Breathe the Sky

by Michelle Hazen

  Jack couldn’t blame them—he wasn’t much to look at.

  Back when Vernon had been alive, Jack used to go to his house for dinner on the regular, and he remembered how his old foreman had acted with his wife. They’d been married fifteen, maybe twenty years. They were always talking soft and low, or joshing each other and laughing together. He envied that, but the girls Jack dated never seemed to find him funny.

  So he ended up with the kind of woman who just wanted a quick ride now and again, maybe somebody to fix her sink when it leaked. That worked okay for a while, and he figured the more sex he had, the better he’d get at it. But instead, he seemed to get worse.

  Then again, like Leroy had always said, Jack was good at one and only one thing, and that was disappointing people. Even when they didn’t expect hardly anything at all.

  The exception appeared to be Mari, who seemed to think he was rather good at kissing. She must have had odd standards, because she thought he was funny, too. Sometimes, when it was just the two of them, he even felt like he might be funny, as if the world were a little less heavy than usual and it wouldn’t hurt to attempt a joke.

  Mari was a strange woman all around because he could talk to her. She seemed perfectly happy to chat about animals they’d seen that day, and the best way to refinish a floor, and all sorts of things about Alabama and his bike.

  Right now, though, she wasn’t doing much talking. They were to the part of the night where he’d slid halfway down flat, his head still kinked up against the rumpled pillows and her knee between his. She had rolled up on her side to kiss him, and he was deeply, thoroughly distracted by how her hand had found the bare skin of his stomach. His skin felt like he was clocking a fever of 130, maybe higher. The sheets clung to his back and Mari’s hand was cool and slim. Different from his heavy body in a way that made every movement of it the most interesting thing he’d ever felt.

  Unfortunately, it was also calling up a restless energy that normally made him slam the door open and kick-start his bike to ride until the wind whipped it all away. He wasn’t about to go any-damn-where at the moment, so instead he cupped a hand around the back of her neck and pulled her in tighter, using his teeth against her lips for the first time, his tongue getting more demanding with hers. Tension tugged under the skin of his belly, pulling from where she was touching over his bare hip bone and thrumming all the way up into his shuddering heart.

  His dick had gotten thick and hard, shoved up against his jeans so that it was starting to feel almost good. He broke away from her to gulp a breath, and even that tasted hot. The AC rattled away in the background, but it might as well have been in the next county. Mari only lasted one breath before she came back for more, her lips not sweet anymore but slightly swollen from beard burn as she pressed in for a dueling, groaning kiss that left his thigh muscles twanging.

  She was practically on top of him now, one breast pressed against his chest and the other tormenting his clenching biceps on the arm that was sandwiched between them. He could feel her flat, soft belly against the back of his hand and the warmth of her leg thrown over his. He shifted without meaning to, jumpy with all the parts of her he could feel. That ratcheted up the heat between them a couple of extra degrees as the center seam of her jeans rubbed brightly across his leg.

  Her hand slipped under his shirt. Under. His abs flexed, and he didn’t mean to thrust up against her, it was just a reflex because of how high was her hand going and where was she going to touch him and, fuck, his heart was starting to flail and could she feel that?

  Jack was about to come out of his skin, but he didn’t want to draw back to catch his breath because then she’d stop touching him, and he desperately wanted to know where she was planning to put that hand. Instead, he took out all his agitated energy on her mouth. Normally, he let her lead, but somehow in the firestorm of his disjointed thoughts, he forgot about that.

  He hauled her toward him. Now it wasn’t just her hand caressing him, it was all of her. The taste of her was everywhere, along with her soothing, smooth scent that he’d gotten so used to lingering on the pillow next to his when he went to sleep alone. She was making tiny panting, whimpering sounds in between snatched breaths. He could feel the hard points of her nipples through her shirt and bra, and it drove him wild.

  Now she was the one writhing, rubbing their bodies together like she was twitchy, too. Her leg clamped down over him and her lips fell away from his.

  On sheer instinct, he tightened the muscle of his thigh, boldly pressing harder where she was rocking herself against him. Her breathing stuttered and stopped, the nails of her hand digging into his bare chest.

  Jack did not move.

  Her hips jerked, her center grinding down on him for just an instant that he liked way more than he probably should. His cock was twisted all up in the band of his underwear, doing its level best to tear his belt straight open. He needed to adjust so bad he was getting light-headed, but he didn’t dare disturb a thing right now when she might be about to—

  A breath hiccupped out of her, and then she started breathing again, sagging off-balance down against his shoulder.

  Instinctively, his arm went around her, gentling from her neck down onto her back as he pulled her into more of a hug. His trapped arm tingled from a lack of circulation, and he guided her to lie on top of it anyway because that brought her as close into his side as possible. The room seemed quieter, and uncertainty thrummed in his head.

  “Did you just—”

  She hid her face in his neck and let out a breathless laugh. “Oh my God. I’m ridiculous. I’m so sorry. Clearly I’ve been out of the swing of things for so long that all it takes is a little kissing and I lose my mind entirely.”

  Their legs were still tangled, and he shifted, rubbing the inside of his thigh against hers.

  She’d . . .

  Just like that?

  With her pants still on?

  Had he . . .

  No. Like she said, it’d just been a long time. He was so close these days that he practically lost it every time she bent over to look into the bushes. Besides, she probably hadn’t been taking the edge off every night like he had.

  She still wasn’t looking at him, the languid softness of her body turning to something more self-conscious and motionless, so he moved his head enough to kiss her cheek. It landed just in front of her ear, and when she didn’t move to kiss him back, he stroked one hesitating hand down her back. Usually, all it took was one touch to let her know he was in for whatever. Right now, maybe it was gonna take a little more.

  He remembered the cold shame that followed when you shot off on your own. Hadn’t happened to him in years—just the first couple of times he was fooling around. Once with Jayci Mead playing doctor behind his daddy’s shed when they were really too old for that game. Which wasn’t really about doctoring. It was mostly her bossing him into doing all kinds of things he wasn’t too sure about until the very end. Probably she’d just been mad because when he came, it hadn’t been one of the things she’d ordered him to do.

  The second time it happened was the first time he had sex, a couple of years after Jayci Mead. Both times, the girls had started out happy and ended up disappointed, and he took off. He did not want Mari to take off. He didn’t want Mari to feel any of the things he’d felt on those days. Which was a big part of the reason he was leery about taking this past kissing.

  He moved more strongly this time, shifting her fully onto his chest and wrapping both his tingling and his awake arm around her in a solid hug. He kissed her hair where her head rested timidly against his shoulder. “We can watch the TV for a while if you want,” he whispered. “But just so you know, I want you to do that again. Soon. Tonight, if you want. Liked it.”

  He could feel the line of his cock caught between them. Huge and obvious. It wasn’t so embarrassing right now, though, because maybe it would be a h
int that she wasn’t the only person getting excited.

  She let out a little laugh that hitched in her throat. “I just . . . keep losing my head with you. I’m sorry.”

  He craned his neck but couldn’t reach her, so he rolled them onto their sides, still holding her tight. His elbow dug into the mattress, and the pins and needles in his arm turned into swords and sabers, but he didn’t give a shit. Ducking his head, he kissed her real soft. Wanted to give her that nice calm feeling she gave him sometimes.

  Except one tiny kiss wasn’t enough. He wanted another, then he stole a third. Then he remembered he’d meant to say something comforting, but instead he went back for a fourth kiss because he loved, just positively fucking loved, the idea that she lost her head with him.

  “Like you this way,” he finally managed, his voice all fucked-up and growly. “Like you—” He got stuck there, casting about for the words to explain how she was so much different than other people, but it didn’t matter because she must have finally caught his green-light cue. Her lips collided bruisingly with his.

  She pushed him over onto his back, and his pins-and-needles arm subsided into blessed numbness even as his dick became absolutely, definitely not numb.

  Jack decided then that maybe it didn’t matter if he was garbage in bed. Maybe he’d found the answer—messing around seemed to be their golden ticket. He was perfectly happy to dedicate the rest of his life to figuring out more ways to make her feel good. As long as he kept his pants on, he might not even screw this up.

  22

  Bunny Hugger

  “Oh my God,” Rajni sighed on the other end of the phone. “He caught a baby bunny for you?”

  Mari shifted in her seat on her motel bed, grinning into the empty room. “Yup. It had fallen down one of the foundation holes for a new tower, and he found me in tears because I couldn’t catch it. So he unbolted one of the boxes off the side of the crew truck, and used that and a shoelace to trap it. And then he cut the bottom off a can of LaCroix to make it a little water bowl. Because he was worried it was thirsty.”

  There was a moment of silence. “I think I just had a cute-gasm. Is that man still single? Because if you’re not gonna hit that, I’m sure going to. Maybe he can catch me a shrike so I can tame it and teach it to skewer me lizards on cue.”

  Mari laughed at the mention of the desert bird and its odd eating practices. “You are a deeply disturbed woman.”

  “Yes, but I could be a deeply disturbed woman with a cool pet-skewering bird.”

  “Also, what would Leo think of you stealing my boyfriend?”

  “He doesn’t get any say in the matter!”

  “Did you guys break up?” Mari caught herself before she tacked on the word “again.”

  “He’s got that jealous thing going again and I’m not into it. He—”

  A beep interrupted Rajni’s rant. “Hey, can you hold on? I’ve got another call.” She pulled the phone away from her ear to see who it was, and froze.

  It was area code 262.

  Wisconsin.

  She hadn’t seen that area code since she fled the state. No one back there had her new number.

  Brad couldn’t have . . . there was no way. The phone wasn’t even registered under her real name. But if he had . . .

  Her voicemail was just a generic recording. If he didn’t hear her voice, maybe he’d think it wasn’t her number. While she stared, her heart pounding, the call went to voicemail. She waited, not even breathing, but whoever it was didn’t call back. Slowly, her fingers loosened. If it was Brad, he’d never stop calling. Never give up once he’d found her. Must have just been a wrong number, or a telemarketer.

  “Sorry, just a marketing call,” she told Rajni. “What were we talking about?”

  “Can’t remember,” the other woman said. “Though, hey, I’ve been meaning to text you but when I went to do it, I didn’t have enough service. I was going to ask if you put in your résumé for that job walking triangles in the Chocolate Mountains?”

  “Oh wow, it’s already time to start worrying about the next job, isn’t it?” Mari sighed. “I heard we’ll be done with this project in four weeks.”

  “I heard three.”

  “Yeah, but Jack said that the foundation crew has been having a lot of trouble getting the concrete to set up in this heat. They poured a whole truckload of ice into the mix yesterday and still didn’t hit the temperature right. Had to rip out the footings on Tower 1195 and start all over again, so he thinks the concrete thing will buy us an extra week.”

  It was the closest they’d come to talking about what they might do after this job was over. Mari had brought up how soon it was all ending, and Jack had rushed to explain at least three reasons it might last a little longer. It was sweet, how earnest he’d been. She knew it was too early for promises, or to even consider prioritizing a relationship over the jobs that would carry them in different directions in a few short weeks’ time. But a pang twisted her stomach every time she thought about living someplace where Jack wasn’t just on the other side of the wall.

  “Buy us an extra week?” Rajni laughed. “Like I’m dying to stay? It’s hot as hell’s sweaty armpit up here and I’m ready for a research job with just us bios. I’ve had enough of these environmentalist-hating construction workers. I’ll dump ice into the concrete truck myself if I have to.”

  “It might come to that. I heard that Chocolate Mountains job was already full, but I’ll send my qual forms just in case. Lord knows my bank account needs the work.”

  “Good. It’ll be fun to camp out with you again. I say we make Tuesdays ladies’ night. Me and you and Ivy and Lisa can find a spot off by ourselves and let the guys fart themselves to sleep once a week.”

  “I suppose it’s not a coincidence that you chose Taco Tuesdays.” Mari laughed. “Smart woman.”

  “Hey, the guys don’t just love me for these rockin’ legs, sweetie. It’s all about the brain. But speaking of tacos, I’ve got to make dinner. Talk to you soon? Don’t hesitate to call me if the Beastmaster does something cute.”

  “Will do.” She hung up with a smile still lingering on her face. Why had she always assumed Rajni didn’t want to be better friends? She was a riot.

  She glanced at the clock and her smile faded. It was getting late and Jack still wasn’t back. When her boss had stopped by to ask her to trap the rabbit, an offhand comment had led to Marcus betting Jack that he was faster on an impact wrench than his crew. Marcus managed to beat the apprentice, and Kipp, and gave Gideon a good run for his money. He didn’t come within a mile of matching Jack, but the bet had been that the biologist couldn’t beat anyone at all.

  As a result, Jack was over at Marcus’s right now, changing out a loose belt on his Toyota to pay off the debt. She’d missed Jack at dinner, but counted it an evening well spent, because the men seemed to be getting along much better. Jack didn’t seem to have many friends, much like her when she’d first gotten here. The difference was, other guys weren’t as likely to do what Lisa had and drag her into the circle despite her worrying that no one wanted her there. Hopefully, right now Marcus was doing the same thing for Jack.

  Still, there was only a half-hour’s worth of shows left before they flipped to reruns for the night, and she got a little pang that they wouldn’t get to hang out. Of course, it was just one night. She’d so quickly gotten used to sharing her evenings with someone who made her smile.

  For just a second, she thought of the yellow cottage, and the rest of the interpretive team that would be living beside her if she decided to take the job. Maybe that wouldn’t be so bad. On this job, making friends seemed to be coming easier to her than it ever had. Like something in her that had been bracing for their disapproval was finally starting to loosen its guard. But then, she couldn’t imagine liking any of the interpretive team at the park as much as she liked Jack. And a national park h
eld few jobs for a construction worker.

  She caught herself checking the parking lot for his truck again, and swished the curtains determinately closed. She was being silly, and she had plenty to do.

  Her microwave needed cleaning, after all. The motel maids never remembered that part, so she set to it with a vengeance, and after that she did a load of laundry in the rusting washer next to the ice machine. She was just getting ready to go move it over into the dryer when a knock sounded at her door.

  She answered, the smile that rose to her face so automatic that she couldn’t have stopped it if she tried. Jack smiled back from the other side of the threshold, a little bashful.

  “Hey. Thought maybe I’d, uh—stop by and say—anyway, I’m back.” He shifted his weight, the paper grocery bag in his arm crinkling. “Not that you asked, or—”

  She pushed up onto her toes and kissed him softly on the lips. “It’s nice to see you. Have you eaten? Want me to make you something?”

  His eyes were hazy after the kiss, and a second late, he frowned. “You don’t gotta cook for me all the time. I stopped by the store on the way home. Got some steaks for us for tomorrow. I can do them on the barbecue out back.”

  “That thing is full of wasps,” she warned.

  “I cleared the wasps out last week. Wanted to give it time to settle before I used it.” He shot a glance at her. “Can’t cook much except on a grill, but I’m half-decent with a set of coals. Probably could use some protein, as many vegetables as you eat.”

  “Ha!” She caught herself smiling. “Very thoughtful, though I don’t think I’m in too much danger of vegetable overdose. Want to come in?”

  He nodded, his face lighting.

  It was only the second time he’d been in her room. They’d tried watching shows in here, but he kept shifting his weight around and asking if she was tired and what time she went to bed, and no matter how much she reassured him, he still left exceptionally early. It seemed to work better if they just went to his room, where he knew she’d leave whenever she was ready.