Emelie
“Clayton, you do realize I am a city girl?” I held on tighter, my arms wrapped around his shoulders from behind. “This hiking thing is not me.”
“Which is exactly why I’m now carrying your ass,” he replied with humor. “Who wears sandals on a walk through the woods?”
“In my defense, you didn’t tell me we’d be reliving the life of Huck and Finn.” I held on tighter as Clay started to climb a small hill. “Will we be meeting the Grangerfords next?”
“No aristocratic families hiding in these woods, babe,” he chuckles. “You got that book memorized or what?
“I’m surprised you knew what I was talking about.”
“My mom wasn’t easy on us boys. She made us read every day for a least an hour.” Clayton looked back over his shoulder at me with a very serious expression. “Then she would quiz us.”
I could say with absolute certainty that I adored Luann Powell. The woman was amazing.
I looked up when we reached the top of the hill and was hit with a moment of awe. I had never seen anything more beautiful. We were standing on top of a large cliff, overlooking the land below. Trees so far, I couldn’t see the end of them. “This is gorgeous.”
Clayton lowered me to the ground, holding my hand close to his side. “Corbin and I would climb this hill and pitch a tent right there.” He pointed to a patch of flat land just beneath the edge of the rock behind us. “We’d camp out here, facing the front of the tent in this direction. It was the perfect view of the sunset at night.”
“Sounds magical,” I said, looking back out over the openness. “My childhood was never anything like that. I didn’t get to have nights like those. I want Ethan to have memories like that.”
“He will,” Clayton assured me, pulling my body around in front of his. “Whenever I come back here, you two come too.”
“What?”
“Em, I meant it when I said that you and Ethan are my everything. I’ve never felt for anyone what I feel for you two. I wanna share every moment of my life with the two of you. This isn’t just something to pass the time, this is real. What you and I have is as real as it gets.” I felt like a lump had formed in my throat, making it difficult to speak. “I wanna teach Ethan to fish and ride dirt bikes. I wanna be the guy he comes to when he has a crush on a girl, all that shit. I’m looking forward to being that person for him.”
“You’re unbelievable.” I stared up at Clayton, still at a loss for words.
“I love you both so much.”
Because I couldn’t seem to put into words what I wanted to say, I stood on my tip-toes and pulled him down toward me, pressing my lips to his. “I hit the jackpot with you, Clayton Powell,” I mumbled against his lips and felt him smile.
“Will you knock it off, you jackass?” I looked past Clayton’s shoulder just in time to see Palmer step into the clearing with Corbin close behind. “Or I’m gonna knock you over the head and throw you over a cliff. Then I will have to go back and break the news to your poor momma that her warped little boy fell to his death.”
Corbin seemed completely unfazed by Palmer and her threats of violence. In fact, all he was doing was scanning her over from behind. He was either extremely into her or lost in a sea of lust.
“Come on, sweetheart, I’m harmless.”
“Harmless, my ass, and I am not sweet, Corbin.” She spun around to face him. “I’m sour and mean. If I catch you checking out my ass one more time, I’m gonna jab your eyes out with the nearest sharp object I can find.”
She shoved against his chest. “Up here, you ass!” She pointed to her face. “My eyes are up here.”
“But you told me to stop looking at your ass.” Corbin seemed to really enjoy tormenting her.
“That was all of me, you idiot.” She spun around to face us and rolled her eyes. “How in the hell can you two possibly be related?” she asked Clayton, and Corbin grinned from behind her. “He skipped right over the charm and got all the garbage left over.”
“I’m charming.” Corbin peeked over her shoulder and she shoved him away.
“You are annoying and frustrating and—”
“Cute?” Corbin interrupted her, holding his hands out to his side. I’ll admit I found him cute, but that had a lot to do with the fact that he was identical to the man I was in love with, so I had a reason. Palmer, on the other hand, looked murderous.
“Cute does not make you tolerable.” She hung her head. “I have never wanted to commit a felony before,” she looked up at Clayton and me, “until now. I actually dream of sewing his mouth shut, or worse. He’s making me crazy, and I’m worried that I may actually hurt him.”
“Please hurt me.”
I wanted to help her, but oh my god I couldn’t. I laughed uncontrollably as I bent at the waist. They were by far the most hilarious thing I’d ever witnessed, and whether Palmer wanted to admit it or not, I seriously thought she had a thing for him.
“Where’s Ethan?” Clayton finally broke through the craziness.
“He’s with Dad,” Corbin replied, stepping around Palmer and joining us on the cliff. “They were driving the length of the drive over and over on the four-wheeler when we left. Ethan was laughing, saying ‘again’ each time they made it back to the house.”
My eyes widened in horror and I was just about to have a mommy freak out moment as I looked at Clayton for help. But Palmer piped in as she normally did.
“He’s wearing a baseball helmet that used to be Clayton’s, and their dad is going less than five miles per hour. Wipe the old lady look from your face and stop worrying.”
Palmer did have a way with words that made everything seem funny. Corbin looked at her proudly and nodded his head. “She is so sassy.” There was a familiar gleam in his eyes, “I love it. Dynam—”
“Don’t say it.” Palmer spun around to face him. “I swear to it right now, Corbin Powell, if you finish that sentence I will castrate your sorry ass right here and now.”
Most men would cower at the threat of losing their manhood, but Corbin just smiled wide and squared his shoulders.
Wait for it, I thought to myself.
“Sour Palmer, though I still think you’re sweet, I would love for you to manhandle my junk.” He pushed out his hips and I buried my face in Clayton’s chest to hide my laughter.
A moment of silence passed before Palmer took a step toward him and I peeked to find out what would happen next. Then she reached out, cupped his package and I waited to hear him squeal, but it never came. Instead Palmer let go quickly, stepped back, and stormed off toward the direction we’d all come from.
Corbin watched her for a few seconds with a grin wide on his lips before looking back at us. “I knew all it would take is just one touch and she’d decide on a better way to use me.”
He hurried off as fast as she had, and a few minutes later we heard a loud squeal echo through the trees.
“I think we should wait a bit before we head back.” Clayton chuckled. “That is nothing I wanna walk up on.”
“Agreed.” Tilting my head up, I kissed him. Why not take advantage of our time alone?