His mouth moves from my lips down to the curve of my neck. I bury my hands in his hair, watch as the first rays of morning sunlight turn the cascading waterfall into the most incredible kaleidoscope of sunbeams dancing all over the cave floor.
It’s so beautiful, everything about this moment.
It feels like waking up after sleepwalking for months.
It feels like stumbling out of darkness into a cathedral made entirely of stained glass.
I must gasp, or sigh, or something—Thorn pulls away, looks right at me. “Everything okay?”
“More than okay,” I tell him. I can still feel him on my skin, his soft lips and rough stubble. I nod to the light; it feels like something I shouldn’t keep to myself. “Look how pretty it is.”
When he turns, his whole face is bathed in sunshine.
But then he looks back at me, gaze skimming from my lashes to my lips and back up again, and says, “Verypretty.”
My cheeks heat up. I’m just about to lean in for another kiss—but the sound of voices, so close they could be just outside the cave, brings both of us back to reality in an instant.
“We should probably—” I say at the same time he says, “Is that Zoe?”
I uncurl from around him, set my feet back on solid ground. If anyone were to walk in on us right now, they’d knowimmediatelywhat we were just doing—it’s written all over our faces.
Now the question is, how do we get out of the cave without advertising to everyone that we were in here, just the two of us, alone together?
“I didn’t think anyone would be over here this early,” Thorn says quietly.
Something snags my memory. “Did Zoe say she wanted to do sunrise yoga?”
Even if she didn’t mention it, she’s been incredibly dedicated to her daily practice.
“Guess we’re going to yoga,” Thorn says with a grimace. “And if anyone asks…we just wanted to do a little ‘exploring’ this morning?”
I slip out of the cave first, and sure enough, Zoe and Trey and Emma are all present. Trey and Emma are distracted with each other, splashing around near the waterfall—flirtatiously, I might add—and Zoe is preoccupied with how they’re delaying what she clearly thought would be a punctual start time.
Watching them, it occurs to me that I’m still suspiciously dry—and not only that, but I’m not going to be able to ride on Thorn’s shoulders to get back across.
I dip a toe in the water.
It’s definitely on the cooler end, so I ease myself in only as far as I have to. Emma and Trey are so wrapped up in each other they don’t even glance my way.
Zoe notices, though. I can see her trying to work it out—where I came from, how I managed to slip past her—when her gaze darts to a spot behind me.
I turn to look, and there’s Thorn, standing directly under the waterfall, arms skyward and eyes closed as it cascades over and around him. A moment later, he steps out from underneath it, running one hand through his hair to shake off the excess water.
In my very objective opinion, he’s never looked hotter. I can’t stop staring.
“Anyone else see the cave back there?” he says. “It’s pretty cool if you want to take a look.”
This, finally, snaps Emma and Trey out of their little flirt bubble. I can read their heart eyes from here: they seem intrigued, probably for the exact same reasons Thorn and I made a point to “explore” it.
“Later, people!” Zoe calls out, arms crossed. “Yoga first—caves some other time.” She trains a pointed look on me, then Thorn. “Sadie? Thorn? You’re here for yoga, too?”
Oh, Thorn is going tolovethis.
And I am genuinely going to love watching him go through it for the second time.
“Of course,” Thorn says, doing an impressive job at sounding at least a little enthusiastic. “Why else would we be here?”
He meets my eye the second Zoe’s back is turned, and I bite down on a laugh. Whatever torture she’s about to put us through—and I suspect said torture will be significant—this morning was entirely worth it.
