Page 31 of Puck Love

Oh, fuck.

I crashed my mouth over his.

And I gotta tell you…time stopped. Like it had in the fateful moment during the Stanley Cup game—only with much more dire consequences.

We stood frozen with our lips fused for what felt like a small eternity. Any second now, he’d push me off the ledge or I’d push him. I’d have to pretend it was an accident, and I didn’t know if that was true. I didn’t know anything. Except that his lips were soft and the scrape of his bearded jaw felt nice and?—

I gasped, snapping my eyes open and blinking like an owl. Neither of us moved a muscle. We stared, each willing the other to say something and break the spell.

“I didn’t—I don’t…”

Jake nodded. “Yeah, I know. That was…adrenaline.”

“Uh-huh. Yeah. That’s it.”

He bit his bottom lip as he stepped onto the soil, water sluicing down his body. I looked away quickly and followed him. I dug a towel from my bag and slammed it over my face.

Jesus. Now what?

I’d never kissed a man in my life. Never. I’d never wanted to. It made no sense that I’d throw myself at the one person who despised me as much as I despised him. No sense at all.

But I think that just happened. Shit.

I dried myself and tied the towel around my waist, slinking the clingy wet swim trunks off.

By the way, my cock was embarrassing the hell out of me. It was a beefsteak molded to thin cotton, leaving me nowhere to hide. I wasn’t the type to blush, but I was warm all over. We’re talking from the tips of my toes to the roots of my hair.

I dressed as quickly as possible, wracking my brain for neutral topics, knowing I was unlikely to get out of this unscathed.

Just as I was about to go into full panic mode, Jake tossed a banana at me and grunted. “Eat something. You’re obviously hungry.”

I nodded, tearing into the banana like a caveman as we returned to the trail.

We hiked in silence for a good mile or so. I cranked up Led Zeppelin, Rage Against the Machine, and any other angsty song on my rotation with heavy drumbeats and screaming guitars. I didn’t want to think or talk. I wanted to get to camp and get away from Milligan, stat.

I wasn’t needed here anymore. I’d get a ride into town, book a flight to LA, and spend my summer at the beach and with Eddie. And I’d get laid…like immediately.

Sex…with a woman. Chandra would probably love to hear from me. It had been a while. She was a fan of mindless,meaningless screwing with no strings, no big conversations, no?—

I plowed into Jake’s back and tripped over a root, dislodging one of my earpods. I was too distracted by the sudden deafening quiet to register that we were inches apart. The hair on his forearm brushed mine, sending that same fucking tingle along my spine.

“Why’d you stop?”

Jake put a finger to his lips, lowering his backpack as he pointed skyward to the canopy of greenery. “See that woodpecker? He and his friends are the architects of the hollowed trees in this part of the forest. This is where Wood Hollow gets its name.”

I shrugged my burden from my shoulders too, and squinted, but I didn’t see the bird until Jake got into my space and gave me coordinates. And now we were standing closer than ever. Yeah, it was innocent this time, but tell that to my racing pulse.

Shit, it was happening again. A haze of desire clouded my mind, and I was a millisecond from freaking the fuck out.Hold it together, Mason. Hold it?—

Too late.

I pushed Jake and growled. “Give me some fucking space.”

I expected a burst of anger, a “Fuck off,” and a continued stroll through the enchanted forest. What I got was…not that.

Jake shoved me hard against the nearest tree, a hand on my throat, one leg between my knees. “You started this, asshole. You did it…not me.”

“Did what?” I bluffed, gaze drifting to his plush lips.