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“Well, darlin’, I doubt I’ll be welcome back in the shop, so you should enjoy them as much as possible.”
“What did you do?” Her eyes were wide, and her mouth hung open slightly, waiting for an explanation before she climbed into the passenger’s seat. “Callum, whatdid you do?”
“Nothing that you need to worry about.” I smiled sweetly at her. “Shall we go?”
She hesitated a moment longer before turning back to me. “Mind telling me where we are going, then?”
“Yes, I do, so how about you just get in, darlin’.”
When she followed my request, I closed the door behind her, watching as she shuffled around, getting comfortable before securing her seat belt.
She wasted no time when I got in beside her, starting the interrogation up again. “So, a picnic, but where?”
When she tried to take a peek inside the basket, I secured the lid with my hand and was rewarded with a pout from Alina.
“Can’t you just let me surprise you for once?”
“Fine.” She crossed her arms like a spoiled brat being denied candy.
It was cute as hell and only lasted as long as it took to reach the bumpy road we used to ride my bike. Alina would precariously balance on my handlebars as I navigated the washed-out road heading toward the river where we’d swim.
“Junipers? You’re taking me to Junipers River?” She bumped up and down in her seat, filled with pure elation.
“I knew I should’ve blindfolded you.”
She side-eyed me with a grin and a wink, then stated, “Maybe I’ll let you later.”
The path had overgrown since the last time I was here. It had only been a month or so since my last visit, and even then, the foliage had been feral.
Today, it was wild.
I had come here the first night I’d gone to Alina’s house when she’d completely ignored me. I got behind the wheel, driving nowhere specifically, and ended up here. The silence and solitude seemed like a good idea until I scraped my leg on a protruding branch. I’d gotten quite inventive with curse words.
“Watch your step.”
Our fingers locked together as I guided her through the obstacles while my other arm was loaded with our picnic and wine. Then, delicately and with deliberate steps, she moved around the branches and overhanging bushes that lined our path. She held a grace in her step I’d failed to have on my last visit to the river.
Overhead, the birds were whistling through the quiet, and the early evening sun still warmed our skin as we moved between each casted shadow.
The day had turned out warm and perfect, a break in the weather of the last week which was more than welcome. The sun sparkled across the surface of the water like a perfectly cut diamond as we reached the clearing on the bank of the river.
“Do you remember the last time we were here?” I turned to her, a sneaky smile briefly contained as I replayed the memory in my head.
Ants had crawled all over Alina after she’d lathered herself in sun cream, it had been some sort of homemade honey concoction her mother had created, and the ants had loved it. Alina, not so much, hastily stripping down to her underwear before dashing into the water.
“Yes, the little bastards gnawed on me like I was to be their last meal. I itched for a week, and you were no help to me.”
Throwing my head back, I bellowed with laughter. I had forgotten the part where Alina had begged me to rub calamine lotion on her bites that were out of her reach. An opportunity to place my hands on her naked flesh I’d passed up, proof of how stupid I was as a teenager.
Her glare only encouraged my chuckling.
“I’m sorry.” I tried to breathe deeply, settling my outburst. “I can’t get the picture out of my head, that sweet little ass of yours and your hands scratching at those suckers a million miles an hour.”
“Can we just eat?” Alina turned her back on me to open the picnic blanket, shaking it out before settling it on the lush grass beneath us.
“Okay, I’m genuinely sorry.” I sat down beside her. “C’mere.” I opened my arms for her to climb between. She hesitated for a moment longer than I wanted her out of reach, so I pulled her into my arms. She settled between my legs with her head resting against my shoulder. “Do you remember the night we came down here? When we snuck you out and took your momma’s car?”
