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Her brows drew together in concern as she saw my face. "Fighting again?" She touched my cheek when we were in reaching distance. "Are you okay?"
"Fine," I said shortly. Reese's words were still echoing through my head, still drawing me back to fight him.
"Who was it?" she asked.
"No one important," I replied truthfully.
"Let's get out of here," she said, taking my hand.
"The cabin's ready," I told as her we broke into the woods, moving swiftly along the familiar trail that took us home.
She shot me a look. "Are you . . . up for that? Is this really the best time? I can tell you were hit in the face—your cheek is red. Where else are you hurt?"
"I'm fine. You can check out my other bruises . . . at the cabin." I grinned at her. She blushed and looked away.
I felt myself getting hard.
"Isn't it a long hike?" she asked her feet.
It was. The cabin was on Gram's land, that's how I'd found it, but it was deep in the woods. No roads led to it, just one grueling hiking trail. That's why it was so perfect. It was a place that could be ours alone. "About an hour and a half hiking, less if we set a good pace. I'm up for it if you are?"
She chewed on her lip, still blushing. "I'm up for it. It certainly feels like we've waited long enough."
We had, and then I'd made us wait longer, finding just the right spot, cleaning it out, stocking it up.
The hotels in town were shit, and nowhere else felt private enough for our first real time together.
"I just need to grab one thing from Gram's," I explained.
"We'll be back before it's dark, won't we? We can't hike back in the dark. Do we have enough time?"
"It's a Friday. You always stay out late enough for Glenda to pass out and then you leave before she wakes up. Do you really think she's going to notice if you're away for one night?"
She looked uncertain. Her grandma terrified her to an unreasonable degree. It made me sick to my stomach to think about. She was so helpless when it came to that hateful woman.
"I don't want to rush," I added. And when that wasn't enough, I used the magic word. "Please."
"Okay," she agreed instantly. "But if I catch hell for it, I'm blaming you, and letting you deal with my grandma.
"Deal." I didn't hesitate. Her grandma pissed me the hell off, but she didn't scare me.
I grabbed the key to the thick padlock I'd put on the cabin door. It was on a key chain, but as we started to leave, an idea struck me.
"One sec," I told Scarlett, leaving her by the front door.
I found Gram. It didn't even occur to me that she wouldn't have what I needed. "Do you have a gold chain I could borrow? Something sturdy, to hold a key."
She studied me, her controlled face frankly curious. "Is it for you or for Scarlett?"
"Either or both," I said cryptically.
She smiled. "I'll dig up one. You can have it. You don't need to borrow."
When I approached Scarlett again, still waiting by the door, I draped the key on its chain casually around her neck.
She fingered it. "What's this?"
I smiled, kissing her briefly. "It's the key to our first place together. Hope you like what I've done with the place."
