Page 128 of Say You'll Never Let Go

“Pick one that’s still. Don’t attempt a moving target yet,” she says softly, watching him find their dinner. “Got your shot?”

He nods.

“Release on an exhale and let’s see where it lands.”

The bullet embeds into a rock a few feet away instead of the animal they’re hunting.

“Told ya.” He winces. “Rifles and me don’t get along. We shouldn’t waste bullets.”

“Pretty sure I saw that hedgehog’s fur ruffle. Try again,” she moves in close beside him. “We have enough bullets to use a few extra today. I’ll teach you a trick.”

He raises a brow, letting her cup his elbow to adjust his arm in the right direction. “It’s not a hedgehog.”

“You naturally aim right a few inches too far, so compensate next time even if it feels wrong, but that’s not the magic part.”

“Oh yeah? What’s the magic?”

“Clench your ass when you let it fly.”

“You’re fucking with me.”

“I’m not.”

“You squeeze your ass cheeks every time you fire a shot?”

She nods with a shrug. “It gives you some extra momentum. Just try it and see if it helps. Might end up with a gopher.”

He looks about ready to tell her she’s full of it. “If you’re fucking with me, I swear…”

“You wanna get that gerbil or what? I’ll do it myself if you don’t want to.”

“Okay, okay,” he groans.

She waits matter-of-factly while he gives her a good-natured glare, then squeezes his ass in a way that looks more like a hip thrust as the bullet fires. That rodent falls instantly, and she whistles her approval.

“How the hell did that work?” He shakes his head in amused dismay as they walk out to fetch what he’d caught.

There’s more damage to the meat than she’d prefer, but they should have enough for some appetizer-sized snacks.

“Gives you something else to think about when you’d be over-analyzing your aim.”

“So instead of doing that, I’m trusting the aim and worrying about clenching my ass cheeks?”

“Exactly.”

“The army taught you this? What kinda lessons were these? I gotta be jealous?”

She laughs as they head back to their campsite, leaning up to pepper a soft kiss to his lips. “You never have to be jealous. Besides, they didn’t tell me that. I just came up with it right now.”

“I knew it!” he exclaims, full of mock horror, though his half-hidden grin proves he’s not mad.

“It worked, didn’t it?”

“Yeah, yeah, but I know what ass I’d rather be squeezing and it’s not my own.”

“Promises, promises.”

He’ll practice with her rifle the next few times they hunt, but what she’s more excited about now is what happens after dinner tonight.