Gifted Connections 3

“I try to soak up everything about you, and I don’t think I will ever get bored with you. You surprise me almost every day. You are a creature full of mysterious, enthralling layers, and I want to find them all. I look forward to spending the rest of my life being surprised by you.”

I turned around and grasped his face in my hands, trying not to cry at his sweet words. I never knew I was fascinating enough for someone to want to know me like that. I struggled to find the right words to tell him how much his words meant to me.

I once joked that he should be writing for a greeting card company. His words were so poetic and made my insides melt. No words could do justice to how he made me feel, so I showed him instead.

We had joined together once more. Then he finished washing me. I then reciprocated the favor. We climbed up to the rear entrance and saw nothing but a blanket of white. It looked like at least a foot had accumulated overnight. It had stopped snowing, but we doubted we were leaving anytime soon.

We raced back down to the pool to warm back up. That turned into a playful game of tag, and I was losing horribly. He was a faster swimmer than me, and every time I got close enough to touch him, he was back under the water, reappearing on the opposite side of the pool that I was on.

“Can you guys be any louder?” Jaxson grumbled as he groggily stumbled into the pool. “Do you realize what time it is?”

I looked down at my watch and snorted. “It’s eight thirty. You sleepy heads should have already been up.”

“We had a long day yesterday. We needed our sleep,” Noah yawned as he took a seat on the edge of the pool to dangle his feet in.

“Aww wanna tissue?” I teased as I splashed towards him.

He gave me a mock growl before kicking water back at me. I ducked under before the water could reach me.

“How does it look outside?” Remy asked as he lumbered over to the pool, sitting beside Noah.

“Like we’re stuck here for at least another day,” Troy swam over to the side of the pool.

“We should probably get some snow to melt. We probably don’t have enough in our canteens to last us until tomorrow,” Jace remarked before he slid a shirt on over his bare chest. “Did the fire go out last the night?” He asked no one

in particular.

“No,” Jaxson shook his head as he emerged from the water beside me. He pulled me to him and placed a kiss on my cheek. “Good morning,” he murmured. Then he turned back to his brother. “I had to place some wood on it in the middle of the night.”

“I can’t believe it didn’t wake you guys up,” I said in joking exasperation. “It was frigid in here.”

“Doubt it,” Drake teased me. “It’s warm in here. Even without the fire. You’re just too tiny to retain much heat.”

The guys laughed, and I stuck my tongue out at Drake as I latched onto Jaxson’s back, too tired to thread water any longer. I couldn’t touch the bottom. He could. “I’m not tiny, I’m…fun sized,” I joked at the expense of myself.

“That’s one thing to call you,” Jaxson laughed.

“Ha ha ha,” I smiled as I pushed off his back. “I’m hungry. I’ve been up for hours. Not all of us chose to laze around.”

I exited the pool and grabbed a towel off the line we had strung near there.

I was confused at the silence until I turned and saw all of them watching me. I ducked my head. “Should I swim in clothing?”

A resounding “No!” was my answer.

I slipped into one of my sports bra, boy shorts, and a t-shirt. After the swim in the hot springs, I was overly hot now. But I wasn’t brave enough to walk around naked all day, though.

I didn’t feel like any of the MREs for breakfast, so I pulled out a couple packets of instant oatmeal from my pack. I got my tin cup out and poured some of the water from my canteen into it. I found a large flat rock to place near the fire and placed my cup on it.

“What are you doing?” Troy smirked at me as he came from behind me dressed in just his cargo pants.

I looked at him confused. “Boiling my water for oatmeal.”

“Or,” he picked up my cup and held it between his hands. I could see the water begin to boil within seconds.

My jaw dropped. I hadn’t thought that was possible. I mean I knew we could produce fire, but I hadn’t thought about the logistics of it all.

He took my oatmeal packets from my hand and poured them in the cup.