Page 67 of Free Fall

Once we’re clean-ish, I duck back out from under the water, grab the towel Dan put aside for me, and wrap it around myself. My legs are shaking, and I feel colder than I’ve been in years, yet I’m filled with a sense of invigoration and vibrancy.

I dress recklessly, eager to get layers on, and my jeans stick to my still wet legs as I pull them up. Tugging on a relatively clean flannel shirt from Dan’s bag, I find it’s a little short on my arms.

I watch as he washes himself more thoroughly than I’d dared. By the time he finishes his shower, my core seems to have lit a blaze in me that’s got me warm and snug like I’ve been sitting by a bonfire instead of dousing myself in cold mountain water.

Dan towels off, puts on his clothes, and then grins at me. “Fun, huh?”

I laugh because I don’t know what to say. It’s definitely a new experience for me, and one I wouldn’t swear off doing again, but I’m not sure it wasfun, per se. It was…it was wild. I feel wild and free and like I’m new in my skin.

“What’s on your agenda for the day?” Dan asks when we’re back where we parked the bike, packing up the saddlebags with the gear we brought to the waterfall.

“Not much. You?”

“I need to go back to Pothole Dome later with the van to retrieve the camping gear.”

“Wouldn’t that be easier in my car?”

Dan looks up at me. “Yeah. It would actually. You don’t mind?”

“No.”

“It won’t take the magic from the memory?”

I grin. I knew he’d borrowed Peggy Jo’s bike to impress me, and I won’t lie, I’m impressed, but even if we go back in the light of day to retrieve all the gear, I’m sure the memory of our night and morning at Pothole Dome will remain plenty magical for the rest of my life. “Not at all.”

“Alright. I’ll take you up on that ride.” He rakes his gaze over me now that I’m dressed, and then checks his watch. “Want to go get breakfast first?”

I spot a familiar hunger in him, but I don’t think it’sthatkind of hunger unfortunately. A sliver of disappointment bites, but then I remember I’m the one who’d said no sex during this date. But surely that was just for last night, right? Today’s a new day. A new date. Literally.

“I’d like that.” I step forward and take hold of his jacket to haul him close. “But I don’t suppose you want to eat something else?”

“Your ass?” He swallows hard, eyes lighting up.

“Sure. If you think I got it clean enough in that waterfall.”

“I’m not picky,” he whispers. “I’ll eat your ass any day, anytime, anywhere.”

“Filthy boy.”

“Mm,” he says, and his hands are in my tangled, wet hair before I can think. We kiss, and I’m starting to think he’s going to bend me over the motorcycle, take my pants down, and rim me right here, when a Toyota pulls up and a small family of hippies piles out.

“Let’s go,” Dan says, adjusting himself. “Breakfast, then sex, and then we get the stashed gear.”

It’s not far, but the way he drives the motorcycle into town like he’s in a rush to get on with our plans has me gripping hold of him in terror and excitement.

I can’t wait to see what we do with this new day.

*

Dan

Papa Bear iscrammed full of people, but Sejin uses his employee privileges to skip the line, pop into the back, and return with stale cinnamon rolls with the icing a little congealed on top and two cups of coffee.

“I know this isn’t exactly a healthy breakfast, but it should hold us over until the place clears out enough for me to convince Pete to make us his special turkey-and-egg sandwiches with extra-extrabacon. It won’t be on the house, but it’ll be twice as much food as he usually gives out.”

Sejin leads me to a table by the front door, and we bite into our gooey, sweet pastries and ignore everyone as the place fills even more. It’s clear by the way we’re staring at each other that we’d both rather be sucking face than licking the icing off our fingers, but the nachos from last night were a long time ago, and the demands of the body temporarily outweigh our lust.

We’ve just finished up the last of our cinnamon rolls when Rye drops into one of the two open seats at the table, a to-go boba in his hand, and a wide smirk on his face. “What’s up? Is this a morning-after or a morning-before?”