Shelter (Heroes of Big Sky 2)

“Can’t talk.” I shake my head. “Dead.”

Remi giggles and rolls over onto my chest, pinching my stomach.

“Ouch.”

“You’re not dead,” she says and kisses my cheek. “Yet.”

“If this isn’t Heaven, I don’t know what is.”

“How do you do that?”

I find enough strength to glance down at her. “Do what?”

“Always say the nicest things. Do you have a script somewhere that you’ve memorized?”

“No.” I chuckle and brush a few pieces of her hair behind her ear. “I just say what I think.”

“Did you have special coaching for this?”

She yelps as I reverse our positions and hover over her once more. “I’m sorry that the assholes before me weren’t nice to you. If they were, you wouldn’t be taken off guard when I say things that are flirty or complimentary.”

“I didn’t…I haven’t—”

“I suggest you get used to it.” I kiss her softly. “Because I plan to have sex with you and say mushy things to you often. As often as possible.”

“I mean, we have jobs,” she reminds me. “And other responsibilities.”

“And then I can be with you,” I reply. “Now, I’m hungry again. Do you want some leftover pizza from last night? I can pop it in the oven.”

She blinks at me and then nods. “Yeah. Yeah, I want pizza.”

“Awesome.”

I hop up, pull on my boxers, and pad into the kitchen where I turn on the light over the stove, preheat the oven, and pull out the box of leftovers from the fridge.

“What kind do you have?” she asks from behind me.

“Pepperoni and sausage. Or chicken and bacon with a white sauce.”

“I want both.”

I raise a brow and glance down at her. She’s back in my T-shirt, and her dark hair screams: I just had crazy-great sex.

I want her all over again.

“Feed me before you fuck me,” she warns me, narrowing her eyes.

“Strict,” I mutter. “I’ll heat it all up. I have some breadsticks, too.”

“I’ll take all the carbs. I worked up an appetite.”

I slide everything onto the rack in the oven and prop my hands on my hips as I turn back to her. “What should we do while it heats up?”

She lifts a shoulder. “Wanna sit on your porch?”

“It’s like forty-five degrees outside.”

“We’ll take a couple of these blankets. I love that porch, Seth. I need to sit on it.”

“Okay.” She can have whatever she wants.

I put some more clothes on and, armed with blankets, lead her outside to sit on the swing my dad helped me hang last summer.

“I’ve never seen so many stars,” she says with a hushed voice. “You can’t see them well in the city.”

“It’s a big sky,” I agree. “In a couple of months, we’ll have aurora borealis shows on display.”

“I’ve never seen the northern lights,” she says with a smile. “Oh, I can’t wait.”

“I’m going to go get the pizza. Are you okay out here alone?”

“Do I need bear spray?” Her voice is full of jest, but I nod soberly.

“You might. But, I doubt it.”

“Just hurry,” she suggests.

It doesn’t take me long to return the pizza to the box and move to the porch where Remi’s huddled under a blanket, staring dreamily at the stars.

“We’re literally in the middle of nowhere,” she says as I sit next to her, and she takes a slice of pizza. “It feels like we’re the only humans for hundreds of miles.”

“My parents are less than a mile that way.” I point to the north. “And my aunt and uncle are a mile and a half that way.” I point to the east.

“Don’t burst my bubble.”

I grin and take a bite of the pepperoni and sausage.

“You don’t get lonely out here?”

“There’s no time for that. I fall into bed at night, exhausted, and I’m back up before the sun to work. My family is close, and my friends are just in town. But I’ve lived out here on the ranch for more than fifteen years, Rem. It’s all I know. All I care to know.”

“You don’t think you’ll move away?”

“No. I’m a cowboy. I like my little spot in the world.”

“It’s a good spot.” She finishes a slice and then reaches for another. “And I was right about this porch. It’s the bee’s knees.”

I raise a brow at her. “The bee’s knees?”

“Mm.” She chews thoughtfully. “Yeah. It’s pretty great. I’d be out here all the time.”

“So, you’re going to keep seeing me for my porch?”

“That and that sweet tongue of yours.”

“Like what I can do with my tongue, do you?”

She shakes her head and nudges me with her shoulder. “Don’t hog all the pizza.”

Chapter 10

~Remi~

Someone is knocking on the door of my van.

I turn on a light and blink in confusion as I look around my vehicle. It’s six o’clock in the damn morning.

Knock, knock.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m coming.” The only downside to this van is, there’s no peephole to look out and see who’s at the door. “Who is it?”