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No doubt Jax will be as bright-eyed and bushy-tailed as ever at the first hint of dawn, and I promised pancakes and bacon for breakfast.
From what I've learned, Jackson's dad isn't in the picture much and Sage isn't ready to put her heart on the line again just yet.
So even though it gets harder to resist claiming her every passing day, I'm fighting the temptation to loosen that long, dark hair and see it fall over those curves while I make her mine; because when I finally do, it's going to be for keeps.
ChapterTwo
Sage
"...and then Rapid had to jump in the river to get us unstuck and..."
Jackson hasn't stopped talking since he got out of the truck before Rapid even had the engine turned off.
"Rapid jumped in the river?" My eyes fly to Rapid, filled with questions.
He shakes his head slowly and rolls his eyes, letting me know that the daring tale of white-water rescue that my son is telling is laced with more than a little hyperbole.
"It's late in the season, the river is low. We got beached on a sandbar," Rapid clarifies.
"The water was moving so fast, Mom!" Jackson's hands wave frantically, emulating his version of the river's current. "There were rapids everywhere and we had to go right over them!"
Rapid holds up a single finger above Jackson's head and mouths, "Class one," silently.
I don't really know what class one rapids are, but if Rapid thinks it's safe for Jackson, then I trust him. Rapid would never put Jackson in danger, I know that.
"Hey bud," Rapid puts his hand on Jackson's head and tousles his hair, "why don't you bring in your pack so we can get your clothes in the wash while you shower up?"
Jackson runs back out to the truck and Rapid moves closer to the kitchen where I'm pulling the makings for hamburgers from the fridge.
"You're staying for dinner, right?" I ask, trying not to sound too hopeful.
"Um, sure, I guess I can do that." Rapid reaches into a cabinet for a glass and fills it with water from the tap.
"I'm sure you two subsisted off of cold toaster pastries and marshmallows all weekend," I tease, "you're probably starved for real meat."
Rapid leans back against the kitchen counter and sips from the glass. I love that he's become such a fixture around the house and that he's comfortable enough to make himself at home here, but the kitchen is barely big enough for one person as it is, adding Rapid's six foot, one inches of wide-shouldered, muscular frame doesn't just cramp the small space, it makes it damn near impossible for me to concentrate on anything other than his presence.
The space between his eye brows deepens into a crease that's been worn in permanently from the scowl he seems to wear most of the time. At first, I thought he was just mad all the time, but I've come to understand that his harsh expression is born of deep thought and careful observation.
He takes another sip of water and watches me arrange fresh fixings for burgers on the counter. After an intense moment of silence that has me feeling hot and bothered and hoping my bra covers the hardening of my nipples, Rapid sets the glass down, rolls up his sleeves, and washes his hands thoroughly.
"We heated beans on the fire and ate them from the can like men," he tells me. "In the morning, we foraged for wild berries and drank coffee we'd brewed overnight in our boots."
"Remind me never to go camping with you."
We laugh easily. Rapid finds a bowl and mixes the ground beef with seasonings and forms patties for burgers while I wash lettuce and slice tomatoes.
By the time we have everything ready to assemble, Jackson has joined us after a shower and a phone call to one of his school friends to report on his weekend.
"And Rapid made pancakes and baconon the fire, Mom." Jax says around a mouthful of burger. "And he brought these packs for dinner that had everything already in them-- even vegetables-- and we just put them in the fire to cook and ate out of the foil packets like real mountain men."
He slurps down some milk between bites of food and more enthusiastic accounts of the weekend. Going on to talk about Rapid's incredibly barbaric method of roasting marshmallows and finishing with a Bigfoot sighting.
Rapid smiles as he chews and shakes his head again.
"It was a deer," he says after swallowing.
"It could have been a Bigfoot though," Jackson turns to Rapid and tells him insistently. "You said you've seen him there before."
