A Bridge Between Us

by K. K. Allen

  Finally, we slowed at the end of what had seemed like an endless gravel drive. After one last cliff and a roundabout, we went back downhill and exited the truck for one final pitstop before we would find a place to eat lunch. I helped Camila out of the passenger side and wrapped my arm around her in a close hug. As exhilarating as it was to reach the high elevation, my anxiety hit its peak when she wanted to sit at the edge of the cliff.

  Something about that girl, who took every situation to the extreme, made me want to hold on to her and never let go. Pushing limits and seeing how far she could go were in her nature. Allowing her that freedom, while being more than ready to catch her when she fell, was in mine. We’d already been walking that fine line for years. I loved her wild spirit as much as I loved protecting her from it. It was just who we were.

  We returned to the truck a few minutes later, and I started the engine again. “Hungry?”

  Her eyes lit up. “Starved.”

  My lips curled into a small smile I hoped she didn’t see. “Good.” I had one more surprise in store for her.

  I circled the roundabout and headed back down the path we’d come from then didn’t stop again for a few miles until I found a private off-road that led to the real reason I’d brought her there. “Hang on,” I said as I passed the drive, then I stopped and backed onto the private road. The short drive backward ended at a wide, open meadow of wildflowers that looked like it went on for endless miles.

  Camila’s expression said it all as she stared through the back windshield, her mouth open and her eyes wide. “Wow. Ridge, this place is beautiful. But how in the world did you find it?”

  I parked the truck before shutting off the engine. “I met a lot of people on those hikes. Come to found out there are a million little treasures around this area that very few know about. Like the one you found at Blue Lakes.”

  Her blush made me chuckle. The memory of finding her and Josie at the hot spring in Ouray was one I would never forget. “C’mon,” I said while sliding open the back window that led to the tailgate. “Let’s eat.” I grabbed the food then climbed through the window before turning around to hold out my hand to her.

  Camila’s fingers slid through mine, and she followed my lead without asking questions as to why we hadn’t just gotten out and walked to the back. She was smart enough to understand that meadows like these required all standards of preservation. Neither of us wanted to be responsible for destroying the beauty spread out before us. Instead, I laid out a large blanket, then we pulled out the food and ate until satisfied while sharing the most beautiful visual of the open field.

  I started to clean up our food. After passing the empty bag through the window and setting it on the seat, I looked over at her to find her bottom lip still glistening from the sip of water she’d just taken.

  “What?” she asked, eyeing me with amusement.

  “Nothing.”

  She sat up straight and tilted her head. “Really? Because you’re looking at me like there’s something on my face.”

  I chuckled before sliding a finger across her bottom lip. “Your face is perfect.”

  Her expression grew serious. “Do you really think so?”

  I tilted my head. “Do you question my words?”

  “No, it’s just… that was a sweet thing to say. You don’t compliment me very often.”

  Camila was as crazy as she was wild, and I loved it. “I don’t?”

  She shook her head. “You don’t. I mean, I think I know how you feel, but it’s nice to hear sometimes, you know? You should speak up when you’re thinking nice things about me.”

  I’d learned to keep my thoughts private when it came to Camila. For years, I’d built up a sort of filter to speaking my true thoughts when it came to her physical attributes—mostly out of respect for her age, but it also felt wrong to have those feelings. “But I’m always thinking nice things about you.”

  When she looked surprised again, I leaned against the back of the truck, pulled her to me, and brushed her cheek with my thumb. I turned her face so that we both stared out at the meadow. “What do you see, Camila?”

  She hesitated for a second, looking confused. “I see a meadow of wildflowers and a backdrop of the San Juan Mountains. Why? What do you see?”

  My eyes flicked between hers for a second before I turned to the explosion of color in the picturesque scene before us. “I see the very essence of nature as we should understand it. I see the heart of the land that we’ve lost sight of over decades of fighting a war we’re all losing but won’t realize until it’s too late. But I also see our potential. The land has been preserved with love, and that means something.”

  I panned the landscape slowly, taking it all in as I continued. “I see untamed beauty living in a world of chaos with roots so strong that the changing seasons don’t matter. A wildflower always comes back stronger in the end, more beautiful than the year before and only that much more precious to those fortunate enough to bask in its presence.”

  As I turned to Camila again, my heart beat fast. “What do I see when I’m staring at that meadow of wildflowers?” The truth of my words shone in her eyes before I even spoke them. I leaned in so that my forehead met hers while I sucked in a deep breath. “I see you.”

  Though I didn’t mean to make Camila cry, a tear slipped from her eye, and my chest ached. I was worried that I had caused her pain, and my heart was already breaking for it. But when she shifted her position and pulled one leg over both of mine to straddle me, the ache in my chest exploded into a galaxy of stars.

  Her mouth met mine as her small hands gathered the fabric of my plaid shirt. Her position brought her that much closer to the erection I’d always been careful to hide when we were together. But I had no possible way of hiding it at that moment with the way she was moving against me, making me grow, while her hot tongue dove into my mouth.

  I was defenseless against her advances, prey to her sweet lips and luscious body, which fit perfectly against mine. I timidly moved my hands to her thighs and nearly had a heart attack when I felt nothing but bare skin. I’d never dared to touch her like this, so close to crossing a line we could never return from, but I no longer lived by the rules that had always kept us apart. All I had now was desperation to be as close to Camila as possible.

  My hands skated up her thighs to where I finally felt the fabric of her ruffled dress that bunched at her waist, then they slid to her ass and squeezed. When a tiny moan escaped her mouth and her clothed center pushed down firmly on my hard-on, panic seized in my chest.

  I tore my mouth from hers. Our heaving chests pressed into each other’s, and I cursed under my breath before locking eyes with her. She glared, her anger with me for breaking our kiss written in her expression. I should have known she would find a way to up the ante.

  She was still staring at me when I noticed movement at her waist. I looked down. Camila was unknotting the tie of her dress, loosening the fabric. A beat later, she gripped the bottom of the skirt and started to lift it away from her skin.

  I slammed my hands onto hers to stop her from undressing. “Camila, no.”

  “Why do I feel like you’re always rejecting me?”

  “I am not trying to reject you. I’m trying to be careful with you. It’s complicated between us.”

  “No, it’s not. We are the opposite of complicated. We aren’t our parents, and we never will be.”

  I took another heavy breath, desperately trying to calm my racing heart. “This isn’t why I brought you here.” I searched her eyes. “I just—don’t want you to think I brought you here to sleep with you.”

  Camila frowned. “You don’t think I know that?” She sighed and leaned in to kiss me before pulling back slightly to whisper, “I know what we are, Ridge. We’ve never needed words to communicate that. But it doesn’t make me want you less. And I can feel that you want me too.”

  With another glare, she pursed her lips, and defiance radiated from her core. She pushed my
hands away and lifted her dress over her head. A lace bra the same color as her dress covered her breasts, and her matching panties moved slowly over my hard length. She wouldn’t give up the fight, and I was quickly running out of reasons to hold either of us back from what we wanted.

  “It’s been six months since you looked at me,” she said as she reached behind her. “You want to see me again, don’t you, Ridge?”

  I squeezed my eyelids together for a second before nodding. When I finally peeled them open, Camila’s bare breasts were exposed in front of me. My head fell back onto the window so hard that I thought I might have left a mark, but she didn’t give me a chance to check the damage. She pressed her lips to my neck, kissing, sucking, and greedily stealing my breath as she explored. I hadn’t even noticed that she’d been working the buttons of my shirt until I felt the warm air kiss my chest as she spread the fabric wide.

  Gasping, I looked down to find her hips moving against me at a rhythmic pace as she ran a hand down my chest. Camila had always scared the living hell out of me but in ways completely different from that one. She was stealing every last ounce of resistance I’d built up over the years, and I was starting to lose sight of why I hadn’t tried to go further with her.

  I slowly moved my hand up from her ribcage until her breast was in my palm. “You are excruciatingly beautiful, Camila Bell.” My gaze fell to where she continued to rub her core against me, and curiosity won out. I slid my free hand to her panties and traced the delicate material across the top.

  “Touch me,” she whispered. “I need you to touch me.”

  I slipped the lace fabric to the side, exposing her glistening pink lips, before I ran my finger between them. She was so wet, from her clit to her ass. It felt as if I were having an out-of-body experience as I glided my finger back and forth, slowly memorizing the naked parts of her and reveling in the intimacy of my touch as she purred against my mouth.

  “I’ve only ever done that to myself.”

  Her confession brought a guttural moan past my lips. I’d already known that I was her first kiss, so my being the first to touch her in that way didn’t surprise me. But the fact that she’d touched herself before did something to me. I stretched the material of her panties farther to the side and pushed a finger against her entrance then let it hover there for a second to give her a chance to object. When she didn’t, I slipped it into her, and my eyes rolled to the back of my head at the soft and wet sensation that wrapped tightly around my finger.

  She shivered as I moved deeper and deeper until my finger fluttered inside her so fast that my head was spinning, her breaths became shallow, and our mouths were back together. Her release started in a gasp as my finger relentlessly worked her to her brink. I’d never touched another girl like that, so I didn’t know what to expect. When she squeezed around my finger and shivered out her release, I could have sworn it was the most beautiful sight I’d ever seen in my life.

  Camila began to unzip my pants. By that point, I knew better than to try to stop her. So I watched her free me and wrap her palm around my length. I let her stroke me a few times before showing her with my own hands how to grip me in just the right way. Like everything Camila attempted, she mastered her mission with ease, bringing on an orgasm so explosive that I felt a meadow of wildflowers burst to life behind my eyelids. And when we lay together after, our mouths intertwined and our hands still exploring, I knew that was the beginning of something.

  I just didn’t realize that it was the beginning of the end.

  27

  Camila, Six Months Later

  Almost one year exactly had passed since the spring break trip to Ouray where Ridge and I had reunited, and we continued to survive every single season. He had spent his winter working for Jason, just as we had discussed, and joy radiated from him when he’d recapped one of his trips.

  Ridge was the type of man who needed not only adventure but also a purpose. So once the winter season blew in, powdering the earth with its cold white blanket, and while there wasn’t much to do on the Cross farm, Ridge found his purpose in the nearby mountains of Ouray. Meanwhile, I had my own purpose to pursue in Telluride.

  I was in my senior year of high school, and while I eagerly awaited news from the colleges I’d submitted applications to, I was dedicated to spending the last moments of my high school experience with my close friends. My heart was still set on attending UC Davis, though the thought of leaving Telluride was beginning to weigh heavily on my heart.

  California was a fifteen-hour drive from home. I might get to come back for the major holidays, but I worried about all the days in between. Ridge and I had yet to discuss the topic, but we couldn’t wait much longer. I could feel the ticking of the clock as our time together ran down.

  While Ridge had planned to pick up more work with Jason in the springtime, he wasn’t needed there anymore. Ridge had fulfilled his obligation to find Jason a replacement. So Ridge drove up to Mountain Village, the ski town above Telluride, and got a job working the gondola for the rest of the snow season. He worked there during the days while I went to school, then we met at the hilltop until suppertime.

  Ridge and my eagerness to see him was on my mind when the final bell chimed at school that day. After grabbing what I needed for the night’s homework at my locker, I slammed the door and slid my backpack over my shoulders, then I met up with Josie and Raven near the front of the school. They were giving each other strange looks, and I couldn’t figure out why until Raven drove off and Josie stopped me outside of my Jeep.

  Josie looked around before stepping closer to me. “Trip is going to ask you to the prom.”

  Her words didn’t sink in right away, but when they did, a laugh burst from my throat. “Funny, Josie. Trip doesn’t even go here anymore.”

  “He doesn’t have to go here for him to come as your date.”

  I scoffed, still finding the humor in what she was telling me. A college boy wanting to go to a high school dance was ridiculous. My chest ached as I remembered that Ridge was the same age as Trip, and if I could have it my way, Ridge would be the one asking me to go to senior prom. “Trip is in New York, remember?”

  “Actually, he’s already home and taking the rest of his courses virtually.”

  I just stared at her for the next string of seconds, hoping she would burst into laughter and tell me it was all a sick joke. When the laughter never came, my heart started sinking fast. “Okay, Josie. I’m having a little trouble grasping this.”

  “Look,” she said. “This isn’t a rumor or a hunch. Apparently, Thomas put some pressure on Trip to make a move last night at dinner.”

  “What?” I shrieked. “How do you know that?”

  Josie frowned and looked around us, like she was worried someone would hear. “Raven vented to me in science class. She feels like Thomas doesn’t give a shit about her. He never once asked who she’s taking to the dance.”

  Raven and I had never been the best of friends, but I hated that she felt that way. “That’s sad.”

  Josie sighed. “Yeah, well, I just wanted to give you a heads-up.”

  I shook my head, trying to clear the clutter from what Josie had just told me. “If Trip wants to go to prom that badly, then he’ll have to find another date. He can take Raven, for all I care.”

  Josie burst into laughter. “His sister?”

  I shrugged.

  Sympathy shone from her eyes. “I don’t know how you don’t see this for yourself yet, but Trip is madly in love with you. Always has been. And you giving him the cold shoulder at the vineyard when he comes home from school has only made him more adamant to get your attention.”

  Her words began to sink in, the weight of them crushing me. Trip had always been a friend, even as annoyingly protective as he had always been. Sure, he was smart, wealthy, and handsome, but he wasn’t Ridge. And that last fact was enough to tangle my insides with dread. I’d thought if I ignored his advances, he would go away. I’d thought he had gone away.


  Groaning, I leaned against my Jeep. “What am I going to do? If I tell him no, Papa won’t be happy. But if I say yes…” I wanted to cry at the thought of having to tell Ridge I was going to a dance with another boy.

  “Why can’t you just talk to your parents? You and Ridge shouldn’t have to keep your relationship a secret because of a stupid old feud that no one even knows what it’s about anymore. You’re eighteen. Almost in college. This is your life, Camila. I can’t believe your papa still thinks he can control you.”

  I shook my head. “It’s not that simple. I can’t even go there right now. You know my papa. Everything’s a business negotiation to him. Thomas is in his ear all the damn time. My parents and Thomas have been planning my wedding to Trip since my birth. Turning Trip down isn’t even an option.”

  “I’m sorry. I wish there were an easy way around this. I don’t know why Trip hasn’t moved on by now, but you need to deal with it. Either by talking to your father about Trip or talking to him about Ridge.”

  She was right, and I knew what I wanted to do. When it came to adventure, I was never too intimidated to look fear in the face and barrel through it at full speed. But talking to my papa about Ridge was different—bigger than taking a risk that could lead to a broken bone or a scrape on the knee. Ridge and I had the power to end a century-old rivalry… or start a brand-new one.

  “Papa, I need to—” I skidded down the hall to my papa’s office and froze at the doorway.

  Thomas was sitting at my papa’s desk, his fingers resting on the keyboard, and he peered at me over his glasses.

  “Your papa is working.” Thomas looked at his screen and typed something else before looking back at me. “In the vineyard.”

  His pointed response caused heat to rise in my chest. “Isn’t that where you should be? Does my papa even know you’re in here?”

  Thomas’s laugh boomed before he set his glasses down and pushed back against the chair. “And what is it you think I do around here, Camila?” He raised an eyebrow and waited a whole second before continuing. “As future heir to this beautiful palace, I sure hope you know.”