The tour guides unlatch the hooks I didn’t even notice getting attached to my harness at the last stop, and usher me aside when another person lands beside me.
“You’re right.” Westley grins. “Completely irresistible.”
17
“Hey, guys!” Aurora comes running up to our table with a few other girls and a grin on her face. She’s in cosy pyjamas, along with the rest of her group, as everyone gets ready to start the movie. There’s a big projector screen in the middle of a cleared-out field, bordered with massive, old trees. Lanterns are scattered around the bases, lighting the way through the forest that leads back to the cabins and the mess hall.
After we finished the ropes course, and I followed Maevyn around like a lost puppy after that accidental kiss, we went on a trail hike where the kids continued to impersonate Maevyn when she screamed down the zipline. By the eighth or ninth kid, Maevyn reminded them all she was on s’mores duty later in the day, and she wouldn’t hold back on a side serving of spit if they didn’t quit it.
It was a relatively quiet walk after that, apart from my mind that wouldn’t shut up.I’m always stealing her thoughts. She has no idea what she does to mine.
“Hey, Superstar. Come to collect your ration?” Maevyn asks as I extend the roasting stick to her with some perfectly toasted marshmallows. She sandwiches them one by one between the crackers and chocolate before passing them out to the kids.
“Any extras for your favourite child?” Aurora asks as she bites into her treat.
“I’m always pro-favouritism when it comes to my child.”
“What about her bestie?” Her friend, Ever, loops her arm through Aurora’s.
“As long as no one dobs us in, I’ll play along.” I spear more marshmallows onto the end of the fork, then set them over the drum fire.
“How long until the movie starts?” Maevyn asks the girls.
“I think another twenty minutes,” Sophie, one of the other mums, says as she steps behind me, collecting another packet of biscuits for the s’mores she’s making on the other side of the fire with her husband, Tom.
“Thank God.” Maevyn groans, rubbing her lower back just above her arse. “I need to sit down.”
“Did you hurt yourself when you came down earlier?” I ask, as I stand beside her and offer her the finished marshmallows.
“Just corked my arse, I think.” She chuckles as she hands the girls a s’more each.
Aurora leans over to kiss her mum’s cheek. “We’ll come find you guys later.”
The two girls run off into the crowd, and we watch until they make it to the middle, rejoining their friend group as they drop down in the sea of blankets and pillows.
I turn back to Maevyn, a hand on her elbow to turn her slightly as my other hand comes to the spot she was rubbing. “Are you sure you’re not hurt?”
Maevyn looks over her shoulder. “It stings a bit. I think I’m just not used to that kind of exercise.”
“Can I take a look?”
“Always trying to get into my pants, Thief.” She smirks.
“Damn. I thought I was being more subtle that time.” I pull a chair in front of the fire so I can see better, then sit down, dragging her in front of me.
“I’m really fine,” she insists.
“I’d feel better if I checked.” My hands come to rest on either side of her hips as she stands between my open legs. Her curvesare right in front of my face, making my leg start to bounce because being this close to her makes my heart race. Trampling through my chest in a different way to when we’re cooking in her kitchen or talking over our balconies with nothing but the stars as our witness. It’s even worse now that I know the feel of her lips against mine. “May I?”
She turns her head. Light from the fire flickers over her profile, casting her in an orange glow as she nods.
I lift the hem of her thin, cotton shirt, revealing scuff marks up her back and dipping into her leggings. Careful not to touch them, I pull her waistband down a little, confirming the marks reach down further.
I hiss at the sight of them. “You’re a bit scratched up.”
“Do you guys need the first-aid box?” Sophie calls.
“Yeah, if you’ve got one there, that’d be great.” I nod over at her.
