Page 308 of Boots, Bucket Lists & Bad Ideas
“Love you too, but just go.”
I slip out of bed and creep across the RV.
51: UNEXPECTED DETOUR
HART
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I DRIFT INTO that half-dream state when I hear a faintzip. It’s the sound of the tent opening just enough to slip someone inside.
I’m too tired to move.
Too tired to care.
If my brothers and that asshole Bronx are planning some prank, let them at it.
I’m lulling back into that sleepy state when the soft pressure of her body is against mine.
Jade.
I smell her.
I feel her.
I hear her.
Her breath tickles the side of my neck, and without a word, I pull her close. My arm wraps around her, and she fits snug against me like we’re meant for each other.
She sighs, and that soft sound settles inside me.
Her head nestles perfectly into the space beneath my chin, and her hand rests on my bare chest. Strands of her hair brush my skin, and my fingers instinctively thread through it, to feel her there.
Everything else, the night, the trees, the quiet outside, fades away.
It’s just us—the steady rise and fall of my chest and her warmth against me.
It feels right.
Perfect.
I tighten my grip, pulling her a little closer. The steady beat of her heart is in sync with mine. Her breath slows, soft and constant, and I can’t help but smile.
I don’t need anything else.
Just this.
Just her.
I rest my cheek on the top of her head and close my eyes, letting the moment hold me. It’s simple and everything.
And I sleep better than I have in years. On this blow-up mattress, in a tent, in nature. How many nights can I sneak her away to spend the night in a tent just like this, but out in the wilderness by ourselves. We can ride our horses to a location deep in our family’s properties and pitch a tent, cook food over a fire, and make love under the moonlight. It’s a perfect dream. Only, this time, it has the opportunity to be so much more than a dream.
It’s my future.
Our future.
The first light of dawn hasn’t even begun to creep through the thin canvas of the tent, and I’m already awake. My senses are alive to the cool air and to Jade’s body pressed against mine. Her warmth is a stark contrast to the chill that lingers in the early hours.
