“Where are you going?” Dallas asked.
I jumped over the turnstile, knowing that it would slow him down because he’d have to unlock it, and raced down the stairs into the tunnel. I hid in a corner and waited.
“I don’t like hide and seek. It’s a horrible game,” he said as he came into the tunnel. I waited until he wandered farther in, then I pounced and pushed him up against the wall and planted my lips on his.
His hands came up to hold the back of my neck. He kissed me hard, like he’d never bother to come up for air. I wrapped my arms around him and pressed my body against his. I couldn’t get enough of him. This was better than a box of Burdick’s chocolates.
After a few minutes I pulled away and a cool breeze blew between us.
“So hide and seek isn’t too bad,” he said.
“Shall we go find another place to hide?” I asked.
“The ship?”
I shook my head.
“But you forget I’m an evil pirate who’s come to steal the governor’s daughter.” He raised his eyebrows and winked. Then he picked me up and swung me over his shoulder.
I laughed as he bounded down the ramp and clambered onto the ship. He set me down on the platform in the middle. I squirmed a little, wondering how much spit I was sitting on, but Dallas quickly distracted me. The platform was high enough that when Dallas stood in front of me his head only came up to my chest.
I wrapped my legs around his torso.
“I like this view,” he said.
I took his face in my hands and leaned down to kiss him. After a few minutes we were both breathing heavy but I did not want to take things any further on the spit covered ship.
I pulled away.
“Why don’t you show me your treasure island?”
He looked up at me. “My treasure is right in front of me. I don’t need any more.”
My stomach fluttered at his words.
“Regardless, we are getting off this nasty ship.”
We wandered toward the front of the park, slipping past Spook Alley. I didn’t want to make out on kiddy rides.
“Ferris wheel?”
We climbed into one of the massive cars and sat across from each other. He traced my face with his finger.
“You have no idea what I feel for you, do you?”
I caught his finger with my lips and brought his palm to my face. I kissed it gently and then set his hand down on my bare thigh.
“I’m not sure what you mean.”
“Close your eyes.”
I did and he slid his hand up my thigh so that it rested at the hem of my shorts. He leaned forward and kissed me lightly on the tip of my nose, then each cheek, and then on each of my eyelids. His tongue brushed the edge of my eyelashes and it was all I could do to keep them closed.
His lips barely brushed against mine, but my senses were so heightened, and the touch was so deliberate and full of meaning, that I realized what I felt for him was unlike anything I felt before.
Without thinking, I muttered, “I love you.”
I didn’t really mean to say those words, but out they came. I opened my eyes to see his reaction.
He leaned back and stared at me.
“I suppose the appropriate response would be I love you too.”
I started to apologize, but he held a finger to my lips.
“I’ve been in love before. It was wonderful and passionate and fun and crazy and all those things, but this is different. With you, I feel so much more. I desperately want you, but in so many different ways. I want to know what makes you tick and what makes you smile, I want to be part of your future and your past. I want to make love to you forever, to be in your space and understand what it is to be you. The day you walked into my life, it was like a Goddess appeared and I found someone to worship. Can you be more than in love?”
The butterflies were having kittens in my stomach.
I moved his hands aside and climbed onto his lap, facing him.
“Are you saying you worship me?”
He grinned.
“Yes. Yes, that is exactly what I’m saying. So you love me, and I worship you. I’m so glad we were able to define our relationship.”
I kissed him.
“Let’s go to the carousel.”
I DIDN’T HAVE TO WORK until four the next day, so I was surprised to be woken by a loud knocking at 8:30 a.m.
“What the hell,” I hollered and unlocked my bedroom door. Grant and Dallas stood there, grinning like idiots.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.”
I moved to shut the door. Dallas stuck his foot in the crack and Grant pushed.
I gave up quickly, but instead of acknowledging their presence I hid under the covers and tried to go back to sleep. I didn’t get home last night until three. No way was I getting up now.
Truthfully, I expected Dallas to climb into bed with me, which could be fun if Grant left. Instead, he and Grant both grabbed one edge of my comforter and pulled it off. I didn’t move, hoping they would just leave.
Of course they didn’t. My pillow disappeared, and they both climbed onto the bed, treating it like a trampoline.
I grumbled. “So why am I being woken up so early?”
Grant replied. “I have a present for you.”
“It’s not my birthday.”
“Call it eighteen years of birthday catch up. Plus, I feel bad that you had to work late last night. Anyway, I did some rescheduling, and you and Dallas have the next three days off.”
“No way.”
Dallas nodded.
“So why am I awake?”
“Road trip,” Dallas said. “We are going up north. No need to pack anything but bikinis and lingerie.”
“Don’t forget condoms,” said Grant.
I blushed.
“I thought you didn’t approve of us.”
“I know when I’m fighting a losing battle. You two are both adults. I’ll just cut off Dallas’s balls if he hurts you. Have fun on the lake.” He left the room.
I flopped back on the bed and groaned.
“Why is it always a lake?”
“Because that’s the only thing we have in Minnesota. But most of our time will be spent on the beach, not in the water.”
I noticed the clever use of the word “most.” I was excited to be going away with him for a few days, but there was something he needed to know.
I tried to be as forward as possible. I leaned toward him and placed my hand on his thigh, as close to his boy parts as I could without actually touching him there. He stiffened and I knew I had his attention.
I spoke directly into his ear.
“I may spend three days and nights alone with you, but I need you to understand that I will not have sex with you.” I shifted my hand a little and he squirmed. “I will kiss you and I will touch you and I may even get naked with you, but we will not have sex. Do you understand?”
He was quiet and I leaned back, removing my hand. He stared at me for what seemed like forever.
“Yeah, I understand.”
“Good. I’ll pack.”
I stood up and moved around him to go to my closet. Suddenly, my back was to the wall and Dallas was pressed up against me. I could feel the hard on that I intentionally created. He kissed me, then pulled away slightly.
“Yeah, I understand, but you need to understand something too. I will respect you. If you say no, I will not force you. I will worship and honor you. But if we get carried away I will not waste the opportunity. Do you understand?”
I nodded, suddenly unsure of my own conviction.
“You go take a shower and I’ll pack your clothes.”
“Uh, no, you’re not packing my clothes.”
“Fine, then I’ll just take a shower with you.”
“When did you turn into such a perv?”
“You started it, Miss Hands. But, a little trust. Let me pack your bag. If you don’t like it, I’ll buy you new clothes.”
I knew I’d lost. “Fine, but you actually have to pack clothes. Not just bathing suits. Don’t forget pajamas. They are in the bottom drawer.”
“Why would I pack you pajamas?”
“If you don’t pack me pajamas, I’m going to make you buy me ugly granny PJs.”
About thirty minutes later, we were finally out of the apartment. Dallas headed straight to a small RV. It looked like a long van, but it was definitely an RV.
“What’s that?”
“We’re going camping.”
“Camping usually involves a tent.”
“Not in my house it doesn’t.”
The RV was small, but modern. There was a bed in the back that was slightly smaller than a double bed. Dallas climbed in behind me.
“Eyeing the bed already? We’ve got a three-hour drive. You’re gonna have to wait.”
I sniffed. “Why do I smell cotton candy?”
He pointed to a bottle of bright pink air freshener in the sink. I picked it up. Cotton candy.
“It took me forever to find.”
I grinned. He’d remembered that my favorite smell was cotton candy. He set my backpack down on the couch that was directly across from the door.
“Where are we going anyway?”
“East, to Wisconsin. We are going to stop in St. Croix tonight and then spend two days in the Apostle Islands.”
I pulled out my purse. “Can we stop at the bank first? I need to deposit my check.”
“Sure, but don’t pull any money out. This trip is completely on me.”
I gave him a look.
“What? I’m serious. Besides, aren’t you saving for some chocolate trip?”
“Yeah. I’m halfway there.”
“Are you going by yourself?”
“I wanted my stepmom to come with me, but she’s getting remarried. I don’t mind being by myself.”
He creased his eyebrows. “That’s just silly. I steal half your chocolate anyway. I’ll go with you.”
I scoffed. “Did I invite you?”
He grinned. “No, but you will.”
He was probably right.
The drive was gorgeous and Dallas kept up a running commentary. I learned more about Paris than Paris would ever want me to know.
We ended up in a quaint little town called St. Croix. We parked the RV in a church parking lot and walked down the street looking for a place to eat dinner. We found a cozy little Italian restaurant that had the best cheese raviolis I’d ever eaten.
Stuffed, we walked to the bridge and looked down at the river rushing below.
“That looks scary.”
“I’ve rafted here before, it’s actually quite fun.”
“No thanks.”
He drove a mile or so down the river and pulled into a campground. The space he had reserved was high up on a cliff, overlooking the river. It was beautiful, if not a little frightening.
Dallas pulled out two folding chairs and set them by the fire pit. He handed me a bottle of bug spray.
“I know it’s stinky, but you’ll regret it if you don’t use it.”
After we’d hooked up all the hoses to the RV, Dallas started the fire using a fire starter.
“You realize that’s cheating, don’t you? My dad would call you a wuss for not doing it the Boy Scout way.”
“I never was a Boy Scout.”
The Boy Scout way was overrated. The flames were roaring within minutes. It would’ve taken my dad a half hour to get the same result. We sat close together, roasting marshmallows.
“Can I ask you something?” I said.
“Shoot.”
“Why do you have a job at Haunted Valley if your family has so much money?”
“Mom and Dad are young, I won’t inherit their money for forty years or more. Right now, I pay for my own car and insurance. I just graduated from college so I’ll move out when I start teaching in the fall. They paid for my schooling, but they made me pay my living expenses. I worked at Haunted Valley for most of it. I think Grant’s disappointed that I didn’t go into marketing. But I love teaching.”
“What will you teach?”
“High school English. Paris is pissed because I’ll be a teacher at his school next year.”
“Do you have any idea how weird that is for me?”
“What?”
“I’m still in high school. If I went to that school, you’d be my teacher.”
He was quiet for a minute.
“Savannah, what are we going to do when you move back to Albert Lea?”
I knew what he was asking.
“I don’t know. I don’t really want to think about that right now. I’m considering staying here to finish my senior year. I like living with Grant and I could work through Halloween at Haunted Valley.”
“That would make me very happy.”
Back in the RV, I dug through my backpack for my PJs while Dallas took a shower to wash off the bug spray. Of course he’d packed the short sleeveless nightgown my aunt bought me last Christmas. I’d never actually worn it because it wasn’t that comfortable. Sexy though.
Dallas stepped out of the bathroom and my breath caught. Holy hotness. His hair was still wet and small droplets ran down his back. He wore only his underwear, the tight boxers you see J Crew models wearing. He could’ve passed for one of them.
I took a couple of deep breaths and pretended like his appearance had no effect on me. I dug in my bag for underwear. Only thongs. Mostly black ones.
“You seriously packed only these pajamas?”
“You didn’t say which ones I had to pack, just that I had to pack some.”
He leaned over me like he was going to give me a kiss, but pulled back.
“You smell like bug spray and smoke. I’ll kiss you when you get out of the shower.”
In the shower, my mantra was the same. I promised. No sex. I promised. No sex. I promised. No sex. This was going to be so hard. I scrubbed shampoo into my hair and tried not to think about those gorgeous abs. Would Dallas really respect my decision? What if I wavered? I’d never really wanted any of these things with anyone else before. I rinsed the shampoo out and stepped out of the shower, toweling off.
As I dressed I could feel anxiety rising up from my stomach. I shivered. Things were always so easy with Dallas. But now I felt self-conscious. What if I did something wrong?
I took three deep breaths and cracked open the door.
Dallas was sprawled out on the bed, reading a book. I climbed in next to him. The bed really was small, not much bigger than a twin.
He rolled over and pulled me close, sniffing my hair.
“Much better. I like camping but I don’t like the smells it brings.”
“You would never survive camping with my family. We camp in the woods with no showers or bathroom. Just a tent and a sleeping bag.”
“I won’t go camping with your family. No way could I survive without my shower.”
“Wimp.” This wasn’t so hard. I shouldn’t have been worried. But still. I was about to spend the night with a guy for the first time.
“Definitely. But I’m your wimp, so that’s okay.”
He smiled at me and my heart fluttered. I kissed him, starting something I wasn’t sure I could finish.
He kissed me back and his hand slid down my back, coming to rest on my butt. My mind started going off in alarm. Attention. Incredibly hot half-naked man has his hand on your ass. You like this. This will not end well.
I told my brain to shut up and pushed myself closer to him. We climbed under the covers and I laid my head on his bare chest.
“I love you,” I said.
“I worship you,” he replied. He had his arm around me and was gently rubbing the small of my back. I traced the contours of his abs.
He sighed.
“That feels nice.”
“Mmhm,” I replied.
We were quiet for a while and eventually his breathing became slow and deep. His hand stopped moving and I was actually di
sappointed things didn’t go further than they did. Perhaps my warning to him had been too strong. I couldn’t quite believe that I was sleeping here with him.
I allowed myself to fantasize about the future. We would live up here and his mom would be a doting grandmother to our three kids. The future. I spent so much effort trying to forget about the past that I never even gave a thought to the future. I didn’t know where I wanted to go to college or what I wanted to study. Here though, in his arms, I knew one thing I wanted in my future and his name was Dallas.
Funny how one person changed so many things in my life. I hadn’t really thought about staying here for my senior year, but it made sense. I had no desire to go back to Albert Lea. Candie was no longer my friend. What good would it do to go home?
I wore a magenta bikini top and the shortest denim shorts I owned.
“Are you sure this is okay? I should probably put a shirt on.” I unzipped my backpack.
Dallas pecked me on the lips and it was enough to distract me from looking for the said shirt.
“Nonsense, you look hot. We don’t have to hike that far. Then we’ll be in the water.”
“Why does everything involve water with you?” Someday, Dallas and I were going to have to take a trip to a desert or something. Minnesota was altogether too wet for me.
“I know the lake was kind of a disaster. Well, not a total disaster, I got the best kiss of my life out of it, but this is different. The water won’t even be over your head. I promise you will like this.”
“I’m not so crazy about your promises.”
We’d arrived in Apostle Islands a few hours before. We took the RV on a ferry out to the main island, then we found our camping spot, which was once again right on the water. Then we changed and drove to a different beach where he wanted to explore sea caves, which sounded scary as hell to me, but he swore they were cool and safe.
Under the trees the air was almost cool. Dallas walked behind me, probably to look at my ass, but I didn’t mind. We walked for about fifteen minutes before arriving at a small cliff. Down below, there were several kayaks and people swimming. The water didn’t seem deep at all.
“See? Safe.”
“Yeah, but what’s so cool about it?”
“You’ll see. Put your ears in your backpack.”
I smiled at him, put my “ears” in a small plastic bag and shoved them in the backpack. I slid off my shorts and took off my shoes as well. I knew there wasn’t anything to be scared of, but my stomach still knotted at the thought of going into the water.
Bittersweet Page 14
