Page 37 of Fire Me Up
“Much. Thanks.” He rolled his shoulder experimentally. “My knight in shining motorcycle leather.”
“Shut up.” I flipped him off, but couldn’t help smiling.
The hike started easily enough, a gentle trail winding through pine trees. Spring sunlight filtered through the branches, dappling the path ahead. I’d chosen this spot carefully—not too challenging with Gael’s injury, but secluded enough to feel like we’d escaped the city.
“So,” Gael said after we’d been walking for about ten minutes, “is this what you do with all your gay sex students? Pack a lunch,take them hiking, bring a cat along for supervision? Feels a hell of a lot like a date, Dylan.”
“It’s not a date.” I said it too quickly, too defensively. “Just two friends hanging out on my day off.”
“Friends who fuck.”
“Exactly.” I nodded vigorously. “Educational fucking between friends. Very common.”
Gael laughed, the sound echoing through the trees. “Right. And you planned this whole excursion because...?”
“Because I had a day off.” I shrugged, aiming for casual, because he definitely didn’t need to know the truth: that I was getting a little obsessed with him. “And the weather was nice. And maybe I wanted company.”
“Company,” he repeated, eyebrows shooting up.
“Yeah, company. You got a problem with that?”
“Not at all.” His grin widened. “I’m flattered to be your company of choice when the weather’s nice. And also when you want to fuck.”
Bacon meowed from his backpack, batting at the mesh window with one paw.
“I think he wants to walk,” Gael said. “Mind unzipping the window so he can hop out? Just hand me his leash. He’ll jump down when he’s ready.”
I stepped closer, sliding the big zipper door on the back of the backpack open. Bacon stuck his head out, and I couldn’t resist giving him a little chin scratch. I reached inside, careful not to let Bacon escape, and extracted the leash.
“Here.” I handed it to Gael, our fingers tangling together longer than necessary.
“Thanks.” He held my gaze, something warm and teasing in his eyes.
I backed off, and watched as Bacon jumped confidently down from his perch. The cat immediately sat down and began grooming himself, completely uninterested in exploring.
“Some adventure cat,” Gael laughed, tugging gently on the leash. “Come on, buddy. Let’s get some exercise.”
Hiking with a cat wasn’t like hiking with a dog. Bacon stopped constantly—to investigate a leaf, to bat at a stick, to stare judgementally at a rock. Our pace slowed to a crawl, but I found I didn’t mind. Normally, the slow pace would have driven me crazy, but today I was finding it gave me more time with Gael, more chances to watch him.
“This way,” I said, veering off the main trail onto a narrower path. “There’s something I want to show you.”
Bacon darted ahead of me as if he’d picked this route, and Gael followed. “You’re not luring me into the woods to murder me, are you?”
“If I wanted to murder you, I’d have done it when Bacon knocked over my entire socket wrench set.”
“Fair point.”
The trail opened up to a small clearing beside a creek, where water tumbled over moss-covered rocks in a series of mini-waterfalls. It wasn’t grand or spectacular—just a quiet, pretty spot most hikers missed.
“This is my thinking spot,” I admitted, feeling unexpectedly vulnerable. “I come here when I need to clear my head.”
Gael looked around, taking in the clearing with appreciative eyes. “It’s beautiful. Thanks for sharing it.”
I shrugged, embarrassed by his sincerity. “Seemed better than sitting in a coffee shop.”
“That also sounds like a date,” Gael said, a smile making his lips twitch.
“Fuck off, I don’t date.” I unloaded my backpack, pulling out a lightweight blanket and spreading it on a patch of soft grass.Then came containers of food—sandwiches, fruit, chocolate chip cookies I’d baked that morning in a fit of nervous energy.
