“Not literally scratched the surface,” Sierra says. “It’s crazy what you said about the oils on our hands.”
“Yep, keep your gloves on. One touch from a human hand damages the rock formations forever, stopping them from ever growing again.” I hesitate, then add, a little self-consciously, “This is usually the part where I talk about how it’s a good metaphor for the damage humans can cause to the environment. Careless mistakes, no matter how small or unintentional, can cause permanent stagnation.”
Her expression is unreadable as she quips, “That’s true for not only the environment.” She shakes her head. “This is awesome, Logan. It’s like a big underground playground.” She wipes again at her pants, but it’s useless. “I can’t see Emily doing this, but do your brothers really not come down here to roll around in the mud with you?”
“Yeah, they come sometimes too.” I hesitate. “But they know this is my world.”
Her eyes soften as she absorbs how important this place is to me. She leans forward to kiss me, but our helmets clack together with a hollowthunk.
“Oof! Cockblocked by a helmet,” she says.
I snort. “Congrats, that’s probably the first time anyone has ever uttered that phrase.”
“Don’t be so sure. People are really into some kinky stuff.” Giggling, she tilts my head back and kisses me gently. Then she turns and examines the small passage. “I’m ready for more. What’s next? A cave-dwelling troll?”
“No, but there’s an ancient skeleton you can push down a well to summon orcs.”
“You’re so weird,” she says fondly.
“Seth would have gotten that joke,” I grumble. “He wouldhave thought it was hilarious.”
“I have no doubt about that. Tell you what, I’ll remember it so I can tell him that one later. Get some roommate brownie points.”
I start to protest the blatant theft of my genius quip, but then I stop. Seth will not be happy once he realizes that we’re sleeping together. Any little bit to win him over to Sierra is a good thing.
“Sure, good idea,” I say instead. “This is actually as far as we can go safely. Let’s turn around and head back up.”
When we return to the top, Sierra puts her arms around me. I help her remove her helmet, then indulge in a slow, sweet kiss.
“Thank you for sharing your world with me,” she murmurs against my lips.
“You can come with me any time,” I say sincerely. “This can be your world too, baby.”
She doesn’t answer, but her eyes are bright.
Twenty
Sierra
We’re in our usual working mode, laptops open, settled on the couch. It’s probably terrible for our posture, but it’s comfortable and surprisingly easy to focus with the laptop screen a foot away from my face. I didn’t realize how much of that extra focus I would need.
Logan frowns at some email and runs his fingers through his hair, messing it up until it sticks out in little tufts. My fingers twitch with the urge to run them over his hair and smooth it back down. His curly hair always feels so soft against my fingertips.
At the end of the day, he’s still my boss. Yes, I was sitting on his face like ten hours ago, but right now, we have a job to do. And I want Logan and his business to succeed.
One brush of my fingers would push it back into place, though.
As if sensing my stare, Logan shoots me a rueful smile. “Hi,”he murmurs.
“Hi back,” I say warmly. Oh, fuck it. I reach up to smooth the lock away from his temple. My fingertips graze his warm, smooth skin, and I can’t help but pass my fingers through it one more time, my knuckles brushing through the soft strands. Perfect.
He closes his eyes, leaning into my touch. If he were a cat, he would purr. “Last night was—”
There’s the sound of a door opening, followed by heavy footsteps.
Although we’re sitting no closer today than we were before we started sleeping together, Logan panics at the sound of his brother approaching. He practically launches himself away from me. His laptop slips from his lap, and he lunges to catch it as Seth appears around the corner. The mouse goes flying, batteries and the lid popping off in a loud clatter as they roll across the hardwood floor.
Seth does his usual quick assessment. His eyes flick from Logan’s guilty expression to me biting back a laugh at Logan’s computer juggling. I appreciate that Logan is trying to respect my wishes and keep this quiet. But he’s just so, so bad at it. It’s been well over a week since Isolation Canyon, and there’s no way that Seth doesn’t realize what’s going on. He doesn’t look happy about either.
