“Yes, please! We wandered away from our campsite, and we need a lift. Just about ten miles down. Right by the old camp.”
“We?” He eyed her skeptically.
I walked out of the woods and waved.
“Where are your clothes, boy?” he asked.
“I don’t know.” I knew how to pull off the dumb drunk college kid. It hadn’t been that long since I’d been one.
“Kids.” The driver gave me a dirty look. “He gets in the back though.”
“We can both ride back there.” Mary Anne hurried toward the back of the pickup.
“You sure?” The man asked.
“Absolutely. Thanks for the lift.”
Once the truck was moving again I grinned at her. “That was resourceful.”
She shrugged. “If it gets us back it’s worth it.”
I pulled her against me. “Everything is worth it.”
A few minutes later the truck slowed down. I helped Mary Anne out of the back. She walked around to the driver’s window. “Thanks so much.”
“My pleasure, but be careful. And maybe find yourself a better companion.” He glared at me.
“Thanks, sir.” She took my hand, and we ran into the woods.
We ran for a few minutes away from the highway before stopping near the cabins. She burst out laughing. “Our lives are insane.”
“They are, aren’t they?”
“So what now? It doesn’t look like there is anyone else here.”
“Now? Don’t we go back to my cabin?”
“And do what?”
“You know exactly what we’re going to do.” I smiled.
“With everything else going on, you’re thinking about sex?”
“I’m done wasting time and giving up chances.” Life was too short and unexpected to do anything else. I was going to enjoy every moment I could, and I was going to make sure Mary Anne did the same. Besides, I needed her, and I knew she needed me too.
“For once I agree with you.” She smiled.
“For once?”
“All right, it’s not the first time.” She turned and started back toward the cabins. I could hardly wait to get her alone.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Mary Anne
I should have been worried. I should have been conflicted about my promises, and what my next actions meant for our future, but I wasn’t. The only thing I could think about was getting close to Gage as he whisked us upstairs to his bed in the cabin.
“I need you,” he whispered the words against my ear. His arms were wrapped around me from behind. He’d ditched my jacket and was completely naked, and his need was clear as he pressed his body against me.
“I need you too.” I turned around in his arms. “Whether I should or not.”
“You should. You absolutely should.” His lips trailed down my neck. “I know there are so many things we should probably talk about, but we’re not. I refuse to waste another second with you.” His lips claimed mine. It was a possessive kiss, one full of emotion and words neither of us could say. I eagerly allowed him into my mouth, wanting every bit of him I could get. I couldn’t think about what the future would bring, what would happen later. All I could think about was that Gage and I were together.
Without breaking the kiss for long he had my shirt pulled over my head. He unclasped my bra, letting it fall to the floor. I pressed my chest against his, reveling in the feel of my bare skin against his.
“Mary Anne,” he whispered as his lips met mine again.
“I’m here.” I was nearly overwhelmed with emotion. I’d refused to acknowledge it before, but I’d been terrified of never seeing Gage again. I couldn’t lose him. I wouldn’t lose him.
“I know.”
I was barely aware of him lifting me up and laying me down on the top bed, but I was completely aware of the way he pulled off my jeans and underwear.
“Sex on a bunk bed. We’re moving up in the world.”
“And you still have your sense of humor.”
“And you’re still surprised?”
“Not surprised. Happy.” His hand slipped between my legs as his lips made a path down my neck over to my shoulder bone. I took him in my hand, and he groaned. He took my breast in his mouth, lightly grazing my nipple with his teeth while he moved over me. “I promise I won’t let you down again.”
“I won’t either.”
He thrust into me, leaving me short of breath. He moved inside me in fast and deep motions that had me reaching out for something to hold onto. When I found nothing, I held onto him instead. That seemed to encourage him further, and he only made things harder and deeper. I wrapped my legs around him.