Page 20 of Puck Love

“How do I know you don’t jerk off before bed?” he countered.

“I do. I definitely do. In fact, I can’t sleep until I jack the python, so…vamoose.”

Jake turned on the light again and leveled me with a scathing no-nonsense glare. “Very fucking funny. Do not jerk off or even pretend to jerk off. It’s been a long-ass day and I’m tired, so just…shut up and go to sleep.”

With one last fierce scowl, he rolled to his side. End of sentence.

Okay, well…it wasn’t as if I had a ton of options. Plus I had a feeling this was a test. No one had counted on two of our campers getting sick, but the new sleeping arrangement was undoubtably a topic of discussion. Sleeping with the bears would only feed unnecessary gossip and let’s be real, I had no desire to duke it out with a four-hundred-pound bear in the dark in my boxers.

So, I guessed I was rooming with the enemy. Fun times.

7

JAKE

“Stop moving around.”

“I can’t help it, I’m restless,” the lump a few feet away grumbled. Trinsky shifted again and sighed. “It’s weird to try to sleep next to someone who hates you. Will I even wake up in the morning?”

“You really think I’m going to murder you in your sleep?” I snort-laughed.

“I wouldn’t rule it out,” he replied conversationally. “How you’d do it is anyone’s guess. I’m way stronger than you, so you’d have to wait till I passed out or…drug me.”

“Unfortunately, I’m fresh out of cyanide.”

“Hmph.You have a Swiss Army knife. You might slit my throat or strangle me or?—”

“Christ, you’re morbid,” I intercepted. “I might be tempted to strangle you, but I’m not doing prison time for your ass, so please…shut up and go to sleep.”

Silence.

“Still weird.”

I gritted my teeth and cursed at the universe for putting me in this situation…with this idiot. Good press be damned.

Patience, Jake. Be patient.

One Mississippi, two Mississippi…

“Yeah, it’s weird,” I conceded. “Pretend I’m not here.”

“Okay, I’ll give it a shot.”

I punched my pillow and squeezed my eyes closed. I willed sleep to hit me like a hammer, but the annoying rustle of Trinsky’s sleeping bag made that impossible. “Now what are you doing?”

“You said to pretend you aren’t here, so…I’m doing what I do every night. I’m jerkin’ it.”

I turned on the lantern again and sat upright in a flash.

“You will not fucking jerk off,” I hissed.

Trinsky blinked at the onslaught of light, his eyes crinkling at the corners with humor. My first thought was pure incredulity. How was this happening? I must have done something truly horrible in a previous life to deserve this.

My second thought?—

No. Not sharing. It was too disturbing and borderline insane and?—

Fine. Trinsky looked…hot.