Page 52 of Cherry Picked
I reached out to push a rogue curl off his forehead with the tip of my finger. His skin was sleep-warm and soft. So touchable I wasn’t sure how I’d gone this long without putting my hands on him. I let my finger trail down the side of his face, tracing the arch of his eyebrow and the curve of his cheekbone.
Hawk’s whole body froze, and he squeezed his eyes shut. “Damn it all,” he said mournfully.
I traced the curve of his jaw over the roughness of his beard. “What’s wrong?”
He sighed and squeezed his eyes shut. “Another fucking dream,” he muttered to himself. “I should have known. But this one feels so lifelike.” He opened his eyes and shot me a glare. “FYI, therealyou has a lot to answer for, Jack Wyatt. I’m losing my mind, and it’s your fault.”
The idea that he’d been dreaming of me the way I’d been dreaming of him warmed me. I tapped his nose ring gently. “This isn’t a dream, Bird.”
He swallowed. “That’s exactly what you say in the dreams. And then I wake up, andpoof.”
My heart twisted a little with the pleasure-pain of his admission. “I’m so sorry,” I whispered.
He looked momentarily confused, like even in his dreams, he couldn’t imagine me saying that.
“For… barging into my tent uninvited?”
“No.” I moved a little closer to him and ran my fingers through his hair. “Maybe I should be, but I’m not even a little bit sorry for that. I’m sorry because I said no when you made me an incredible offer of yourself. And I’d like…” The air around us seemed more difficult to gather into my lungs properly. “I’d very much like to change my answer.”
Time slowed down, and he stared at me, uncomprehending. “But you said… Youinsisted…”
“I know,” I agreed. I tried to reassure him with my own expression that I meant what I was saying, but I could tell he doubted me. Hell, I still had plenty of my own doubts. But he needed to know before another day went by… “I want you,” I breathed. “Very much.”
“You? Want to have sex?” he blurted, finally understanding what I was saying. “With me?”
“Yes, you, Bird. Always you.Onlyyou.” I let out the breath that had been sluggishly filling my lungs. “I don’t just want to have sex with you. I… I care about you. I’d like… I’d like more than sex with you.”
Hawk pushed himself to a sitting position and flung the sleeping bag open. His warm skin pebbled in the cooler air. “If thisisa dream, I’m going to be so mad at you when I wake up.”
I propped myself on my elbow and reached for the front of his shirt, fisting the cotton in my hand and pulling him toward me. When our lips met, I let out a cross between a whimper and a groan. He was so soft, so pliant against my mouth. The warm, sleepy smell of him surrounded me, and his beard growth scratched at my chin.
He tumbled on top of me with a surprised gasp, and I used it to my advantage, pulling him even tighter with an arm around him while holding his face with my other as we fell back together.
We kissed like neither of us had ever done it before, frantically… hungrily…awkwardly.
It was the hottest kiss I’d ever experienced. Hawk made noises that went straight to my dick. He wiggled on top of me, and if we hadn’t been separated by my damned sleeping bag, I might have even enjoyed the press of his own cock against my leg.
We made out like preteens, kissing and kissing like it was the only move we knew. I couldn’t get enough of his taste, his sweetness, his desire. He made me feel wanted and alive. Sexy and free.
When I moved my hands up under the back of his shirt, I felt the goose bumps still on his skin. “Baby, you’re freezing. Get back in your sleeping bag.”
He shook his head. “Can’t have sex in my sleeping bag.”
I leaned up to kiss him again through a wide smile. “We’re not having sex in the cave, period. Not your first time. I’m drawing the line, Hawk.”
“Oh my god,” he whispered, staring down at me. “This really isn’t a dream. In my dreams, you’d totally have gone for it.”
The sleepy wonder in his expression was so adorable I laughed out loud. I felt lighter than I had in weeks.
He took a breath and sat back up, pulling his sleeping bag over to cover himself. “But Jack, how… what… whynow?”
I sat up, too, so I could face him while I tried to get my thoughts together and explain. “All the things I said before—my concerns about Webb and your brothers and our ages—they’re true and real, but they’re not what was holding me back. I meant it when I said I’m not a relationship guy, Hawk. I never thought I’d want to be. I have no clue how to be what you need. I was—am—genuinely terrified that admitting I want you means we’re going to fuck up our friendship, and I… I can’t lose you.”
“Jack,” he said softly. “You won’t. You can’t—”
“No, listen. You said before that I put you on a pedestal you didn’t want to be on. Remember? Well, sometimes I worry that you put me on one, too. I’m not romance hero material. I’m protective. And bossy. And not great at communicating a lot of the time. And I knew—know—that if we do the romance thing… I’m going to disappoint you. There’s no way around it.”
He tilted his head, studying me. “Okayyyy…”
