Chapter Ten
When she and Ethan arrived back at the lake, all of their friends were already there, except for a few who couldn’t make it. Josh Campbell had gotten a fire started in a ring of stones that hadn’t been there before. He must be a pro at the outdoors stuff like Ethan. Several people were cooking hot dogs on long metal skewers held over the flames. Others were sitting in beach chairs, drinking beers or holding red Solo cups most likely filled with wine, and chatting. She let out a happy sigh. This was her favorite way of enjoying the outdoors—food and drinks with friends. She just wanted to hug everyone.
“We’re here!” she exclaimed. “Sorry to be so late. We fell in the lake and had to get cleaned up.”
Everyone laughed.
“How’d you fall in the lake, man?” Josh asked.
“Ally stood up when she got a fish on her line.” Ethan mimicked balancing in a rickety canoe. “Tipped us right over.” He whistled and gestured in a dive.
“And I didn’t even get the fish!” Ally exclaimed. She turned to Ethan as a thought occurred to her. “Where’s my rod?”
He smirked and she jabbed a finger of warning at him. He grabbed her finger and held it, making her flush with heat. “Fish probably swam away with it.” He leaned close, lowering his voice to a husky tone that gave her a hot shiver. “I’ll get you another rod if you want to try again.”
Her mind instantly turned his words dirty. “Yes,” she said immediately with no thought at all beyond getting that rod and riding it. Who knew fishing could be foreplay?
Someone let out a low whistle and Ethan dropped her finger. She looked to where the sound had emanated. Both Logan Campbell and Ben Wright were hiding grins behind their lifted bottles of beer.
So-o-o, okay, maybe it wasn’t just her that noticed the chemistry between her and Ethan.
“I’m going to get some wine,” she told Ethan.
He jerked his chin. She headed over to where Missy, Lexi, and Sabrina were gathered. Missy held up a bottle of chardonnay. “Want some?”
“Yes, please.” Ally looked around. “Where’re the cups?”
“I’ll get you one,” Sabrina said, heading to a small folding card table, where plates, cups, and utensils were stacked.
“You and Ethan looked pretty cozy,” Missy observed.
Ally smoothed her hair, fighting back her blush. She wasn’t ready to talk about whatever this thing was with Ethan. “He taught me how to fish, that’s all. I’m trying new stuff, you know that.”
“Uh-huh,” Missy said and took a sip of wine.
Sabrina returned with a cup and Missy poured in a healthy serving. “What’s the deal with Ethan?” Sabrina whispered.
“Nothing,” Ally said, her cheeks flushing. “We’re friends.”
“Friends don’t check out friends’ asses,” Lexi put in.
Ally whirled. Ethan was clinking beer bottles with a couple of the guys. “Shut. Up. He is not.”
“She meant before,” Sabrina said. “When you turned and came over here to see us.”
Ally took a long swallow of wine. “How’s the sologamy stuff working out for you ladies? Feeling empowered?”
“You can still get laid, you know,” Missy said. “Sex can also be empowering.”
“She’s right,” Lexi put in.
“I’m fine,” Ally said through her teeth. If fine meant insane with lust and terrified of falling head over ass again.
Sabrina rubbed Ally’s back in her comforting relationship-counselor way. “Of course you’re fine, sweetie. Women can go much longer without sex than men.”
That didn’t make her feel any better. She scowled at Sabrina, who smiled back, a mischievous glint in her eyes.
“How long’s it been for you?” Ally asked.
“Never you mind,” Sabrina replied primly, still smiling a little as she took a sip of wine. “Come on, let’s get ourselves a hot dog.”
The women looked at each other and cracked up.
“You guys have dirty minds!” Ally exclaimed.
“Oh, like you didn’t know!” Missy said, bumping her shoulder. “You were right there in the gutter with us.”
She laughed and headed toward the fire. Josh gestured them to the extra skewers and then held up the hot dog pack. They all chose one, slid it on the skewer, and gathered around the fire, cooking their dinner. Hailey lingered near the lake, gazing out at the setting sun, chatting with Mad.
Josh cooked a hot dog for himself and called over to Mad and Hailey. “You ladies want a hot dog? They’re going fast.”
“Sure,” Mad said, heading over.
Hailey followed and crinkled her nose. “I don’t eat hot dogs.”
“But you’ve never had mine,” Josh said. “I cook them the right way.” He offered his skewer to her. “Here, give my hot dog a try.”
Someone snickered. Frenemy explosion in three, two, one…
“It’s junk,” Hailey replied, closing the distance between them.
“Just taste it,” Josh coaxed.
The guys laughed out loud. Someone hollered, “Yeah, give Josh’s hot dog a taste.”
Hailey’s eyes flashed and she glared in the direction of the guys.
Josh rolled his eyes. “I didn’t mean that dirty.” He held up the hot dog. “Try it.”
Hailey crossed her arms and eyed him suspiciously.
Josh bit back a smile. “You’d know if I was talking dirty, princess, trust me.”
“And exactly how would I know?”
He gave her a smoldering look, his voice silky. “You’d be feeling it.”
Hailey gasped and shooed the hot dog away. “Get that thing away from me. It’s bits and pieces of meat no one wanted.”
A petite woman appeared in the clearing, drawing everyone’s attention except Hailey, who had her back to her. The last rays of the sun illuminated the woman’s white off-the-shoulder peasant blouse with white jeans and Birkenstock sandals. Her dark brown hair hung in long neat braids halfway down her back. Her smile gleamed white against her light brown skin. “I brought vegan hot dogs if you’d rather have that.” She held up a canvas bag.
Hailey whirled, her eyes nearly bugging out of her head. “Who’re you?”
Josh’s face lit up. “Hey, you made it.” He crossed to the woman, took the bag, and gave her a kiss. “This is Clarissa. Clarissa, this is everyone.”
“Hi, everyone,” Clarissa said with a small wave.
“Hi, Clarissa,” they answered in near unison. Except Hailey, who just stood there with her mouth open.
Ally handed her hot dog skewer to Mad and then went over to introduce herself to Clarissa, curious about her. Clarissa smiled warmly and shook her hand, her whole demeanor mellow and laid-back. She was like the anti-Hailey.
“You new in town?” Ally asked.
“Mmm-hmm,” Clarissa said. “Just moved here two weeks ago.”
“And what do you do?”
“She’s a massage therapist,” Josh put in.
Clarissa inclined her head at Josh, giving him a sexy flirty smile before turning back to Ally. “That’s a side gig. I teach yoga.”
Josh could not have picked a woman more different from the tightly wound Hailey.
“I used to take yoga,” Hailey said. Or maybe they weren’t that different.
Clarissa gave Hailey’s arm a squeeze. “You’re welcome to join my class. We have all levels, beginner to advanced.” She turned to the group. “All of you are welcome. Josh has my info if you want to give it a go.”
A few of her friends murmured thanks. No one would agree to go, though. At least not in front of Hailey, who still looked taken aback by Clarissa’s very existence.
“I brought you a Guinness,” Josh told Clarissa.
“You remembered,” she said warmly.
“Course I did.” Josh headed over to a cooler to fetch it.
“He’s such a sweetheart,” Clarissa said to Hailey.
“Mmm,” Hailey said, her lips drawn in a flat line. “Welp. Great to meet you, Clarissa. I’m sure we’ll see each other around.”
“You—” Before Clarissa could finish her sentence, which was no doubt going to be a warm “you too,” Hailey did an about-face and headed straight for Sabrina. Ally couldn’t blame her. Just being near Sabrina could have a relaxing effect. It was her relationship-counselor vibe.
Josh reappeared with cans of Guinness for him and Clarissa. How cute.
Ally checked on Hailey, who had her back to the group, talking to Sabrina. She decided she was in good hands and went to retrieve her hot dog from Mad. “Thanks.”
“No problem,” Mad said, her gaze darting over to Hailey. They were probably all a little worried about how Hailey was taking this. It just didn’t seem right. Hailey had finally broken it off with her fuck buddy, opening herself to a real relationship, only to be shot down. Ally and her friends had privately agreed that Hailey’s declaration that she was open to dating meant she was open to dating Josh. Seriously, Hailey and Josh had been frenemies with a strong undercurrent of sexual chemistry for so long. Everyone had been waiting for all that tension to explode into mad passionate love.
Ally stifled a sigh. Suddenly her hot dog was on fire. “Ah!” She lifted it and tried blowing on it, but that just made the flames go higher. The skewer was snatched from her hands, the hot dog thrown to the sand. Ethan kicked sand over it, smothering the flames.
“You rescued me again,” she whispered. First during her Dean reunion disaster, then when she was stranded on the side of the road, then from a capsized canoe, and now from dangerous fire. Like a prince. Oh no! How was she supposed to get over her prince fantasy when Ethan kept playing the part?
“I’ll get you a fresh one.” He retrieved a new skewer and hot dog and guided her cooking, telling her exactly how to get the perfect dog. “Not in the flames, near the flames. And don’t get distracted by other stuff going on around you. Fire is unforgiving.”
She melted like a marshmallow, all warm and gooey at his care.
After she caught up with her friends, everyone filling up on hot dogs and assorted salads, she rejoined Ethan and some of the guys, who were alternating sipping beers with skipping stones across the lake. She was hoping to get the dirt on Josh and Clarissa.
Ethan was on the end of the line of four guys. She whispered in his ear, “How long has Josh been seeing Clarissa?”
Ethan shook his head. “Must be recent. This is the first time I’ve met her.”
“You think it’ll last?”
“Probably not,” Ethan said.
Logan, standing on Ethan’s other side, offered his opinion in a low voice. “None of Josh’s women stick.” He’d probably know, seeing as how he was Josh’s younger brother.
They all looked over at Josh standing a short distance from the campfire. His arm was wrapped around Clarissa’s waist, their bodies turned toward each other as Clarissa spoke. Josh looked captivated.
“Guess there’s a first time for everything,” Ally said.
A short while later, Ethan volunteered to help Josh put the food away for safekeeping. Ally jumped in, gathering the condiments, pasta salad, and a fruit bowl and tucking it into a cooler. She went with Josh and Ethan, both men carrying a cooler back to Josh’s car, hoping to get some answers from Josh directly about his new girlfriend. On the walk there, Ethan explained why storing the food in a secure place was important. Now that the sun was down, the food would attract all kinds of wildlife—raccoons, bobcats, coyotes, occasional bears.
“It’s good we’ve got a park ranger in our midst,” she teased. Though she was a little freaked at the idea of any of those animals making an appearance, so she stuck close to his side. He was meatier than she was and would make a tastier morsel for a bear.
Ethan turned to her. “At your service, ma’am. You scared?”
“No.” His blue eyes seemed dark, almost wild like an animal of the night. “Have you ever seen a bear out here?” she whispered in case the bears heard.
Josh chuckled and went ahead to unlock his car.
“Yeah,” Ethan said. “If they’re at a distance, you should slowly back away. Don’t run. But if they’re right up close, you gotta make yourself real big.” He put the cooler down and raised his arms up above her head. “And make some noise to scare it away, screaming at the top of your lungs.”
“Yeah, that screaming part won’t be a problem.”
He gave her hair a tug. “I’ll protect you.”
And the thing was, she totally believed him.
After they put everything in Josh’s car, Ethan told Josh, “We’ll meet you back there. I’m going to get the s’mores stuff from my car.”
“Need some help?” Josh asked cheerfully.
“No,” Ethan growled.
Josh laughed.
“Clarissa seems nice,” Ally told Josh. “Have you been seeing her long?”
Josh grinned. “Little over a week. She’s great.” He turned and headed back to the lake.
“Be happy for him,” Ethan said after Josh was a distance away. “He deserves to be happy.”
She smiled brightly. “Of course.” But her loyalty was always to Hailey. Her friend might be a little over the top sometimes in her matchmaking, but it was all with the best of intentions. She had the most generous loving heart once you got to know her.
Ethan opened the back of his Jeep and she peered inside. “I completely forgot you had the dessert stuff,” she said. “Did you get the good kind of graham crackers?”
“There’s a good kind?”
“Yeah, not the generic kind. The official kind. I forget the name.”
He retrieved the bag of dessert stuff out of an insulated cooler and shut the back of the Jeep. She stuck close to his side for bear-safety reasons. He lifted a graham cracker box to show her.
“That’s the one!” she exclaimed, pleased he’d gotten the right one. It wasn’t often she had s’mores.
He put the box back in the bag and turned toward her, bringing them into an almost embrace. “Good.”
They stood there like that, staring into each other’s eyes, kissing distance apart.
His voice was husky. “Ally.”
She licked her lips. “Eth.”
They grabbed for each other at the same time, the bag dropping to the ground, kissing like their lives depended on it. Her fingers clutched his shirt, his hand cupped the back of her neck, his arm banded around her waist. Flames. Fire. Incendiary kisses that scorched her resistance, leaving her in a puddle of need.
Ethan pulled away first, staring at her, hot lust in his eyes.
“We should get the s’mores stuff,” she said on a shaky breath. “Josh probably told them we were on our way.”
“Yeah.” He scooped up the bag.
They headed back to the party in heavy silence, her legs wobbly from the electrifying lust. He overwhelmed her. It both scared her and exhilarated her. God, she was a mess.
When the party finally broke up late that night, Ethan appeared at her side. “Ready?”
She bit her lip, teetering on the edge of big mistake and why the hell not.
“Ally?”
If he touched her, she would’ve caved immediately, but he didn’t. He just stood there, giving her the space she needed to think rationally. So she did what was probably the right thing to do, though the words sort of clogged in her throat. “Thanks, but I’m going to catch a ride home with Missy and the girls.” She cleared her throat. “We live in the same building.”
He pulled her away from their friends and behind the privacy of a large pine tree. “Please don’t avoid me. I won’t kiss you again if you don’t want me to.” He searched her expression. “Just tell me, okay?”
She shook her head. “It’s okay. It was just…let’s call it…” She trailed off, no words adequate enough to describe what she was feeling. It was a full moon, maybe that could explain—
“Crazy lust,” Ethan supplied for her.
She stared at him. “Yes! Exactly. Crazy. Like my mind just left the building.” She walked her fingers away from her head.
He wrapped an arm around her, tipping her into him. His voice was gravelly. “That’s the best kind.”
She felt herself softening, pressed against his delicious heat, breathing in his woodsy scent and pure Ethan.
He dipped his head slowly, closer and closer.
She stopped breathing.
He waited, his breath a soft caress against her lips.
She let out a shaky sigh.
Then she grabbed his head, kissing him passionately, giving in to what she could no longer resist. His response was immediate, the kind of fiery kiss that left no question where this was going. Intense. Hot. Erotic.
She tore her mouth away, still pressed tight against him, breathing hard. “Eth.”
“Yeah,” he said, his voice low and rough.
“I’m sharing a fact with you pertinent to this moment on the condition that you do not smirk.”
“Got it.”
“I believe I’m dangerously close to being a virgin.”
He blew out a harsh breath. “No way. What about that guy at the reunion? You said you were with him for four years.”
She sighed and played with the hair at the nape of his neck. “Sadly, it has been mumble since I’ve last done the hokeypokey.”
He laughed.
She dropped her arms and glared at him. “You said you wouldn’t—”
“Hey, that wasn’t a smirk.” He pulled her tight against him, smiling, his white teeth bright in the relative dark. “Are you telling me it’s been mumble since you’ve last been with a man?”
“Yes.”
He stroked her hair back from her face. “I might be able to do something about that.”
“I thought as much.”
He kissed her. “I’m glad you shared that with me.”
“Nothing wrong with helping each other out,” she said, hoping he’d understand the friends-with-benefits nature of their arrangement. It seemed the safest way to go for both of them. Casual and light. “Has it been a while for you too?”
“Come on.” He took her hand in a warm clasp and led her back to where their friends were packing up.
“I’m guessing no?”
He didn’t reply for a few minutes as they passed some of the guys, who sent them knowing looks. Finally they reached his Jeep and he opened the passenger-side door for her. “It’s been a little less than mumble for me. Don’t worry, I still remember where all the parts go.”
She laughed and climbed into his Jeep.
She swore he broke the speed limit getting back to his place. He denied it all the way inside his townhouse.
But once they made it to his bedroom, all teasing stopped.