Page 20 of A Little Bit Wild

Neither of ushas mentioned last night.

I’d like to think that it’s because things are just so natural between us that we don’t feel the need to bring up the mind-blowing sex that we had just twelve hours ago. Something in my gut is telling me that that’s not why we’re not discussing it, though.

I don’t know how to bring it up, either. Do I try to make it a joke and keep it light? I could just say something like, ‘hey, I’d loved to have sex with you again,’ but that might be weird.

What if she doesn’t want to? What if she thinks that last night was a mistake? I’m not sure that I could handle that.

“I’d just like to point out that I’m like barely even out of breath,” Aria pants as we hike up the trail.

“I know; I’m so proud of you. I’ll have to sign us up for a 5k next.”

“Whoa, let’s not get crazy now,” she says, and I laugh as I follow her up the trail.

She’s so funny. I think I’ve laughed more with her than anyone else in my entire life.

Dad would have loved her.

I smile at the thought, wishing they could have met.

“We’re almost to the top,” I tell her, and she nods, picking up the pace a bit.

We’re on one of the more deserted trails. It winds its way along the cliffs next to the coast. It’s supposed to be one of the easier trails, and I’m glad to see that Aria isn’t having any trouble with it.

We pass by a guy and his dog coming down and wave. He’s the first person that we’ve seen since we started hiking almost an hour ago. I kind of like that we have this time to ourselves. I hate sharing her with anyone, and it’s nice to feel like we’re the only two people on Earth for a bit.

“Whoa,” Aria whispers, and I move to stand by her side as we look out over the water.

“It makes you feel small, doesn’t it,” I comment, and she nods.

“My mom always loved the water. She said that’s why she moved here and put up with the Los Angeles traffic.”

“It’s worth it,” I say softly, and she nods.

We stand side by side, staring out over the calm water. It seems to stretch on forever, and I let it calm me. I’ve always loved the water and swimming. It’s one of the reasons why I became a SEAL instead of going into a different branch of the military. I think lately, I’ve forgotten to enjoy it, though. Going surfing and scuba diving with Aria the other day was the first time I had been in the water in months.

“Do we have to go back down now?” Aria asks, and I shake my head.

“We can take a break up here for a little bit. Come on; there’s a spot over there.”

I take her hand, leading her over to the small clearing. The grass is soft, slowly blowing in the wind as we take a seat with our backs against the giant boulder there.

“This would be a good picnic spot,” I comment.

“Yeah, I’m surprised that there’s not more people out here.”

“I don’t think that many know about this trail. There are so many around here.”

She nods, and I pull out the water bottles and trail mix in my backpack. She starts to pick out the candy from the trail mix, and I just smile as I twist open the top of my water.

She’s got a light sheen of sweat coating her skin, and I can’t help but think back to how she looked last night. I debate bringing it up again now. Maybe we should talk about it, but I don’t want to make her feel uncomfortable. Especially when we’re miles away from the car.

“You look pretty,” I tell her, and she looks at me like I’m crazy.

“I’m covered in sweat and probably more than a few bug bites,” she tells me, and I just smile.

“Beautiful,” I sigh, and she rolls her eyes, but I can see she likes the compliments.

“Crazy,” she mutters, and I scoot closer to her.

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