Page 169 of Stay Wild Darlin’

And then paused.

She looked at me, one eyebrow arched. “Wait. Does the water even work?”

I froze. Blinked. “Oh shit.”

She narrowed her eyes.

“No,” I admitted. “But the hose works.”

Her jaw dropped. “You want me to what?”

“No way we’re showering in the house,” I said, grabbing one of the flannel shirts off the floor and tossing it over my shoulder like it was a towel. “There’s no water inside. We’re roughing it tonight.”

“Yeah, like sex roughing it,” she muttered, following me toward the back door, barefoot and naked, “not fuckin’ front-yard car-wash roughing it.”

“Technically,” I said, opening the door and stepping out into the warm night, “it’s the side yard.”

We were both completely bare-ass naked, tiptoeing like two drunk streakers who’d lost a bet, arms tucked in awkward places and giggling like idiots.

“This is the dumbest thing we’ve ever done,” she whispered.

“Listen.” I grinned, giving her a little smack on the ass as we rounded the side of the house. “You wanted to come. I wanted to make a memory. We both won.”

She rolled her eyes, still smiling as I turned on the hose.

There was a sputter, a wheeze, and then the world’s most aggressive jet of freezing cold water sprayed from the nozzle like it was out for revenge.

She shrieked, jumping back with wide eyes. “Dalton! What the hell?”

“Sorry. Sorry.” I adjusted the nozzle. “I forgot to adjust the pressure. Hang on, hang on. There we go.”

I stepped closer and started hosing her off properly, using my free hand to help wipe down her thighs, her stomach, the mess still clinging to her inner legs.

“You’re ridiculous,” she murmured through chattering teeth.

“You’re the one who came on my face and agreed to back yard hose therapy,” I said, reaching up to push wet hair off her forehead before leaning in and pressing a kiss to her lips—cold and soft, but still somehow stoking the fire under my skin.

She sighed against my mouth and then shivered so hard her teeth clicked.

“Turn for me?”

She raised an eyebrow. “Didn’t you already see every possible angle tonight?”

“Yeah,” I said, smiling, “but this one’s my favorite.”

I hosed her down slowly, gently, my fingers tracing her skin, and when I was done, I dropped the hose with a splat onto the grass and wrapped her up in my arms.

We stood there, two naked idiots, dripping under the stars, wet grass between our toes, pressed together like there was nowhere else in the world we’d rather be.

“I love you,” I whispered into her wet hair.

She tilted her head up, eyes soft, cheeks pink from the cold. “Even when I look like a drowned opossum?”

“Especially then,” I said, kissing her. “That’s when I know you trust me.”

“You know what?” she said softly, head resting on my chest.

“What?”