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We continued to hike in silence, every crunch of dirt and gravel making my nerves heighten. Even my heartbeat, which was already working harder because of the hike, seemed to be in super-mode from just being close to my old friend. Every time my hand swung a little too close to his, I could feel the heat from his body zapping through my arm. Did he feel the same way? And why was it suddenly so hard to come up with stuff to talk to Gavin about?
“Check it out!” Gavin’s voice made me jump, bringing me out of my daze. He was pointing to the trees on our left, opposite the lake. Before I knew it, he was off the trail and into the brush.
“Wait for me,” I called out after him.
When I caught up with him, he was bent over next to the same kind of flower he gave me earlier, the fairy slipper orchid. I stood back, watching the excitement spread across his face as he dug into his bag. I realized I hadn’t asked Gavin what he wanted with flora and fauna on this trip. Was he going to take a sample back to his shop? Was he going to try to grow some on his own? To my surprise, he pulled out a camera.
“I’ve been planning this calendar for over a year now,” he said, playing with the settings on his DSLR. He held the camera up and started moving around, taking different shots of the tiny flower.
I looked back to the trail, about twenty feet away. “How on earth did you spot this from back there?”
“It’s pretty easy to find what you want when you know what you’re looking for.” He paused, looking up at me from the camera with excitement still bouncing around in the lines around his eyes. My stomach fluttered. Was that excitement directed at me?
“So you’ll sell the calendar in your store?” I asked.
“Yeah, the plan is to donate the funds to local charities. Mary was telling me about this kids program for low-income families. It helps pay for kids to get into sports or arts programs.”
“Really?” I sighed. Gavin was an amazing guy. I watched as he lay on his back, aiming for an upward shot of the tiny flower and noticed his shirt slid up above the top of his pants, revealing a dark patch of hair above his button. My stomach flutters turned to flip-flops. I wanted to reach down and unbutton his pants to see more.
“There, all done,” Gavin said, moving the camera away from his face. His gaze caught mine and held it for a moment. Instantly my cheeks blushed. Did he catch me staring at his cock? My nerves returned, and I stepped back, offering my hand for him to get up.
Gavin’s fingers slid into my hand, gripping them tight as he pulled himself up. He was stronger than I realized, his pull jolting my arm and making me stumble against him as he got to his feet. I grabbed his shoulder to right myself, and my breasts pushed against his chest. Still holding my hand with one hand, his other held his camera tightly as he wrapped his arm behind me.
“Are you okay,” he asked, his breath tickled the top of my head.
A smile played on my lips. “Yes, I’m sorry. Clumsy me.” I made a move to step away, but he gripped tighter. “We should be careful,” I whispered, reaching up and brushing pine needles from his light brown hair.
His gripped loosened, then let me go. Before I stepped back I looked into his eyes—they were distant and glazed with something dark and hungry. I hesitated a moment, held to him now by only our fingers, but he pulled his hand away and with it his warmth dissipated.
Instantly I wanted more of Gavin’s touch. Instead, I watched as he put his camera away. When he looked back up his face was back to normal—the raw want and need was replaced by his soft expression.
But when he spoke his voice was gruff. “We better get going so we can get camp set up.” I could only nod in agreement.
***
It took an hour to reach camp, but by then I was back to business. Gavin seemed distracted. He didn’t run into the woods again, instead just taking pictures on the trail whenever I pointed out something of interest. Different trees, moss, and fauna were what stood out to me. But nothing I pointed out brought Gavin’s original excitement back. He seemed to be holding something in.
I removed my backpack and started unloading my gear. First off was our tents, once we got those setup and our food locked away, so we didn’t attract bears, then I could focus on Gavin again. I was determined to make sure he had a good time.
“Um, Cher,” he said. The sound of my name crossing his lips brought the flutter back to my mid-section. “I don’t seem to have a tent.” He indicated to my tent, already spread out on the ground.
I frowned, as I got up and went to check his gear. “Can I take a look?” He stepped back as I took his backpack and sorted through his things. Ohmygod, Blake. Gavin was right. His tent was not here. “I’m sorry, I let Blake pack for me. It looks like we’re going to have to share a tent.” I peered back to my tiny one-man tent, then looked back at Gavin. “And it’s going to be tight.”
This time he frowned, and I instantly felt my butterflies collapse in my gut. “Listen, I could run back to the Jeep and get another one at the shop? You could go hiking on your own, and then meet me back here in a few hours?” The more I talked, the faster my voice got, which only made Gavin’s frown turn into a smile.
“Hey, it’s okay,” he said. “I’d love to sleep with you—in your tent—if you don’t mind sleeping with me.” His cheeks flushed as he spoke. So, I wasn’t the only one nervous. Nice.
“Only if you’re sure,” I said as he nodded.
We finished securing our site, ate, and then packed up to head to Hidden Lake. Things had finally relaxed between us since our moment in the trees. Even better, Gavin was more playful, flirty even. He was definitely back to his old self. By the time we reached the lake, I was so hot from not only the hike but the thought of him half-naked, I needed a swim to cool off.
Not waiting for Gavin, I started stripping off my clothes, revealing my black one-piece suit. It dipped down in the back, stopping just above my ass, while the front purposefully had strips missing to reveal my cleavage. As I stepped into the cold water of the lake, I looked back to find Gavin snapping pictures of the scenery—and me.
“Ohmygod,” I squealed. “Delete those pictures of me.”
“I’m sorry,” he said, lowering his camera. “But you just look so damn good.” My mouth dropped open, but Gavin didn’t notice. He set his camera back in his bag, pulled off his shirt, revealing a patch of hair on his chest that dropped between his chiseled pecs, down across his abs. When he dropped his cargo shorts, he had nothing on but black boxer briefs. “I hope you’re ready to get cold,” he yelled.
“What?” I shook my head watching Gavin break into a run. It took me a minute before I realized he was coming right at me. “No, no, no!” I squealed, trying to escape into the freezing depths of the lake.
