Filed to story: Swallow Me Whole (Sadie & Ashton) Book Free
Ashton: I just did. My lunch break is over. I’ll see you tomorrow night, Sawyer.
I stuff my phone back into my purse, giddy and aflutter. This friend date idea is going to require a level of restraint I’m not sure I possess, but I’m going to give it my all.
Sadie
“I can’t guarantee the no touching rule.” It’s the first thing out of his mouth after he shows up on my doorstep.
“Really? Reneging on our agreement already?”
He holds up a helmet. “Some things require a certain amount of contact.”
My lips curve into a smile. Now I understand why he said to dress warm, though being that it’s December, I would have done so anyway.
Just to be on the safe side, I dressed in layers—leggings under jeans, a long-sleeved thermal under my shirt, hat and gloves and boots. My hair is in a long, thick braid, and I’ll be damned if I let him unravel it.
He’s dressed accordingly too, and too damn hot in his faded jeans, black leather jacket, and a dark Carhartt beanie pulled low over his forehead. I grab my coat and let him usher me into the vestibule.
“You’re not going to tell me where we’re going, are you?”
“Nope.”
“Figured as much.”
He fits the helmet on my head, we mount the bike, then we’re roaring down the street, pressed together in a way that is so against the rules, but Ashton’s clever like that. He’s doggedly determined when he wants something, and he wants me. I close my eyes and tighten my arms around his waist, shivering from the warmth spreading between my legs at the thought of being wanted by him.
I won’t lie. It’s an addictive feeling.
He takes us out of town, and about thirty minutes later, I lean with him as he turns onto a county road. It’s deserted, curvy, the incline leading us up a mountain. The sky is a blanket of stars, cloudless and moonless, which only makes this night colder.
Wherever we’re headed, he’ll want to warm me up.
Clever, indeed.
Sometime later, the bike rolls to a stop in a clearing at the top of the mountain. Ashton helps me off before removing my helmet, and my teeth are already chattering as he unfastens the bungee cords on his pack.
“What are we doing here?” I move in a circle, taking in the cold landscape. “Where is here?”
“We’re about ten miles past the falls.”
“Okay…why? In case you haven’t noticed, it’s freezing out here.” My eyes adjust to the moonless night, and I catch him smirking.
“I noticed.” Entwining our fingers, he leads me through the scattered brush and boulders to a level spot on the ground.
“Ash, I’m serious. What are we doing here?”
“The Geminid meteor shower peaks tonight.”
I let out an excited squeal. “Really! A meteor shower?”
“Damn, Sawyer. Your enthusiasm is a turn-on. I could kiss you right now.”
“Against the rules.”
He unzips the pack and begins unrolling a sleeping bag. “How about staying warm? Is that against the rules?”
“It’s fucking cold out here, so we’ll make an exception. But keep your hands to yourself.”
“You must think I’m a saint,” he mutters as he spreads the sleeping bag onto the ground. He gestures for me to go first. “After you.”
I slip inside, snuggling into the thick blanket, and he follows suit. We lie shoulder-to-shoulder, barely touching, kept toasty only by the waves of heat our bodies emit.
And dammit, it’s not enough, but there’s no way I can tell him that. I need to see this friend date idea through to the end.
“When’s this meteor shower supposed to start?” I ask.
He reaches to the side and grabs the thermos he unpacked. “Any time now.” He takes a long swig then passes it to me. “Drink some coffee. It’ll warm you up.”
“Jeez, you’re bossy.”
“You should be used to it by now.”
We pass the coffee back and forth for a while, and instead of settling into a comfortable silence with a friend, I’m painfully aware of his nearness.
The rise and fall of his chest.
The sound of his breathing.
Every subtle move he makes.
The expanse of glittering stars overhead, cast bright from the dawn of midnight, appears to envelope us. Utter quiet amplifies our seclusion, and I feel as if we’ve been transplanted on another world.
The setting is too…intimate.
I clear my throat. “Where are we supposed to be looking?”
He grabs my wrist. “Point your finger.”
I do as told, and he lines up the point of my finger with the three horizontal stars that make up the belt of the hunter.
“See Orion’s Belt?”
“Yeah.”
Slowly moving my hand upward, he draws a line from the left star in the belt to the bright reddish one at the top of the constellation. “Keep going and you’ll find Gemini up there.” Just as my finger reaches Ashton’s destination in the universe, a star shoots out from where I’m pointing.
“Wow! That was a bright one.”
Lulled into a calm quiet, we watch the sky, counting shooting stars, and the whole time, Ashton’s got my hand clasped in his. The gentle sweep of his thumb against the back of my hand is burrowing underneath my resolve.
I want to turn into him, snuggle against his side, feel his arms tight around me. But if we do that, we’ll start kissing, and then hands will wander. Fingers will work at buttons and zippers. Tongues will trail across skin. Teeth will nip. We’ll set this sleeping bag on fire.