by K. A. Linde
Brad pulled the Jeep off the road and down a winding path that had once been paved, but was now cracking and bumpy. Lexi understood why the Jeep was used instead of the other sporty cars. Wherever they were going was not meant for the lavish and luxury Lexi had witnessed in the garage. She hadn’t really been an outdoorsy type. She had spent most of her time growing up on schoolwork or locked in the gymnastics studio. However, when she was younger, she had been a girl scout, and she had always had a love of camping and bonfires.
Living in the city for nearly three years made her forget just how bright and beautiful the stars were…not to mention how many. Thousands upon thousands of twinkling white beams stared down at Lexi through the glass. Her eyes lit up at the spectacle, entranced by the beauty of the countryside.
A break in the tree line appeared before them and Brad began to decelerate as they approached. Lexi peered out through the front window anxious to see what lay ahead. Even in the darkness, the magnitude of the lake, majestically lit by the moon, was evident. Lexi couldn’t even glimpse the opposite bank.
Brad parked the Jeep in a gravel lot beside several other SUVs. As the ignition died, only the sounds of nature filled her ears. Lexi closed her eyes taking in all the noise that wildlife produced and the smell of pine mingled with Georgia red clay. She felt Ramsey’s sweet kiss on her lips and opened her eyes to smile at him.
“So, you like it?” he questioned rhetorically.
“What park is this? It doesn’t look like Lake Lanier. And wouldn’t we have had to pay for entrance?” Lexi mused aloud.
Lexi could hear a chorus of chuckles behind her, and turned to see a crowd of people standing under a covered patio with picnic benches. “Don’t mind them,” Ramsey said glaring in their direction. “My parent’s actually own this land. I’ve been coming here since I was a kid,” he told her as they veered toward a garage that she hadn’t noticed in the darkness. “I think my dad was going to make it into some ritzy resort, but after a while he just forgot about it. With the economy all messed up right now, there’s no chance he’s going to do anything to it now,” he added the last part with a sigh of relief. Ramsey flicked a switch that illuminated a keypad and punched in a seven-digit code.
“What’s in there?” Lexi asked in awe as a side door clicked open.
Ramsey walked inside holding the door for Lexi to follow. “This is where my dad keeps his toys,” he murmured softly, “and now mine.” He flicked another switch and the garage lit up showcasing two boats, jet skis, a number of four wheelers, dirt bikes, a collection of rafts, kayaks, and canoes, along with other various outdoors equipment such as a hammock, tent, and camping gear.
“Holy shit!” Lexi couldn’t help herself from exclaiming.
“Yeah,” he murmured appreciatively. “Ever been on a four wheeler?” He walked over to a green bike in particular and set his hand down affectionately on the handle. Lexi shook her head unable to utter a single word. “This baby is a Raptor,” he informed her, “you’ll like her.”
The garage door startled her by opening to the front. Brad wandered over to them and stared longingly at the four-wheeler Ramsey had just shown her. “You riding the Raptor?” he asked obviously itching to get on the bike.
“Lexi’s never been on one,” Ramsey told him.
“Uh…you think I’m getting on that thing?” she asked apprehensively.
“I won’t go that fast,” he said winking at her. “Though it is one of the fastest models. I’ll wait until you’re more comfortable though.”
As the rest of the group wandered into the garage and began claiming the various bikes and four wheelers, Lexi realized that there were less people than she had originally thought. There were two additional guys and four girls in total. They were evenly matched guys to girls, and she wondered if that had been planned.
“All right, I’m not really going to go into the details, but since you’ve never been on one before I’ll just forewarn you that the buzzing sound is completely normal, the ride should and will be bumpy, and you’re going to have a lot of fun,” Ramsey said. His smile was infectious and Lexi couldn’t help but revel in his enthusiasm. Though she assumed it was also the thrill and anticipation of what she was about to do.
Lexi gingerly climbed onto the back of the bike. She wrapped her arms tightly around Ramsey torso and pressed herself against his back. Nuzzling into his shoulder, she tried to calm her heart, which had kicked into overdrive. Ramsey revved the engine, kicked the clutch into gear, and took off.
When Ramsey had said he was going to go slow, Lexi had thought he actually meant slow, but apparently their definitions were different. He raced ahead easily taking the lead. Strands of Lexi’s hair released from her ponytail and whipped around in her face. She felt him switch gears and zoom forward into the tree line following a dirt trail that she couldn’t make out. Her terror alleviated the longer Ramsey drove down the path, but her grip only barely loosened.
As they took a sharp turn, a fire burning in the distance alerted her that they weren’t the only ones in the woods. The adrenaline from the ride kept her mind vigilant. As she became more comfortable on the bike, she also became more aware of her surroundings. A dirt path lay before her and she realized that it was wider than she had originally thought. The tree line had gradually begun to grow in overhead to fight for the sunlight, but the moon was still visible.
Lexi clasped her hands tighter around Ramsey’s torso and nuzzled in closer to his warm body. She could feel his taut muscles underneath her grip. A smile spread across her face at the feel of him and she realized, despite her terror, that she was having a good time. She had never done anything like this before.
As she sank into the rhythm of the bumps and curves, Ramsey pulled into a clearing. He made a circle around a roaring bonfire, then hit the brakes and killed the engine.
“Did you like it?” Ramsey asked helping her off the bike and setting her carefully back on her wobbly feet.
“Uh…” she managed clamping and unclamping her frozen fingers. “You said you were going to go slow.”
Ramsey laughed boisterously at her shocked face, before throwing an arm over her shoulders, and dragging her closer to the bonfire. “That was slow.”
The rest of the group skidded to a halt next to Ramsey’s Raptor and joined them by the fire.
“Man, that was awesome,” Brad crowed, wandering up to Ramsey and clasping him on the back. “Haven’t been up here since the summer.”
“Yeah, I forgot how killer the ride is,” Jason said sidling up to Lexi. “You like it?”
Lexi smiled noncommittally, though she had enjoyed herself once she had gotten used to it. The rest of the group seemed to all know each other. A few of the girls giggled about the ride up. One of them reached up and kissed a guy she didn’t know, staking her claim. They introduced themselves but as soon as they were said, Lexi had already forgotten them save for one redhead, Jessie, who kept eyeing her warily.
After settling in around the fire, the group began to roast marshmallows for smores and talk about some event that had happened in high school. Lexi wasn’t really paying attention to the conversation since she didn’t follow more than half the players involved, but she did listen to the next thing that was mentioned.
“Do you remember when you guys came up here after prom and she insisted on wearing that ridiculous long dress on your tiny dirt bike, Bridges?” Jessie asked her eyes shifting from Ramsey to Lexi.
Lexi glanced up at Ramsey who was glaring in Jessie’s direction. “Yes, I remember,” he growled.
“That was a crazy night. I think I was dating Jeff Kensington,” she said giggling. “He had such a crush on me. Would have done anything for me.”
“I think he did,” Brad said with a wink. The group laughed aloud at some private joke.
“Well, not compared to…” she began.
“Jess, we know the story,” Ramsey snapped narrowing his eyes.
“Fine. Whatever,” she snapped r
ight back at him, reaching into a cooler, and pulling out a light beer.
Lexi’s senses were piqued from the conversation, and she didn’t even know what it had been about. All she knew was that he didn’t want to talk about it, which was enough for her. She wanted to ask him what that was about, but she couldn’t do it in front of all of his friends.
After an awkward silence, the conversation picked back up, but Lexi’s mind was lost in Jessie’s few sentences. Who was the girl that had come up with him after prom? She wasn’t naïve enough to believe that they had driven all the way up here for no particular purpose.
A conversation came to her mind that she had with Ramsey when he had come to visit. He had claimed to have never had a girlfriend…to never have been in love. She knew there had been women in his life, but the conversation had never drifted past that point though. She was still too anxious about her own past to push him to find out about his own.
With Ramsey’s help she was slowly thinking of Jack less and less, all the while eliminating the baggage that she had always carried around with her. Now that she sat down and thought about it, Lexi realized she hadn’t even thought about Jack after the past two days of carefree fun with Ramsey.
Feeling Ramsey’s fingers gently lace with her own brought her back to reality. She looked up at him and smiled. “What has you so entranced?” he asked her rubbing his thumb against her soft skin.
“I was just wondering,” she began hoping to cover up her real thoughts, “why do you have roommates?”
“Hey,” Brad said overhearing her question.
“I didn’t mean it like that,” she said backing up and correcting herself. “I just meant, well, I sound stupid…”
“You mean that I don’t need to have roommates,” he finished for her.
She nodded. He had all the money in the world. He could live wherever he wanted and do whatever he wanted. There was no need for him to live with two other guys. It didn’t make any sense to her. She would have loved the freedom of living alone. Rachelle was great, but she had her habits that drove Lexi off the wall and vice versa. They did it out of necessity, not from choice. Yet, Ramsey had the choice and still he lived with two other guys.
“I don’t like living alone,” he stated simply. “I’ve always liked having people around.”
“Oh, I guess that makes sense.”
Ramsey looked at her for the first time since Jessie had made the comment. “Come with me,” he said pulling her upright.
Lexi’s eyes shifted to Jessie whose expression had changed at Ramsey’s obvious affections. Her lip was upturned as she gazed upon them with distrust and disgust. Lexi’s mouth popped open at the unexpected look, but before she could speak a word in questioning, Ramsey was tugging her in the opposite direction.
As she got farther from the fire, she wrapped her arms tighter around herself to keep from losing any heat. He guided her through the woods in the darkness and down a path that she hadn’t noticed. She could tell Ramsey had spent a good deal of time on this land with the ease in which he navigated the terrain. “Here we are,” he said showing her to a park bench.
Lexi sat willingly, unable to keep her teeth from chattering. “This place is beautiful.”
“Yeah, I love it up here, but I don’t get to come up very often anymore with…everything going on,” he sat next to her, drawing her into his body
“At least you can make time every now and again,” she murmured snuggling close.
“Yeah, it’s worth it,” he agreed.
Lexi felt his hot lips press against her ear, placing soft kisses down to her earlobe. At that point, he drew the skin between his lips and sucked causing her to shiver all over, but not from the cold. His lips moved to her neck sucking and nibbling until she could feel herself getting warm to her very core.
“Ramsey,” she murmured softly, causing him to pull back to look at her. When she didn’t say anything further, he moved forward capturing her lips in a sensual kiss. He parted her lips with his tongue and began to explore the feel of her. She loved the familiar taste of peppermint that always seemed to permeate from him. A moan escaped her lips and her hands reached out to slide into his jacket. Her nails dug through the shirt and he took the opportunity to pull her into his lap.
As she came up for breath, his hands wandered up her shirt cupping her breast in his hand. He massaged it through the thin bra she had on under her layers of clothing causing her head to fall back in ecstasy. She found herself grinding against him as he continued to work his magic. He hardened underneath her tempting body. His body reacted easily to her even though she knew they were supposed to be taking it slow.
Lexi felt him beneath her jeans wanting nothing more than to continue where this was headed. However, the thought of stripping down was horrifying in the freezing temperatures. Already her exposed torso was bitterly cold. Despite everything she wanted to do, Lexi pulled back Ramsey’s hand and slid her shirt back in place. She moved forward pressing her torso against his chest to gain back some warmth.
“Sooooo…cold,” she chattered into his ear.
He chuckled wrapping his arms around her tightly. “I guess forty degree weather isn’t the best time to try and seduce you.”
“It was your choice to come up here. You set your own terms,” Lexi reminded him. Lexi nibbled his ear and swayed her hips back and forth, showing him how much she wanted to continue, as well as how much he was missing.
“Now, that isn’t nice.” He gripped her hips tightly between his capable hands causing her to stop her movement.
“Ramsey,” she murmured softly.
“Yes?”
“What was Jessie talking about?” she couldn’t help but ask. She wanted to kick herself for being nosey. It was none of her business. His past was his past. It certainly didn’t change how she would view him. Whatever Jessie was talking about was something Ramsey hadn’t wanted to discuss. She hated that she had been a fool enough to bring it up especially after he had just admitted to attempting to seduce her. However, she couldn’t keep herself from wondering. She couldn’t keep herself from asking him either.
“Oh,” he mumbled obviously uncomfortable. Lexi waited for him to decide what to do. If he wanted to continue, she would let him take his time. If not, then she would revel in his warmth in silence. After a minute, Lexi was certain that he wasn’t going to say anything, but he sighed and began speaking, “I dated this girl in high school who I took to prom.”
“But you said you didn’t have any girlfriends,” she reminded him. He knew how she felt about lying. It wouldn’t look good for him if that were the case.
Ramsey sighed again. “She wasn’t my girlfriend. We just went to a lot of stuff together and so I took her to prom. Jessie was going to tell a story about how we all came up here after prom. She stayed in her big red dress, on the four-wheeler, and then played Never Have I Ever with the rest of the group. We all learned a lot about each other, and it eventually turned into more and…”
“You don’t have to tell me the rest,” Lexi said her curiosity not sated, but she hated making him sound so forlorn. It was like he was in his own personal hell talking about it. As if he was ashamed of every word.
“Nah,” he muttered moving her back to his side, “it’s just, I ended up fuck…sleeping with her next to the fire in front of pretty much everyone, because she dared me I wouldn’t. Everyone thought it was hilarious, and they never let me live it down when we’re up here.”
“Oh!” Lexi cried unable to keep the surprise from her face. She didn’t care that he had slept with some random girl after prom, but the scenario was still shocking.
“I wouldn’t have brought you up here if I’d thought they were going to bring that up,” he told her his green eyes glancing hesitantly into Lexi’s.
Lexi shook her head. “It’s not your fault. You can’t change your past.”
Ramsey shrugged. “Still, didn’t really mean for you to hear about me like that.”
&n
bsp; “As long as there aren’t similar surprises continuing to await me, then I think we’ll be just fine,” she told him nuzzling closer again. She felt Ramsey sigh in relief. “And if you’d brought me anywhere else, you might be getting some play right now,” she told him cocking an eyebrow.
“Oh yeah?” he asked, his body coming alive underneath her at the implications.
“I do want you, Ramsey Bridges,” she told him as a matter-of-fact.
“And you shall have me whenever you like.”
“Whenever?” she asked smirking.
“Well, as often as possible with you in New York.”
“So, Ramsey, does this make me just another of your girls? Am I just someone you’d take in front of a bonfire with prying eyes watching?” she asked, joking more than anything.
“Oh Lexi, my Alexa,” he said her name possessively, “you could never be just one of those girls.”
“So…what does that make me?” she asked knowing that she was pushing her luck. She wasn’t really looking for any kind of commitment from him, but she couldn’t keep herself from asking nonetheless. She did want some kind of definition to their relationship, whatever that meant.
Ramsey turned to her, capturing her lips in another searing kiss. When he pulled back his look was intense. “I haven’t felt like this before, Lexi.”
Lexi’s heart fluttered rapidly in her chest. She could feel her palms beginning to sweat. Her stomach was turning knots in anticipation. Her pulse was working on overdrive. She could feel her throat beginning to dry up as if she had swallowed cotton balls. She didn’t know what was coming over her and why she was getting so nervous about one simple question and one simple comment. He hadn’t felt this way before.
“Lexi, this might be bold,” he began taking her hands in his own, “but I think the casual dating isn’t working for me.”
Her stomach dropped out from under her. Was he saying that he didn’t want to see her anymore? Had she misinterpreted his statement? It hardly made sense with him bringing her up here to meet his friends. That wasn’t something you did when you decided you didn’t want to date them anymore.
