She leaned in and kissed me, slow this time. No rush. No sharp edge of hunger driving it, though the hunger hadn’t gone anywhere. It waited under my skin, warmed by the sound she made when my hand found her waist beneath the blanket.
When I pulled back, her eyes were half-lidded.
“I should drive you back to the camper,” I said.
She blinked. “Should you?”
“Your clothes are there. Your bed’s there. Call time’s tomorrow.”
“And you’re here.”
My chest locked before I could answer.
I rubbed my thumb along her knuckles. “I want you to stay. But I’ll take you back if that’s what you want.”
Sunny set her water glass on the porch beside her foot. “I want to stay.”
I waited.
She sighed. “Do you need that in a complete sentence for safety documentation?”
“I do need that.”
Her smile turned soft. “I want to stay here with you tonight.”
“That’s good.”
“That’s all you have for me?”
I stood and held out my hand. “Come inside before the tiny snow demons get you.”
She took my hand and let me pull her up. “That was almost sweet.”
“I’m managing expectations.”
The cabin was warm from the day, dim under the single lamp I switched on beside the bed. Worn plank floor. Small kitchen. Fire tools by the door. Two chairs. One bed I’d made that morning without any idea Sunny would be in it by night.
She stepped inside ahead of me, still wearing my shirt and the blanket. The hem brushed the tops of her thighs. Her hair fell over one shoulder in tangled copper waves.
For once, she didn’t make the room smaller with chatter.
She walked to the table and set her bandana beside my keys. Red cloth against scarred wood. My throat went tight.
I locked the door and checked the stove because habit was habit.
Sunny watched me. “You really do check everything.”
“Most things only go wrong once.”
“That’s both reassuring and ominous.”
“I’ll work on my pillow talk.”
“Oh, please don’t. I’m not sure I’d survive you being smooth.”
I pulled a clean T-shirt from the shelf near the bed and handed it to her. “You can wear this in the morning if you want it.”
She held it against her chest. “You’re giving me clothes twice in one night. People will talk.”
