I was going to have a heart attack. I felt my chest tightening.

Blaise: I don’t have to stay the whole time, just for the night.

Blaise: Please.

Okay. Heart-melting moment here. I smiled before I realized I was smiling.

Me: Fine.

I frowned.

Me: That app really leads you to me?

Blaise: Yep. I’m only thirty minutes away. Buckle up, be there soon. I’m bringing booze.

Oh great. I didn’t drink, like ever. He was violating my camping-alone policy, and if he brought alcohol, I’d probably succumb and have one, so there went my no-drinking policy too.

Me: You’re a bad influence already.

Blaise: Tough shit.

Of course. Typical badass response. This shouldn’t have sent me even deeper into my crush, but it did because I was just another stupid girl.

I couldn’t wait for him to get here.

13

Blaise

I was armed with food and booze. That’s all you really needed when you went camping, right? Made sense to me.

I had gifts, and I wanted to get away from my life, at least for a night. I guess that was my theme, huh? Maybe Aspen and I were the same. I’d not seen another car in the last thirty minutes—this girl could define a new meaning of running away. Well, maybe not running because I knew where she was, but hiding? That was better.

Whatever the case, I wanted to make sure she was safe. That shit would eat me alive if it turned out she wasn’t, not to mention that my brother’s girlfriend would stab me. Literally. So besides the fact that I thought Aspen was chill in an odd way, I was coming out to make sure she was alive.

See? Good guy. Me.

I laughed to myself as I pulled up—my headlights finally hitting a tent and a campfire right before I turned the Wagon off—because no one could call me a good guy. No. One. Like, ever.

And that was enough thinking for me.

Time to get wasted. I hoped she was okay with that.

She moved toward me, and I could see her silhouette from the fire. Fuck.

She looked good.

She’d been hot before, but she was hotter, if that was possible.

And my dick was hard. Like, instant hard-on. That was going to be annoying.

“Yo.” I groaned, stuffing that shit way way down. “I brought presents.”

She was hesitant, but then came closer. “What presents?”

“You like sandwiches?” I tossed her the bag I’d gotten from a shop in Roussou, and she caught it, with a little surprised sound. “That needs to last tonight, and I can make a run for breakfast in the morning.”

She weighed the bag, a small frown on her face, and I could see the shadow of it from the lights in my Wagon. It was cute.

Cute.

Jesus.

I was such a pansy.

I didn’t like cute girls. I fucked hot girls. I banged model-types, though Aspen could be taken for a model. She had the height… I needed to stop checking this girl out. One kiss in a men’s room, and I needed my head fixed. What was I doing?

Was it because of Mara? People had started to put us together like we were a couple, and I didn’t do couples. I didn’t fucking date girls. I screwed them, and that was it.

I’m honest about it. I’m not a total asshole. Girls know the deal with me upfront or I won’t touch them. I’ve never needed to have a girlfriend, in New York or here.

I’d never wanted a relationship, but a flash of my brother and his woman came to my mind, and I paused.

No.

My chest was tight. I didn’t want what he had. It was just because my life was unsettled. Everything had been tipped upside down, and I wasn’t the kind of guy that handled not knowing shit very well.

“You okay?”

Aspen had drifted closer, her voice soft and concerned.

“Yeah,” I barked, then flinched. “Sorry.” I softened my tone. “Just stupid thoughts.”

And because she was right there, and her green eyes looked all nice and gentle, and I remembered how she’d tasted in the bathroom, I cupped the back of her head. Her eyes went wide, but her lips parted, and that was good enough for me.

I bent down, my lips finding hers, but I paused there.

I didn’t apply pressure.

I felt how stiff she’d gone, but then she melted into me. Her arms lifted. The bag dropped. I caught it and tossed it back into my Wagon, and her lips opened underneath mine. It was game on.

I’d only meant to have a quick taste, but this kiss was something else.

It was delicious and exciting. It was a promise of something more. My cock bulged, needing to be in her, but I just held her face, my tongue demanding entrance. She gave it, and I was in heaven. My tongue slid in, and this would be all I allowed myself—just this touch from her. When a chick opens herself up for you, it’s like she’s lifting a window for you to come in and escape the hardship of life, the cold out there. And you can’t deny yourself the warmth. That’s what Aspen was giving me. Her warmth. Her taste. And I wanted more.

I groaned, lifting my head. “I’m trying to be a good guy here, so I need you to walk away from me.” When she didn’t, I gritted out, “Right fucking now, Aspen.”

She tore herself away.

I saw tears, and dammit—I hadn’t wanted to hurt her, but I couldn’t say anything. Not yet. I needed to get myself under control. I’d been two seconds away from slipping my hand between her legs and pushing her inside my Wagon.

She took off, back to her tent and fire, and I was the asshole visiting.

I should’ve left. Right now.

I shouldn’t have brought my stuff to her front door. That’s what I’d done. I wanted to get away from my life, from the non-bio dad who’d decided to make a surprise visit to town. Seems he was going to be gone all summer, and instead of just calling to let me know, he’d flown to California to deliver the news. He was at the house right now, sitting, talking with my mom and my bio dad, who was still sticking around. Who knew how long that would last, but the adults could have a night. Not me.

I could still go to New York to see my guys, if I wanted. I wasn’t out here because of that. I was out here because I hadn’t asked for a surprise visit from him.

Aspen was on to something. Just hide here.

Grabbing everything, I approached her campsite.

She had the tent up. There was a kitchen area, a picnic table. She had a hammock up. There were blankets inside the tent.

“Is that a chair?”

She sat, poking at the fire, and looked over where I was indicating.

“Yeah. It’s a fold-out lounge chair.” She glanced back at me, all shy-like, before averting her eyes. “There’s a ton of cool camping gear out there.”

I was noticing.

She motioned to one of the chairs, because now I could see there were two of them. “You can sit on that.”

“Uh. Sure.”

But first I went to the table and put down the supplies I’d brought, including a bag of ice. When she saw it, she got up and pulled something over. It looked like a trash can, but when she lifted the lid, it wasn’t. I put the ice in there, feeling how cold it was.

“It’s a solar-powered cooler. Neat, huh?”

“Yeah.” I nodded. “You sit out here?” The place was lit up with her campfire and some lanterns, but still. “What do you do if someone comes up here that you don’t want? There are men who search for campers. You know that, right? Like, they actually search out single women camping.” I sat in the chair, but immediately stood again. “This is dangerous.”

She shoved to her feet. “I’ve been camping for years. And I pick places that are off the trail. I’m not stupid.”

“Bullshit.”

Her eyes got big. Her face got red. “Excuse me?”

“I said bullshit. I drove right up to your spot. You can’t hide—” I stopped and peered right at her. “Tell me you’ve never been scared out here by yourself. Tell me you’ve never had a guy poking around that made you uncomfortable.”

She huffed. “Besides you?”

“Tell me that’s never happened, Aspen. In all the years you’ve been this camping expert, you’ve never had an encounter with another camper that scared you?”

She didn’t say a word.

She looked at the ground, and I knew I was right.

Fuck. Fuck! It had happened.

“When?” I demanded.

She rolled her eyes, shaking her head. “It doesn’t even matter. I was smart. I got away, and it’s never happened since.”

But it happened.

It had happened once, and it could happen again.

My teeth ground against each other. “I’m not leaving you out here alone. You camp, I’m with you. Or someone else is with you. Enough of this alone shit.”

Her head snapped up and her mouth fell open. “You—what? You can’t do that!”

I snorted, sitting at the table and finding a cup in the bag. I poured myself a drink. “Watch me. I’ll call for reinforcements if I have to.” I leveled her with a look. “I know people who wouldn’t like hearing about this. Don’t forget.”

She glared at me, collapsing back down. “You can’t do that. You can’t come in here and take all this away from me. You can’t!”

Her chin wobbled.

Well, crap.

But no, I had to push past the guilt that was easing in. “Aspen, this isn’t safe. There are big game animals that could hurt you too. I can’t—this isn’t safe. You want to camp, you need to have someone with you.”