“Did you doubt me?” Dexter asks, backing away as the others still focus on the fire. He wraps his arm around my waist.
“No. You’re always full of surprises. Baking, costume-making, fire-building…I never know what’s coming next.”
Fire reflects in his eyes and he bends down to kiss me, a little slower tha
n other times, probably because for once we’re not in a hurry or sneaking from prying eyes.
“Kissing an angel. I never thought that’d happen,” I say, touching his barely-contained Castiel-coiffed hair.
“Now you know what it’s like to kiss you.”
I shake my head. “So cheesy.”
“You bring it out in me.”
“Does anyone see the s’mores kit?” George asks, rummaging through the supplies.
“Red bag,” Jake says, reaching for it.
“We need some roasting sticks,” George says. He nods at me. “Want to go with me to look for some?”
“Sure.”
The others don’t mind that we disappear into the edge of the forest. I don’t mind when George pushes me against a tree, kissing me senseless.
“I’ve been wanting to do this for days,” he says. “You were making me crazy last night in that dress. I was jealous as hell that Jake got to kiss you in public like that.”
“You were?” I kiss his neck. “You played the part of Christina’s escort well.”
“Were you jealous?” he asks, watching me closely.
“No” He tilts his head questioningly, so I clarify. “Did I like you having to escort her? No. Do I trust you? Absolutely. The situation was out of our hands. I also know that she’s the one that would be jealous if she found out about all of us. The fact that she’s alone and bitter and I have so much in my life. Christina has no idea what it’s like to love someone unconditionally.”
A small grin tugs at his lips and his tongue darts out, licking the bottom one. I pull him toward me, wanting his mouth on mine. It’d been too long since we’d last had a moment together, between school and his injury and everything else. But tonight, we’d carved out time for us to be together and I planned to make sure I made the most of it.
37
Charlie
We made our way through two boxes of graham crackers, twelve chocolate bars, and a whole bag of marshmallows. I’m stuffed to the point of being nauseous and the sugar makes has me jumpy so I hop up and say, “I’m going down by the lake for a minute.”
Starlee eats the last of her s’mores and says, “Wait for me. I need to wash off my hands in the water.”
She catches up to me and we walk down to the edge. She’s got a red and black plaid blanket over her shoulders and I smell the campfire in her hair.
“Thanks for going along with my whims,” she says as we near the water’s edge. The surface of the lake looks like glass and even in the dark, it reflects the sky and stars. “Last night was overwhelming. I didn’t know if I could manage two nights in a row.”
“I think everyone’s happy with the change in plans.”
She bends down and rinses off her hands, rubbing them in the sand to get away the sticky residue. I almost offered to lick them clean myself, but that seemed a little forward. And desperate. That’s what this girl does to me though, makes me brain-addled.
“Is that a log over there?” she asks, pointing down the beach.
It’s hard to tell in the dark, but I nod. “I think so.”
“Come on. Let’s sit.”
I follow her to the log, but instead of sitting on it she gestures for me to lean against it and sit on the sand. I do so and she sits between my legs, covering both of us with the blanket.