Page 81 of Forever is the Sweetest Con
I hate to agree, but I do. We’ll need to be well-rested.
“Okay, so we leave at eight, make it to the other side by noon. We’ll have granola bars and water on the other side, and a rest, and we’ll start our hike around one o’clock. Which means we should be back to the highway—”
“There’s a gravel road first, remember?” Kei says. He has abandoned the rice mission entirely and joined us at the table. “But I remember there were other vehicles on it, so you should be able to find help pretty quickly.”
“Right. So we’re on the gravel road by two o’clock, and help should be back here by, what, four or so?”
“Best-case scenario,” Sue-Ellen says. “I think you should plan on making dinner here,” she says to Kei, “and hope for rescue before sundown.”
Kei nods solemnly. “I’ll make sure the bonfire is burning bright.”
“Okay,” I say, putting my hands on the table, as if to settle it.
“Okay,” Sue-Ellen says.
“Okay.” Kei puts his hand on mine.
We follow him to the beach where we eat a sombre dinner of plain rice, and as soon as we’re done, Kei and I head back to the Bunkhouse. It’s early, but I’m anxious to get to bed. I’ll need every advantage I can get. And I want a few moments alone with Kei.
For the first time since the power went out, Kei climbs into the bottom bunk with me. We lie facing one another, our limbs entangled.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” he asks, brushing my hair away from my face. “You don’t have to. We can figure something else out. I—I’m not sure I could live with myself if something happened to you.” I can hear the anguish in his voice.
“I’m sure,” I tell him. And I mean it, as much as I possibly can. “Sue-Ellen will be a pain in my ass, but she truly is our best bet.”
He nods. He won’t look at me. This must be hard for him, too. He’s a helper, and to not be able to help me must be killing him. I tip his chin up with my thumb, forcing him to meet my eye. “It’s going to be okay,” I tell him. His eyes search mine. “It’s going to be okay.”
He gives a tight nod. “I just want you to know how sorry I am, for freezing you out. It’s just—I knew how I felt about you, and I thought you felt the same way, but you clearly weren’t going to let it happen, and I just felt like I couldn’t keep up with the bullshit anymore. I’m so sorry.”
I shake my head. “No, you were right. I wasn’t going to let it happen. I couldn’t let myself trust you. You’re so perfect. Way too good for me.”
He laughs, but there’s a bitterness there. “I’m nowhere near perfect,” he says. “I have so many faults and flaws. I hope—” He pauses, his eyes shining.
“What?” I breathe.
“I hope you get to see that side of me.”
I swallow, and nod. “I hope so, too. Because you’re kind of annoying like this.”
He laughs, the first genuine laugh he has given me in so long, and I am overwhelmed with happiness. He traces the line of my jaw with his fingers. His touch makes me shiver. Instinctively, I move my body closer to his, pressing myself against him. His breath catches in his throat.
He’s looking at my lips. He moves his head closer to mine, close enough that I can feel the warmth of his breath. I move my head closer, so close our lips are almost touching. It is excruciating and exquisite.
But then he puts me out of my misery. He tilts his head so our lips come together, tentatively at first, but then hungrily, like everything we had been through, all of the doubt and worry and fear, all of thehurt and anger and sadness, everything we’d been holding back—it’s all suddenly here in this kiss.
I wrap my leg around his hip, and he pulls me into him. A moan escapes when I feel his hardness against me. His hands run up my back, under my sweatshirt. I roll over so I’m straddling him. I grind myself into him, showing him how much I want him. He gasps, and the thrill of it shoots straight to my core. His hands find their way up my shirt, cupping my breasts. I start to pull my shirt over my head—
But then the Bunkhouse door opens.
We both freeze, and I roll off him when I hear footsteps coming toward us—the other campers are turning in for the night. He pulls the blanket up over us, and he hugs me in close. His breath is ragged, and so is mine. The light of a flashlight passes quickly over us. The door opens again, and more people start trickling in.
I look into Kei’s eyes. The moment is gone. Barely moving, he brings his lips to mine once again, this time so softly, so gently. We’re barely touching. It’s barely a kiss at all.
But it says so damn much.
Chapter Thirty-Five
I wake up to a scratching sound. I roll out of Kei’s embrace, squinting my eyes to locate the noise. It’s a tree branch, tapping the window in the wind. I’ve never noticed it there before, but then again, in this record-breaking hot summer, we haven’t had very much wind.
