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I glance back at the group. Calvin put on some music—some stereotypical country ballad from the 90s—but it helped cover the sound of my footsteps moving away from the group. Everyone near the fire has their eyes covered, and they’re counting out loud in unison. Funny how that always happens. Usually, there’s one person who starts out faster, but I think it’s human nature to fall into a chorus.
I walk maybe a hundred paces eastward and turn to my left. It seems like I’m far enough away for it to take them some time to find me, but not so far that they’ll be looking for more than fifteen minutes or so. I hide between two mountain mahoganies, which are everywhere on this part of the trail. The moon is the only thing that lights a path. It’s dark and the shadows are deep.
The voices finish, and footsteps go off in every direction but no one says much. It’s kind of fun to see a bunch of grown-up corporate folks playing a child’s game, but it makes them a little more likeable, in my book. I keep my breathing quiet as my eyes adjust to the darker area off-trail. A silhouette nears me, one I’m becoming quite familiar with. Jack tiptoes down the trail, clearly trying to make very little noise to tip her hand. She doesn’t see me behind the bushes and starts to walk on by.
Quickly, I glance toward the fire and take note of where most of the team went. Then, my arm instinctively reaches out to her, I grasp her by the wrist, and pull her to me. She lets out an almost silent gasp, and I cover her mouth with my hand. When she understands it’s me, I remove my hand.
Jack melts into me, her warm breath on my ear. “I don’t think you get the concept of the game, Luca. I was supposed to find you. You weren’t supposed to out yourself.”
“You’re wrong,” I whisper. “I understand exactly what I’m doing.”
Jack smiles up at me, and I pull her close to me as footsteps get closer, and then fade again. The space between the two bushes is narrow, so I wrap my arms more tightly around her. Jack leans into me and her arms settle around my waist.
Her body pressed against mine makes me hope the rest of LivFit never finds us. Because holding Jack under the moonlight is the best thing I’ve done in a long time.
“Luca,” Jack says softly, I can feel the vibration of her voice against my chest.
I look down at her as her eyes search mine in the darkness. I take her chin in my hand.
“Luca,” she says again. This time there’s a note of desire in it that stirs me in the heart. Such an emphasis on the u in my name, and the way her lips pout when she says my name makes me want to capture her bottom lip between my teeth. Our connection, surprising though it may be, is something I’ve never had before. I want to drink it in with every inch of my being, to drinkherin and make this night go on forever.
I manage to pull her even closer. The moonlight shines on her hair and glints in her eyes. She licks her bottom lip—an invitation—and my lips once again find hers. This time, the kiss feels more meaningful, perhaps an answer to an unspoken expectation. But I quickly get out of my head and enjoy what she offers me.
Jack
What am I doing?
No really.Whatam I doing?
Luca’s lips are soft and demanding, and I’m happy to give them everything they ask for. There’s this smell about him that’s leathery, warm, and spicy—all man with a bit of rich, Italian seasoning. He tastes like that too—as if I’m in an old-fashioned home in southern Italy devouring a robustly sauced pasta. My hunger for this man makes it seem like I haven’t eaten for days.
How does he do this to me? Every last kiss I’ve ever experienced before this made me question if I needed to kiss a man. In fact, I’ve often wondered if a woman would be a better choice. But this... I don’t even know how to describe it. It’s as if his presence is everywhere. All around me and possibly creeping inside.
My gut clenches. I move my hands up his torso, over his shoulders, and around his neck. A small sound escapes my throat, and he pulls back a little, smiling into my lips while keeping our foreheads pressed together.
I’m breathless, and if his arms around me let go, I’m not sure I can stand for how jelly-like the muscles in my legs feel. He kisses me again, softly, and then trails fluttery kisses down my chin and neck.
“Luca,” I whisper, and he kisses back up my neck to my ear. “Should we be . . .”
I inhale and bite my bottom lip as his teeth graze my earlobe. Chills run down my spine, all the way to my toes.
His breath is hot in my ear when he asks simply, “Why shouldn’t we be?”
I thread my fingers in his wavy hair, pull his lips back to mine and proceed to kiss him thoroughly. Our lips dance. I’m high or am I falling? Lost or found? Confused but oh so sure this is right.
I’m on the very tips of my toes, kissing him for all I’m worth, ready to wrap myself around Luca. And then, a throat clears dramatically behind me.
We stop mid-kiss. Simply halt. Luca and I don’t move away from one another, but our eyes fly open and lock with each other’s. Caught.
And then Eddie drawls in his mock-southern accented voice I’m certain everyone can hear it for miles around. “Well, well, well,butter my butt and call me a biscuit!”
Chapter Eleven
Luca
Howling comes from far inthe distance through the thin tent walls. The coyotes must be gathering in the foothills, which means dawn must be near. I pull the pillow over my face and squeeze it to my ears. My body is heavy after running around for half the night, but the best part was catching Jack around the waist. My lips tingle with the memory of Jack’s soft lips on mine, and my mouth waters over how sweet her kiss tasted.
But today is the last full day with this group and then she’ll be heading back to California. That life almost killed me once. High blood pressure, high cholesterol, pre-diabetes. Yeah, all that was attributable to sitting behind a desk or in a conference room for ninety percent of my day and breathing smog when I wasn’t letting my rear-end get numb in an office chair. Stupid of me to let my health slide so much by the time I was thirty.
