“Yeah, sorry about that,” Lissa mumbled in reply.
Ria leaned over and ran her hand up the inside of Lissa’s thigh.“I’m serious, Lissa.Wherever we are going will be the most magical date ever because it’s with you.I don’t need big gestures or expensive adventures.I just want to spend time with you alone, away from the rest of the world.”
That finally drew a smile out of Lissa.“Well, I can at least guarantee that wish will come true,” she replied.
Lissa slowed the car and turned off down a dirt road.They drove for maybe five seconds before the road ended at an open gravel space that could only loosely be considered a small parking lot.
Ria hopped out of the car and glanced around.“Where are we?”They’d driven directly south from Seacliff for at least an hour so they had to still be near the coast, but Ria didn’t see anything notable except trees, trees, and more trees.
Lissa grabbed a backpack from the car and locked the doors.“Follow me,” she said with a smug grin, grabbing Ria’s hand and dragging her off toward the woods.
Ria tossed one last glance at the car.“Okay, but can we revisit the whole axe murderer thing?I was really hoping to not die today.”
Lissa chuckled.“Do you think I could fit an axe in this backpack?”
“I don’t know,” Ria replied, throwing up her hands.“I never took ‘Murdering People 101’ in college.Maybe you guys have become more flexible.I’m sure a butcher knife would be just as effective.I do have a tiny neck after all.”
“And a kissable one at that,” Lissa remarked, leaning over to nip at the space behind Ria’s ear.“Guess I’ll have to let you live.”
“So magnanimous,” Ria replied dryly, a hint of amusement behind her words.
“Only for you, Ria,” Lissa said, pushing aside a low hanging tree branch.
“Okay, but all joking aside.I’m not really what you would call outdoorsy.”Ria chewed on her lip as she took in the lack of anything even remotely close to a designated path.“Don’t get me wrong, I love nature, and I wish I did more hiking, but I’ve never been in great shape.”
“Babe, there is absolutely nothing wrong with your shape,” Lissa replied, her eyes scanning up and down Ria’s body.
Ria smacked Lissa lightly on the shoulder.“You know what I mean.I’m not going to be climbing a mountain anytime soon.”She paused, then added, “Of course, if it’s something you like to do, I’d be happy to get better at it.Maybe next weekend we could go for another hike?”
Lissa’s footsteps stuttered, then she gave Ria a small smile.“Yeah, sure.Next weekend.I’d like that.”
Nodding to the thick foliage surrounding them, Ria said, “So long as we avoid places that need a machete to get through.”A cobweb brushed Ria’s face, and she panicked, going full kung fu master on it.Just because she was a witch didn’t mean she wasn’t terrified of spiders.She caught Lissa watching her with a bemused grin, so she hurriedly wiped her hands on her shorts and tried to look unbothered.
“Well, since I left my machete at home,” Lissa replied, thankfully letting Ria’s arachnophobic moment slide without comment, “it’s probably a good thing there’s a trail.”Lissa pushed through a dense patch of bushes, and when they popped out on the other side, a clear path was waiting for them.
A path with a “closed for maintenance” sign blocking access to it.
“Crap,” Ria said.“I don’t think we’re going to be doing any hiking today.”
Lissa walked around the sign and held out her hand for Ria.“Come on, babe.Live a little.”
Ria chewed her lip and looked at the very official Oregon Parks and Recreation Dept.sign.“I don’t want to get into trouble.”
“And you won’t,” Lissa replied, shaking her hand at Ria.“The trail isn’t actually closed.Daria knows a guy in the department.He put up the sign to make sure we have the place to ourselves.It’s pretty secluded to begin with, but a bunch of locals know about it, so I wanted to guarantee it’ll be just you and me.”
Ria glanced from the sign back to Lissa.“You did this for me?”
Lissa shoved her hands in her pockets.“Well, I mean Daria made the call, so…”
Ria joined Lissa on the other side of the blockade and slipped her hands around Lissa’s waist.“Why do you always do that?You keep trying to give the credit away.The sea lions, this adventure… Daria might know some people, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t all you.So let me be appreciative, okay?”
Lissa pulled a hand from her pocket and brushed back one of Ria’s wild curls.“In that case—” She leaned forward, her lips just shy of meeting Ria’s.“—it was all me.”
“That’s better,” Ria murmured before closing the gap between them to press her lips to Lissa’s.They lingered there in the forest for a long moment, enjoying each other for the first time without the weight of magic gone wrong between them, and Ria couldn’t imagine a more perfect moment.The birds chirping, the fresh Pacific Northwest air, the privacy, and of course, the taste of Lissa that made Ria weak in the knees.
Lissa pulled back, panting lightly.“I think we better get going, or we’ll never make it to your surprise.You are way too gorgeous, and I don’t want our first time to be up against a tree in the forest.”
Ria blushed, her cheeks exploding with crimson as the visual popped into her head.“I don’t know, that might not be so bad.”
