Finally, I take her to the park ranger's station. I'm a little nervous about doing this, but she needs to know what my coworkers and friends are like. The station is at the base of the mountain and there are at least four of us on every shift. The SAR team is not on duty every day, so the office shouldn't be that crowded today.
I help Freya out of her seat and down from the truck. I love doing these little things for her, and I hope they make her feel special. That's why I do them. When we come inside the office, everyone stops talking.
"Hey everyone. Look who came in early to visit." He hesitates. "This is Freya, my fiancée."
The guys come in one by one, and I start introducing them. There's Brody and Butch, and Marcus. For some reason, Brock, the field doctor for the SAR team, is here and I introduce him as well.
"So you guys are the ones who left Connor with the cleanup yesterday?"
They have the decency to look embarrassed about it.
"You guys are going to have to do better to make me start liking you."
The guys start giving excuses, mainly because I was the one who made them leave. After a while, they start joking around and teasing her, saying she could be better off with one of them. All except Brody and Brock, who are happily married.
Suddenly, I've had enough and want to spend some quiet time with my girl.
"Okay, that's enough for a visit. Thanks a lot, assholes."
They tease me back as I take Freya's hand in mine and pull her along outside the building. Theres a nice spot a few hundred yards from the office so I silently tug her with me towards that area. When we finally get to the area where the benches are I signal for her to sit down.
"Well, what did you think?"
"I think they'll be cleaning up whatever mess they make in the future."
"I think so, too. But I mean, about everything. Could you see yourself living here?"
I start panicking when she doesn't answer right away. I know this place is isolated and small compared to the big city where she comes from, but anyone can see the charm and the beauty of the place.
"The place is nice, and so are the people. I need to know more about the man."
"What you see is what you get."
"Is it, though? It seems to me that you're just showing me the good stuff, like we did online. I want to go deeper if I'm supposed to make a life with you."
"It's only been a day, Freya. Maybe give it more time."
"I don't know how much time I have." She mumbles.
"What was that?"
"I really like you, Connor. This place is fantastic. I'm just a little confused."
I get closer to her on the bench and put an arm around her. I take her hand in mine and squeeze gently to reassure her that I am here for her. We stay in silence for a while, the warmth of our bodies keeping us glued together. I'm not sure what perfectwords would keep this woman by my side, but I pray I can find them within myself.
"I'm glad you are here, Freya. I think we can do anything if we're together."
She lifts her face towards me and licks her lips. If that is not a clue that she wants me to kiss her, I don't know what is. I lower my lips to hers and place a soft, gentle kiss on her mouth. The kiss starts innocently enough, but it slowly transforms into something else.
I deepen the kiss, as it in turn warms my blood. It ignites something in me that I've never felt before. Not with anyone else, ever. When she opens her mouth to let me in, I surrender completely to my instincts. My tongue reaches out to play with hers, and a battle ensues. There's no need for there to be a winner in this battle, and we continue giving and taking and letting our walls break down and our feelings unravel.
When it becomes so much that I can't breathe, I pull apart from her. She's also breathing heavily, and it's cold enough that we can see our breaths in the air. Her cheeks are flushed, and I suspect mine are the same.
"That was amazing, Connor."
"There's more where that came from."
"I can't wait."
