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How could any man look at this woman and not realize what a fucking treasure she is?
"You deserve better than that," I grumble.
"I know."
Red pauses and runs her fingers over the cover of the book, "I do kinda like the idea of giving myself to the man I love and only being with one guy ever though. Till death do us part."
6
MEADOW
"Didn't know you were so old fashioned." Oz is teasing but his voice isn’t mocking and he’s looking at me strangely.
Something changed between us out there on the trail this afternoon and I'm not sure if it's got me excited or scared.
"Yeah, well some people still believe in that shit, Oz, not everyone wants their bedpost all notched up."
"I don't have any notches on my bedpost."
Oz's face goes bright red to match his whiskers and suddenly he seems very interested in anything on the other side of the cabin that can give him an excuse to look away from me.
It doesn't take a genius to catch on to what he means.
"Osprey...are you--"
His jaw tightens, giving his profile an even more chiseled edge than usual.
"How is that even possible, Oz? I mean you're...but you're--" I can't bring myself to tell him how hot he is so I just wave my hand at him from head to toe and keep stuttering in disbelief.
"Some guys believe in that shit too, you know," he tells me, his voice going low like he's sharing a secret.
"So why haven't you found your forever girl and put a ring on her finger then?"
Oz turns toward me, giving me an intense look. "There's only ever been one woman I wanted, Red-- sorry. Meadow."
"You can call me Red," I whisper. My voice shakes and I lick my lips to wet them because they've suddenly gone very dry. All the moisture in my body has pooled between my legs. "I mean...if it's really because you think my hair is sexy, I guess..."
"Fuck! Meadow, are you kidding me? I think you're sexy! You're the sexiest fucking woman I've ever seen."
"Since when?"
Everything inside me goes hot and liquid. It's too hot in here. My uniform is way too tight. It's a good thing I'm already sitting on my bed, or I'd probably melt into a puddle of need on the floor.
"Since high school, shit, why do you think I was such an ass to you? You were still just a kid-- Hell! We were both just kids. And I'd never had a crush on a girl before and suddenly my best friend's little sister is looking way too much like a woman than she had a right to.
"I wanted to kill every guy in school just to make sure none of them looked at you the way I did. I couldn't handle the way I felt about you all of a sudden and there was sure as hell no way you were ever going to think of me as boyfriend material...you did me a favor having Mesa beat the shit out of me."
"I didn't tell him to beat you up," I say, indignantly. "You were being an ass. I just wanted him to make you leave me alone."
Oz unbuttons the starched shirt of his own Forestry Service uniform, making my heart thump wildly in anticipation. Of course, he's wearing a dumb t-shirt underneath and any hope I had of catching a glimpse of his bare chest is lost.
"This scar, right here--" He pulls the short sleeve of the tee over the huge bicep that I think might be strong enough to lift me like I weigh nothing, and rolls it up over the top of his rounded shoulder. "--that's where my shoulder hit the concrete when he tackled me."
Leaning forward, I run my fingertip over the satiny strip of lighter skin that runs about an inch along the top of his arm.
"I'm sorry, Oz," I whisper without looking him in the eye.
Is it my imagination or is he leaning closer to me than he was before?
