I stayed in my seat, trying to figure out what the hell just happened.
Tate turned his face toward me and opened his eyes. "You know I wouldn't ask you to give up anything for me, right?"
"Of course I do. I would never ask that of you, either." Confusion raced through me. "I would never ask that of anyone, actually."
"Then let's go have some fun together. Forgive me. Some shit went down at the shop this morning. I'll explain later after I work through it, okay?" He took my hand and kissed my fingers before pulling back onto the main road.
"Okay." I tried to relax, but something told me that whatever was bothering him was going to affect me much more than he was playing off.
*
Tate worked to start the fire on a small fire pit he'd brought with him. It wasn't a particularly windy night, so it wasn’t long before our blaze kicked in.
"Nice job." I popped his butt as he stood up and gave me a hungry look.
"Watch it, woman." He smirked before turning back to work on making the fire grow.
"I am, and I like it. A lot." I grabbed the hot dog wieners and put them on the sticks we'd found before handing him one. "You gonna tell me what's going on with you or am I going to have to pull it from you?"
"It's nothing. I really don't want to talk about it." He took the stick from me and wrapped his other arm around my waist. "I'd rather just enjoy tonight with you. Can we do that?"
I wanted to say no and push him into telling me why he'd been such an ass earlier, but I could see the pleading behind his stare.
"Yeah, but I'm here if you need me. You know that, right?" I moved closer and pressed my lips to his once before pulling from his hold. "Let's eat."
"I like the sound of that. I'm starving, so what you don't eat-"
"You'll finish for me. I know," I laughed and sat down on the large tarp he'd spread out. The blankets were pushed back away from the fire, but looked comfy. I couldn't help but wonder if he planned on having us spend some time underneath them. It was almost too cold for that, but I was more adventurous than I was giving myself credit for.
"What are you thinking about?" He moved to a squat next to me and stuck his stick in the fire.
"Making love to you." I extended my arm and watched the fire dance in front of me. I wasn't usually as bold as I was being with him, but I was so tired of hoping for a guy to leave me feeling like Tate did. Everything about him excited me – emotionally and physically.
"Oh yeah?" He wrapped an arm around my shoulders and leaned over, pressing his cold nose to my cheek as he breathed in softly. "I haven't stopped thinking about that since we met."
"Horny bastard." I smirked.
"You've no clue." He laughed, and the sound of it warmed me far more than the fire ever could.
"I'm not sure I want to find out." I pulled my hot dog back and blew on it before eating it off the stick.
"I was a wild child in high school, but I've chilled out quite a bit since then. I've seen firsthand what a shitty relationship can do to two people." He shrugged as if he was just rambling, but he had my full attention. "Daniel, the guy who was hauled away yesterday, wasn't always like that. He used to bring Mom flowers and take her on dates and all sorts of great shit."
"What happened?" I moved closer and slid my arm into his.
"I don't know. They got comfortable, and he got mean. He drinks too much, and that has to be some of it, but I don't know. Everything just went to hell in a hand basket. He's a vicious bastard now." Tate shivered, and I moved up to press my lips to his cheek, but he turned, catching me off guard.
I touched the side of his face and deepened the kiss, loving how right it felt to be with him. I wanted to guard my heart, but there was no use in trying. I was the polar opposite of my family and usually invited people in without reserve. I had no regard for my own emotional safety – my past choices had made that perfectly clear.
"Let's make some s’mores and then sneak back to your dorm room." He brushed his nose by mine softly, sensually.
"I'd like that." I licked at his mouth, only to have him capture my tongue as he pulled me down to the tarp behind us. We laughed and rolled onto our sides, snuggling up and tossing our dinner somewhere in the snow around us.
"I'm not sure we're going to make it back to your dorm room if you keep sticking out that pretty pink tongue of yours." He ran his hand down my side, over my hip, and cupped my rear tightly as he scooted closer. "I wanna see you naked. Stripped bare and shivering with need on the bed in front of me. It's my deepest fantasy right now."
"We can do that, but it will be up to you to leave me shivering with need." I moved up to kiss him, my heart racing in my chest. I moaned against his lips as he rolled me over and pressed himself on top of me.
"Why do you drive me crazy, Val? No other girl has had so much control over me. I want to throw caution to the wind and dive in deep with you. Why?" He pressed his cold mouth to the side of my neck while his fingers found their way under my sweater.