Page 75 of Tequila Tuesdays

She laughed behind me. “It’s made the hike so much more enjoyable.”

Damien stopped abruptly in front of me. He looked at us and shook his head, then took my hand and drew me off the trail a little. He nodded at Olivia when she stopped next to us.

“Go ahead. I want to talk with Harley for a minute.”

She gave him a knowing look. “Okay. I have a clearer view now anyway.” I looked up the trail. Zeke and Brock were hiking ahead of us.

She walked past, and I turned to Damien. “What’s up?”

He smirked. “Voices carry in the desert.”

I stared at him, not knowing where he was going. “And?”

“And you can look at my ass all you want, but not at theirs.”

My face flushed. “I wasn’t.”

“I heard you two talking.” He looked like he wanted to laugh.

Oh, Lord. He’d heard us. And were we really having this conversation? “It’s been pretty much yours since we started hiking. I can’t vouch for Olivia though.”

He went still for a second, then bent down and murmured in my ear. “We’re sleeping in the same tent tonight.”

My eyes glazed over. “Okay.”

He ran his hands down my arms, then pulled me to him. “I fuckingneedsome alone time with you.”

We both glanced up the trail. Everyone had stopped to watch us. Martina was talking to Laurel and grinning. Zeke and Brock were staring, and Sebastian’s arms were crossed. He looked impatient.

Only Olivia wasn’t watching us. She’d gotten up on a large rock and was looking around at the ground nervously.

I sighed. “I know. Me too.”

He studied me. “Fuck it,” he muttered then grabbed my shoulders, bent his head, and gave me a long hot kiss—in front of everyone. His mouth was delicious, and I forgot we had an audience. I moved closer to him and grabbed his forearms. He cradled my face in his hands and slanted my head a little for better access. After a few seconds, he pulled back. My face felt flushed, and I was lightheaded.

Olivia made gagging noises. “Just stop, okay? I already need therapy. Don’t make it worse.”

Damien looked me in the eye, his lips twitching. “No more looking at anyone else’s bubble butt.”

I winced. “Crap. You really did hear us.”

He grinned. “I did.”

We both turned and started up the trail. “Olivia started it,” I said. “She probably needed a distraction from thinking about bears and rattlesnakes. And how heavy her little five-pound pack is.”

“I heard that, and it’s heavier than five pounds,” Olivia said loudly. The group started walking again too.

“Okay, more like six pounds,” I conceded.

We stopped a while later when we’d found an area with a flat surface and a wide rock plateau we could use to sit on and eat our meals. Then we got to work setting up camp and pitching our tents.

Olivia looked at her tent, and seemed to have no idea where to start. I planned to help Damien pitch ours, then help Olivia with hers, but Zeke beat me to it.

“I can pitch your tent,” Zeke told her as she struggled to unfold the green fabric.

“No. I don’t want you todoit for me, big guy. I want you to teach me so I can do it myself.”

“You sure? I bet I can pitch it in under three minutes.”