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“Well,” she said, clearing her throat. “Thank you. That was, uh… that was… nice.”
“Yeah,” I said, unsure how to react to her sudden shift to a colder stance. “Really nice.”
“Yeah,” she repeated, and then we both fell into an awkward silence.
After a few moments, I opened my mouth to say something, but we tried to speak at the same time.
“That was better than nice, actually,” I said at the same time Jenna said, “Well, I think it’s probably best we don’t dothatagain.”
“Oh,” I replied, surprised but accepting if that was what she wanted. “Did I do something wrong?” I asked, wanting to make sure I hadn’t done anything to make her uncomfortable or upset.
“No!” she said, and she was so genuine in that response that I really believed her. “I just… well, this was a great way to pass the time until the power comes back on, but I’m sure it will be back by morning, and Dean and Lexi will be back because it will be Christmas eve, and it’s not like this is going to turn into anything. So, while it was fun, and I’m grateful, I don’t think it would be a good idea for us to keep doing it.” She looked at me with a look I couldn’t decipher. “Do you?”
“No, of course not,” I said, hoping that was the right answer and feeling a bit like an ass when I saw her deflate a bit. “But, yeah, it was… fun. More than fun.” I discarded the condom and pulled my underwear back on, then moved toward her. “Are you sure—”
“Well… goodnight, Gabe. We should probably get some rest before the others get back tomorrow.”
And with that, she rolled over on the couch, pulling the blanket over her as the firelight danced in the shine of her hair, leaving me standing there alone, but wanting nothing more than to crawl in behind her and spend the entire night making love to her.
Chapter Fifteen
Jenna
Itoldmyselfithad been a bad idea as soon as we finished, but I was never very good at keeping promises to myself. Gabe and I proceeded to have sex twice more in the night, each time better than the last. He was a careful and giving lover, and he made every other man I’d ever been with look like an amateur.
When the sun finally peeked through the frosted windows, waking us from our slumber, I found myself in his arms. Something I’d sworn not to do as I was dozing off last night. Of course, that was before he made me come four more times. From what I remember, by the time we actually slept, both of us were too exhausted to bother moving apart.
The cabin smelled like a dying fire and cinnamon, likely from the copious amounts of scented holiday sticks that were hanging everywhere. This was the first sunlight we’d seen in two days and it bounced off the ornaments on the tree, sending rainbows shooting every which way on the wood walls.
I turned in Gabe’s arms, studying his face as he slept. Even unconscious, he looked serious and wounded, and yet somehow angelic. I could see the boy beneath the man whose hair was just beginning to gray at the temples. It was so hard to spot I wondered if he had even noticed yet, and I vowed not to be the one to tell him.
It was only as I decided to wake him that I felt my stomach rumble in a way that couldn’t be ignored. I wondered how many snacks were left from the roughage Lexi had brought. I’d definitely eaten some of the nuts, and I’d seen Gabe rifle through the bag of food as well.
So now I had to make the decision of whether to move and potentially wake up Gabe so we’d be forced to face our joint shame in the daylight, or starve to death. Maybe that was a little dramatic, but still—I was hungry.
I used my core muscles to scoot down in his arms, shimmying so I could slide out of his arms entirely. There was a moment of panic where my hair got caught on the metal piece of his watch he’d somehow slipped back on. Somehow, by the grace of the Christmas spirits themselves, I got it untangled and stood without waking him.
I was halfway across the kitchen when I realized I’d fallen asleep wearing his shirt. That was the kind of cutesy romantic shit real couples did, not one-night stands who hated each other. I looked at where he lay on the couch shirtless in his boxers and pajama pants and couldn’t stop the smile that came over my face.
I’d definitely been right about him throwing me around with those muscles.
When I opened up the sack of food that was left, I found a pathetic selection of protein bars and dried fruit. I hated protein bars. No matter what people said, they tasted like dirt.
Lexi always went on and on about how if you just threw a Quest bar in the microwave, it would taste exactly like a brownie, but she was so full of shit.
“Maybe if that brownie was crusted with concrete,” I’d replied, making a face.
But now, I picked one up from the top of the pile tentatively and unwrapped it. It smelled exactly like I remembered, and when I tried to tear a piece off, it was like ripping a piece of clay.
“The trick is to heat them up,” said a voice behind me, and I turned to find Gabe watching me with amusement.
“Yeah, yeah,” I replied, shoving the chunk I’d torn into my mouth. “That’s what they all say.”
Gabe stood and walked over to me, coming up behind me and putting his hands on my hips. “I don’t suppose there’s another one in there?”
I turned and handed him the rest of mine. “Here,” I said. “I’d rather starve.”
Gabe laughed loudly, a beautiful, deep, church bell kind of laugh. If the electricity ran on joy, I had no doubt that laugh would have turned it back on as it echoed through the space. Then he kissed the top of my head and I melted right there in his arms. Casual fling be damned.
