“Not necessary. I’m rarely up to no good out here. Too many witnesses,” he states with a smile and a wink.
I look around and duck beneath a lower branch, careful not to trip over any of the limbs lying on the ground. “I don’t know. Looks pretty secluded to me. Is this where you’d take the girls to make out, back in the day?”
Again, he chuckles. “I plead the Fifth on that one. But when I was younger, some buddies, my brother, and I would come back here after we’d go to the pool for a while. We used to throw rocks at beer and pop cans, or whatever else we could find. Once we even snuck some beer from our friend Wyatt’s fridge and came back here to drink it. The only reason we were busted was because we had flashlights and one of the town officers showed up. Busted our asses hard. Took us all home and waited there until we told our parents what we did.”
“Oh my goodness, how much trouble were you in?”
“At fourteen? Caught drinking a beer by a guy who went to school with my dad? Yeah, we were in some pretty deep shit. Wyatt had it worse though, because it was his dad’s beer. His pops took him out to the barn and made him drink another one. He only made it about halfway until he threw up. Then, he had to clean it up and shower before he could go pass out. Wyatt didn’t drink for a while after that,” he says with a chuckle.
“No kidding. I hope none of you drank for a while after that.”
“Well, we were only fourteen, so we did wait a bit. But…we were also kids with a lot of time on our hands. Sometime during our senior year, I think we started sneaking it out again. Or we had another friend who’d use his brother’s ID and go buy it.” He flashes a sheepish grin. “We were trouble back in the day.”
“And now?” I ask, grinning from ear to ear because I know what’s coming.
“Now? We’re perfect, model citizens, Oaklee.”
I bark out a laugh as we come to a stop at a clearing in the trees. There’s a large stump left from a tree long cut down, wide enough for someone to sit and watch the stream of water pass by. “Wow.”
“Yeah,” he says, escorting me to the stump. “Have a seat.”
I do as instructed, and even though it’s not a huge stump, there’s enough room for both of us to sit. Of course, we’re very close, but I don’t think either of us mind. In fact, I rather enjoy having his arm and hip pressed against mine.
“Do you fish?” I find myself asking as we watch the water swirl around downed tree limbs and large rocks.
“Here? No, but I do at my buddy Wyatt’s place.” Something crosses his features as he looks out at the water. There’s pure happiness reflecting in his eyes with just the mention of his friend’s house.
“Your favorite place,” I deduce, realizing he said this was one of his favorite places.
“Yeah. I spend a lot of time there. We four-wheel, fish, camp, and just hang out. He has acres and acres of land, including lots of farm ground and pastures, so it’s not all play. We work a lot too, even if it’s just keeping up with fencing and chopping down trees.”
“Sounds nice.” I try to picture it based on what’s in front of me.
“It is,” he says, his eyes moving from the stream in front of us and settling on me. “Wanna see it?”
“Now?”
“No, but we could if you really wanted to. Saturday. Wyatt’s having a fish fry in the afternoon and a bonfire afterward. It’s likely to last all evening. You should come.”
“Oh, I don’t want to impose,” I say, just as a very light breeze sweeps through the trees, picking up my hair and sweeping a bit across my face.
Cade reaches over and moves it, gliding his big, rough fingertips across my flesh. A shiver rakes through me, but not because I’m cold. His touch does that to me, causes an instant reaction. One I can’t explain nor have experienced before. But it’s all-consuming and makes me hyperaware of how close we are.
“You wouldn’t be,” he insists quietly. “Wyatt is all about people. The more, the merrier. And it would give you an opportunity to meet a few more people your age in town. Plus, I’d get to show off my new gal friend.” He gives me one of his big, gorgeous grins that makes my clit throb between my legs.
“I don’t know,” I start, but he cuts me off before I can say anything else.
“I know. It’ll be fun. After the fish fry, I’ll take you around the farm and show you all my favorite spots.”
I watch him out of my peripheral vision, catching the flash of eagerness on his handsome face. I know I shouldn’t, but what else will I be doing on Saturday afternoon? The clinic is open until noon on Saturdays, though I don’t work every one. Allison and I rotate, and this weekend is mine.
I shift where I’m sitting, my hip bumping against his. I can feel the heat of his body radiating through me. “Can I let you know?”
“You have my number,” he replies with a wink. He seems to do that a lot, and I can see why. He’s so charismatic, like a magnet drawing me in.
We sit in silence for a few more minutes, the sun continuing to drop behind the trees, taking the temperatures with it. After another shiver hits me, Cade stands up and extends his hand. “Come on, beautiful. Time to take you home.”
We make our way back to the lot where his truck is parked, stopping before we reach the back end. Our line of sight is drawn to the pond across the lot, where a father and son are wrapping up their fishing expedition. The little guy reels with everything he has, the dad giving instructions as the fish on the line reaches the surface. It pops up and the little guy hollers, jumping up and down as the dad pulls the line up and shows the fish to the boy.
