Page 34 of Homesick

I can’t hear Blake anymore, but I stop just to be sure. That’s weird. Then I realize he’s probably doing the same thing and wait another minute before attempting to tip toe through the maze of hay. I peek around the corner before going any further and once the coast is clear I make like a ninja and run for it.

Just as I’m about to turn the corner, I feel two arms reach out and I almost scream from the sudden action. Before I can even process what’s happening, I’m pinned between a wall of hay and Blake Fisher.

“Gotcha,” he whispers. It doesn’t take long before my body reacts to the close proximity of him. I slowly let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding as he pins me in place with his eyes. I swallow hard before arguing, “you tricked me! I thought you were on the other side of the barn.”

My chest moves up and down and my breathing becomes more rapid. I try to blame it on how shocked I am that he found me, but it’s impossible not to notice we’ve been in this position for a little too long.

Blake smirks before saying, “yes, I believe I won. What’s my prize?”

It’s dark in the barn, but I can see his eyes slowly trail down to my lips and back up before they linger for too long.

I should push him off me, I say to myself. For some reason, that’s easier said than done because my knees feel weak and I’m entranced by a mixture of fresh mint and smoky sandalwood.

I bite my lip, contemplating my next move, but that prompts his eyes to lower again. When he looks back up, I notice his green orbs darken and his body gravitates closer to mine. Before I know it, he reaches up, brushing a strand of hair from my face. The touch of his hand sends shivers down my spine and causes the temperature of my body to spike.

Soon his hand is cupping my face and that same invisible string from earlier is pulling him in closer. Right before he makes the final move, his eyes connect with mine as if to ask for permission. I nod slightly and push down the screams bubbling up from inside. My mind and body are not in agreement in this moment.

Time stops as Blake’s soft and tender lips touch mine for the first time in six years. His lips are just as warm as I remember and somehow still mold perfectly to mine. Soon I’m transported back to our first kiss when we were teenagers and the thrill of how it felt to cross that line with him.

I part my lips and let his tongue slip in. I feel Blake’s body press into mine, yet it still doesn’t feel close enough. I throw my arms around his neck, willing him to get closer and he responds by reaching his hands down to my ass and hoisting me up. The only thing running through my mind at this moment is how sweet his lips are and how much they taste like home.

All of a sudden, I hear a hay bale hit the ground and I realize we’ve upset the structural integrity of the wall behind us. Blake gently sets me down and I begin to recover from the spell we were under.

I slowly turn back to Blake before trying to fully comprehend what just happened. I open my mouth to say something before he cuts me off.

He simply whispers “fuck,” while trying to get the rhythm of his breathing back in line. I focus on the way his chest sinks and rises, willing this moment to disappear into thin air. “That was . . . I’m sorry, Wren. I shouldn’t have done that.”

Without thinking, my fingers graze over my bottom lip in disbelief. The words Blake just kissed me keep racing through my mind and all I want to do is shut it off. At this point, there is no denying I’m still hopelessly attracted to this man. A few glasses of wine and one vulnerable moment had been all it took to tear down my walls, if only for a second.

“Wren, please say something,” Blake pleads, pulling me out of my internal battle.

I clear my throat and push myself off the wall of hay. “We should probably pick up these bales.”

Before I can completely turn away from him, he grabs my forearm. I flinch, his touch foreign after all these years. “Listen Blake, it’s late and we’ve both been drinking. We just got caught up in a moment. Let’s just agree it was probably a bad idea and move on,” I say calmly.

Blake looks at me with those big green eyes and I can see worry storming behind his irises. He opens his mouth to say something, but quickly presses his lips back together. After a few more seconds of the same motion, he finally says, “yeah, you’re right. It was a mistake.”

For some odd reason, my heart convulses at the words coming out of his mouth. They dance across my tongue so effortlessly, but when he says it, it seems final.

Without another word, Blake begins to pick up the fallen hay bales on the ground. I take a deep breath before joining him. We work in silence, but my mind is raging with feelings. There are hundreds of thoughts zipping through my head, but one stands above the rest. I want to feel his lips against mine again.

* * *

I wake up to a pounding headache and a weird sinking feeling in my stomach. All I want to do today is hide under the covers and wait for myself pity to consume me, but I know that isn’t an option.

As I hesitantly drag myself out of bed and get ready for the day, I replay last night’s kiss in my head over and over again. I try to ignore the way my skin heats up at each replay, but eventually I settle with a cold shower to try and stifle any more non-friendly thoughts swimming around in my head.

The worst part about kissing my ex-boyfriend was I knew what came next. I knew how it felt to be with Blake, and I would be lying if it didn’t drum up a side of me that had been dormant for six years.

It’s quickly becoming harder to push down the unmistakable attraction between the two of us. It’s enough to make me want to scream.

The more I try to figure out how Blake and I can move on from last night, the more my head keeps pounding. I’m starting to wonder if my headache is even from the wine or from how messed up my life is right now. Last night should’ve gone a completely different way.

In an effort to try and stop the thoughts from festering in my mind, I head downstairs to eat and then check on Mocha. Thankfully, I won’t have to see Blake until tonight and I can figure out some way to act like he didn’t hit a switch last night.

“Hi, hunny! You’re up early.”

“Yeah, I couldn’t sleep,” I say, nosily looking at what she’s cooking. “Is that bacon?”

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