He pushed himself up until the sleeping bag fell off him. “That’s why you’re not fighting the development.”
“Yeah.” I rubbed a hand over my face. “It’d be nice to believe that no one in the Hollow has to do without, but that’s not real life. The town could really use a steady influx of tourist cash—ideally in a way that doesn’t destroy the beauty of the placethe tourists are coming to see. I’m all for coming up with an alternate plan, for making sure there’s plenty of oversight, all of that. But I don’t wanna lose our chance either. And I sure as fuck am not gonna be the guy coming up with a brilliant idea that marries both needs?—”
“Especially since you’re a little busy trying to keep the diner afloat during the summer rush when you’re missing your most dedicated employee?” Hawk smiled wryly.
“Exactly.”
He nodded. “Thank you. For explaining that. For trusting me with it. I understand where you’re coming from now.”
“Maybe I should have explained it fully before. I just…” I blew out a breath.
Hawk shook his head. “It’s okay. You don’t owe me those stories, Jack. And it’s my fault, too. I was so frustrated and my thoughts were so tangled I felt like you weren’t listening to my very important reasons for feeling the way I did. I didn’t stop to consider that you had your own reasons that were just as important.”
I felt worn-out, stripped and bare, vulnerable in a way I’d never made myself before. “So… what happens next? Now that we’re, you know… doing the relationship thing.”
Hawk blinked at me, all innocence. “I sort of imagined we’d follow the traditional Little Pippin Hollow relationship protocol. Official meeting with Mayor York to declare our relationship intentions. Get our blood tests and star charts done. Register the date of our consummation with the town’s Anniversary Committee. Do the public claiming ritual on the common—conveniently for us, the Pye Day Potluck is already happening today, so we won’t need to wait for them to organize anything special. And, if we’re very lucky, we’ll get a commemorative scroll,” he finished matter-of-factly.
I stared at him. “You’re joking.”
He laughed out loud. “Of course I’m joking. I mean, not about Pye Day, because that’s actually today. But about the rest…”
“After what happened with Luke and Webb, you never know,” I said darkly.
“True. Look, the real answer is…” Hawk shrugged helplessly. “I don’t know what happens now. Don’t forget, I don’t have any more experience with relationships than you do. So maybe we write our own rules in a way that works for us. Okay?”
Me and Hawk, figuring things out together? “Yeah. That sounds pretty perfect.”
“Good.” He gave me a peck on the lips, but when I reached up to thread my hands into his hair and turn that kiss into something deeper and hotter, he pushed away with evident reluctance. “I can’t. Not right now. The Environmental Committee is cobbling itself back together as of two days ago, and I promised I’d meet a few of the others up on Glassy Ridge at nine for a strategy and information session if the storm didn’t mess everything up. I’ve gotta get ready. Besides, aren’t you helping your mom bring stuff to the potluck?”
I groaned. “Yeahhhh. With everything else happening, I might have completely forgotten about that. I’ll need to go call her and sort it out.”
Hawk unzipped the tent so he could stand and began to pull on his warm clothes. I hated seeing his delicious form disappear under thick layers, but I wasn’t about to take my eyes off him for a moment and risk missing part of the show.
“I suppose if I were to suggest that you abandon the protest for a morning and that I blow off the whole Pye Day thing, and that both of us go back to my house, take a nice, hot shower, and get naked in my bed… that wouldn’t be a goodboyfriendlything to do?” I asked, trying out the new word. It sounded strange… and strangelyright.
Hawk bit his lip against a smile. “It really wouldn’t. You’d be run out of town if you forgot about Pye Day. And I refuse to abandon the protest. There’s only two weeks to the vote, and I’m finally starting to get traction thanks to Instagram.” He rolled his eyes. “Hawk Sunday talks about stopping the resort development for months and months, and everyone’s all, ‘That’s nice, dear.’ I get forty thousand Instagram followers thanks to a post going viral, and suddenly they’re all, ‘Wait, there’s a protest? About a resort? First I’ve heard of it.’ I can’t miss a chance to educate people during prime hiking time. Not even to have sex with the great Jack Wy—uh.”
I sighed and flipped the sleeping bag off myself so I could find my own clothes, and Hawk stopped talking abruptly, his eyes widening as he stared at me, laid out in my boxers and T-shirt.
“What?” I looked myself up and down, feeling my legs prickle in the cold cave air.
Hawk swallowed. “Nothing. No. Just. Uh. Realizing that if I wanted to, I could duck back into that tent and touch you right now. Kiss you. Do… lots of other things.”
“So many other things,” I agreed, letting my voice go rough.
Hawk turned away, and his shoulders heaved in a sigh. “Maybe a good boyfriendly thing to do would be to put some clothes on.”
I snorted and sat up. “Does this mean I’m supposed to stay fully dressed until after the vote?” I demanded, stepping out of the tent so I could hop into my jeans and pull on my shirt. “Should I hide my ankles and wear gloves in case ofnaked-palm touching,lest you get distracted and ravish me in a garden, like in one of your spicy Pride and Prejudice variations?”
He stepped up close to me until our chests bumped. “Don’t knock the naked-palm touching,” he whispered against my lips. “I’m really seeing the appeal. In fact, I’m gonna be thinking ofnaked-palm touching all morning until I see you at the potluck this afternoon?—”
I pulled back to look at him. “Wait… you’re coming?”
He nodded. “Of course. Otherwise,I’llget run out of town. The Pilkners are coming up here to take over the campout protest for me, at least for tonight. Conrad said Greta keeps telling him to be more spontaneous now that they’re retired, so…”
“So he decided ‘Surprise, honey, I signed us up to sleep in a tent on a mountain’ was a good choice?”
“Mmmhmm. And thank goodness he did because I can’t wait one more night to be with you. So, here’s what I propose…” He walked his fingers up my chest slowly. “I’m going to my meeting. You’re going to help your mom. I’ll come to the diner to help out—and that’s not a euphemism,” he said severely. “Then after the celebration is over, I’m going to stalk you back to your house in the nice, secluded woods, get my naked palms all over you, and beg you to take my virginity in the garden, or the bedroom, or that random room you added onto the back of the house that I’m kinda thinking maybe you could turn into a dedicatedravishingroom… In fact, I think we should try to hitallthe rooms. Okay?”
