodges a branch before glancing around and gasping, her hand hovering over her mouth.
“Wow… I…” Her head swings back and forth between me and the waterfall cascading over the rock face, down into the natural pool it’s created. “This is…”
I unclip the backpack and place it on the ground. “Perfect.” Pulling her into my chest gently, I place a kiss on her forehead. “It’s perfect.”
I can’t move my eyes off the waterfall in front of me, not quite believing it’s in the middle of a wooded area, hidden away. We’re standing at the top of it but as I move my gaze across the first smaller waterfall, gently flowing into a pool, I see another larger one. This one runs faster, effortlessly coursing off the edge of the small rock face.
So many questions flash through my mind. How did Nate find this place? How did a waterfall get here?
His arms stay wrapped around me, his chest to my back as we both stare at nature’s beauty. For years—as a kid and as an adult—I’ve loved to go hiking, finding new trails and picturesqueness in what surrounds us.
People are so busy with day-to-day life that sometimes they forget things like this are all around us. I’ve become one of those people. I’ve let Tristan’s problems consume me and allowed the mysterious packages to get to me. But even they’ve stopped now.
It’s been three weeks since I received a package and even though a little voice in the back of my head says it’s not over, I can’t help but hope I don’t get another one.
“Let’s go for a swim,” Nate announces, pulling away and picking his backpack up off the ground.
I stay silent as he takes my hand and leads me down an incline to the small pool the waterfall is falling into. Steam flows off the top of it and I can almost feel the warmth of the water from here.
Now it all makes sense why he said to bring my swimsuit.
He comes to a stop at the edge, placing his backpack down and ridding himself of his clothes so all he’s standing in are his board shorts. Normally my eyes would be focused on his tensed muscles and the happy trail I know is there. But not this time. This time I can’t take my eyes off the water and the rainbow it’s reflecting when the sunlight hits it.
I’m enthralled, entranced by its magnificence.
Toeing off my boots, I pull my socks off and shuck off my tank top and shorts before following Nate into the water. Neither of us speak, but I can see his green eyes watching me, taking in all of my reactions.
The warm water soothes the muscles I just used walking, and as I get deeper, I close my eyes, basking in everything: the sounds of the birds in the trees, the rushing water, but most off all, the closeness of Nate as he comes up behind me.
He stays far enough away I can’t feel his skin on mine, but close enough I can feel his breath as it skims over my neck.
“Come with me,” he whispers.
I don’t think twice, allowing his large hand to encase mine as we slowly wade through the water that comes to my waist toward the waterfall.
Butterflies take flight in my stomach kicking up a storm and when I turn to face him, our gazes lock. So many things are said between us but not one word is spoken.
I want to tell him so many
things. How I want him to know every part of me too; how I want to open myself for him and allow him to see all of me. But I can’t: I can’t let him see it all.
Eight weeks ago when he taught me how to surf, I never thought I’d be here now—not with him anyway. There was always some kind of connection with him from the first time we met and I knew—I knew—if I allowed it to flourish, I wouldn’t be able to look back. I kept trying to tell myself it hasn’t gone too far, that if I wanted to pull back now it wouldn’t hurt either of us.
But as he pulls me through the waterfall, the water batting down on us briefly until we push through to the other side, I know it would. I’m conflicted: I want to allow there to be an us but at the same time I want to run away so he doesn’t get hurt, because ultimately that’s what will happen.
Behind the waterfall is slightly darker and the water a little colder, but that doesn’t matter when Nate moves closer, his chest connecting with mine, his arms wrapping around my waist as he looks down at me.
“I’m glad you agreed to come with me today, Lia.” When he says my name, the intensity of the moment heightens and I wait on bated breath to hear what he is warring with himself to say. “I…” He cups my cheek with one of his hands. “I think I’m falling for you.”
I swallow, my throat becoming dry before without thought, I whisper, “I think I’m falling for you, too.”
His lip quirks up on one side as he brings his other hand up, placing it on my other cheek as he lowers his head. “Then I suppose we better catch each other.”
I start to chuckle at his cheesiness but I’m cut off as his lips descend down onto mine. There’s a brief second where I’m still laughing that he takes as his opening and slips his tongue into my mouth. The laughter fades away as his tongue slides along mine and he moves his hands, grasping me around the waist and picking me up.
My hands intertwine behind his neck as my legs lock around his waist and I’m immersed in all that is Nate: his tongue, the hardness of his chest against mine, the palms of his hands squeezing my ass as he holds me up.
Fighting Our Way Page 19