Because of Ellison (8 page)

“You ready, Hunter? It’s not going to get any cooler out
there, so it’s best that we start now.” She picked up the bags from the floor
and threw two of them at me when I approached her. “You’ve got a camel pack and
a regular pack for food and water. I’ve filled up both, so you should have no
problem walking the trail with me.”

I stopped in my tracks. “How far a hike is this trail?
Two miles — five?
Why do we need provisions?” I had a
sinking feeling in my stomach that I really should NOT have agreed to this. Why
did I not just agree to the easy trail? I hate it when my testosterone and need
to show off ended up putting me in fucked up situations.

Nonchalantly, she answered, “It’s about 20 miles, give or
take. We should be able to complete it in a little less than seven hours if we
really hoof it. No biggie.”

My jaw dropped. I was so fucking tired already that I
couldn’t even close my mouth without pushing up on my chin with my hand. And
this girl wanted me to walk 20 miles in the Florida summer heat
?!
Uh-huh. No way was this happening. She was crazy.

“I don’t think so, Ellison. That sounds like suicide.”

She smirked at me and reached to take the packs from my
hand. “That’s fine, Hunter. It’s decent of you to admit you can’t handle it
before going out there with me and slowing me down. I’m sure I’ll see you
around when I get back.” It was a hit to my ego and then she did it again. That
thing she does that drives me crazy and makes a certain part of me want to
stand at attention: She winked.

Dammit. I was going to do this.

“Fine. Whatever. I can do this. I was just worried about you
having the energy to handle it given the fact that you didn’t get much sleep
last night. Oh, wait! That was me.”

A smile escaped her parting lips and her eyes twinkled with
humor. “I can imagine sleeping outside in a swamp is a bad idea … especially
while naked. I’m surprised you got any sleep at all.”

And with that, she opened the door and walked outside.

The sun was just starting to come up over the horizon and if
there’s anything to be said about Florida, it was that the sky was so beautiful
at times; it looked like
it had been painted by a master
artist
. Pinks, reds, yellows and oranges streaked across the skies,
casting a brilliant light on the trees and plant life surrounding us. Ellison
and I navigated our way through a small path that was cut into the dense
vegetation, and the two
fuzzballs
were following fast
on our heels.

“Are you sure the little guys will make the trip? Seems like
they have to move their legs four times as fast to keep up with us.” The two
dogs were panting heavily behind me and I almost felt the need to pick them up
and carry them.

Ellison glanced behind her to look at the mutts. “Don’t let
them fool you. They’ve made this trip with me several times already. Plus,
there are plenty of places to take a break and cool down, so it won’t be a
problem for them. They’re tougher than they look.” She smiled at me before
returning her attention to the trail.

We walked in silence for a short while until I couldn’t hold
my curiosity any longer. “So, are you going to tell me what happened last
night?” I couldn’t help the fact that while I asked that question, I was also
hungrily staring at the perfection of her ass in the hiking shorts she was
wearing.

She stopped and bent over to place her hands on her knees
when she laughed loudly at my question. I was instantly hard from the sight of
it, not even caring that she was in the middle of laughing at my pain. When she
straightened and turned suddenly, I shifted the position of my body to try to
hide my excitement.

She walked towards me seductively which contrasted sharply
with the innocent smile she had on her face. “Well, first you told me
repeatedly about how beautiful I am. I mean, really, the whole drive
home,
all you did was praise me. It was very flattering to
say the least.”

My entire body froze.

“And then after we finally arrived back, you begged me to
sleep in your bed because — and I quote —
you wouldn’t be able to sleep without the scent of me wrapped around
your body
.”

That was it. My internal organs were all shutting down and I
was dying from embarrassment. Never, and I repeat NEVER had I ever acted like
such a douche because of a female. She had to have slipped something into my
drink. Although, come to think of it, the scent of her wrapped around my body
was actually a really good idea on the part of my drunken alter ego. I gave him
a mental high five for that.

“I didn’t actually say that, did I?”

She smiled. “Oh, yes … yes, you did. Apparently, my shampoo
smells as good as a tropical island, which, by the way, was actually the sun
lotion I’d put on earlier that day. But thanks anyway.” Again, she winked. This
girl was trying to destroy me where I stood and she was doing a damn good job
of it.

When she reached me, she ran her finger down my chest and
stomach. Every muscle she touched flinched as the pad of her finger brushed
over it. Her eyes sparkled when she looked up at me.

“But my favorite part was when you started taking off your
clothes. Since I wouldn’t go in your house with you, you decided that we should
sleep outside and that is when you decided to strip down. You
laid
down on the ground and refused to get up, so I sat
there and let you fall asleep. I thought about waking you before I went in but
then I remembered I had to get even with you one more time. I knew daddy would
wake up and leave early so you would only be out there for an hour or so.” She chuckled
softly while holding my stare.

“You do realize your father almost killed me when he found
me, right? And what if I’d been allergic to mosquitos? I could have gone into
anaphylactic shock right there. I would have died and you would have felt really
bad.” I wanted so badly to be mad at her, but she was adorable when she was
gloating. I was shocked at how awesome it was to hang out with a girl who could
best me — and to a certain extent, it was a breath of fresh air.

“Well, of course you’re allergic to mosquitos, that’s why
you itch where they bite you. The real problem is if you get West Nile Virus or
some other nasty disease that they carry. Let’s hope that didn’t happen. In
fact … ” Placing her hand on my forehead she grinned, “How are you feeling right
now?”

The laughter rolled out of me and I pushed her hand away.
“You’re a bitch, you know that”

“I prefer that you call me ‘Evil Princess Bitch,’ thank you
very much. Show some respect.” It was at that moment that I realized her smile
was absolutely perfect. As the sun rose higher in the sky, the light it cast
was magic. Every detail of her face was perfectly outlined in light and
Ellison’s smile beamed up at me with full lips and white teeth, and I was going
crazy controlling myself from touching her.

We stared at each other and it felt like electrical currents
were shooting between our bodies. My mouth ached to explore hers and I couldn’t
help myself when I leaned down to try to kiss her. She took a step back and I
groaned at the distance she put between us while my cheeks burned from
embarrassment of having been refused.

“We should get going if we’re going to make it home at a
decent time.” Spinning on her heel, she turned back to the trail and we
continued our path. After a few minutes, my curiosity got to me again.

“So, how is it I got so drunk and you were sober when we
left the bar? We were drinking those pitchers together.”

Her shoulders shook with laughter. “Well, I drank two beers,
but you were slamming them back. After a while, when I was ‘going to the
bathroom’, I was actually going to the water fountain when I got thirsty. You
kept drinking without noticing you were taking the pitchers out by yourself.
After a while, I had a soda in my hand and you were oblivious to the fact I
wasn’t drinking. It was kind of funny, actually.”

“But why did you want me to get drunk?”

She stopped and turned to me. Shrugging her shoulders, she
said, “No reason.”

Oh shit.

~
    
~
    
~

I’d never been happier to sit down than I was at that
moment. We reached a small clearing by a spring and while the dogs were happily
lapping up the cool water, I took a seat at a small picnic table that the state
park had graciously placed here for weary hikers. The Florida sun beat down
heavily on my skin and it felt like a fucking sauna. Rain clouds gathered
lazily in the sky and I prayed that they’d let loose just to cool down my body.
The muscles in my legs were burning and I immediately unstrapped the bags from
my back and placed them down so that I could lay flat across the top of the
table. Ellison looked over at me from the edge of the spring and chuckled.

“Not used to walking? Come on now, you’ve been doing it
since you were a baby, I presume. You should have more in you than that.”
Pulling her GPS from her bag, she looked at me and said, “We’ve only gone seven
miles at this point.”

Seven miles.
Seven fucking miles.
Which meant there were 13 more fucking miles to go. I saw my life flash before
my eyes and I knew there was no way I was going to make it out of here alive.
And, once again, she was laughing at me.

“I’m really happy you can take so much pleasure in my pain.
It makes me feel good to know you’ll be entertained thoroughly while I’m down
here for the summer. That is, if I live through the rest of it.” My words were
coming out in choppy huffs as I attempted to regulate my breathing. The
headache from my hangover had subsided around mile four, but now the rest of my
body was in absolute revolt against the continued activity.

“Stop being so dramatic. With a physique like yours, I would
have sworn you were in better shape than that.”

Wait a second. I think she just admitted she liked my body.
Suddenly, my energy levels elevated back up to an almost normal level, but not
quite. Laying there for another few minutes with my eyes closed, I finally
decided to move again when I pushed myself up into a sitting position and heard
a splash. Looking over towards the spring, El was nowhere to be seen and the
dogs stood back from the water whining as they looked around for her.

“El
?!
” Fuck! I knew Florida was the
land of crazy reptiles and I jumped down from the table and ran to the spring’s
edge. El’s shirt and shorts lay in a pile with her bags on a rock off to the
side. Was she wearing a bathing suit under her clothes? My eyes flicked back
over the glassy surface of the water and I noticed bubbles moving out deeper
into the water. “Ellison!” I was nervous but eventually she popped up and I
openly gawked when her hands came up to smooth her wet hair back. She opened
her eyes and the sunlight bounced off of them, making it appear as if they
generated light all on their own. It was mesmerizing to say the least.

“What in the hell are you doing? I thought you fell in or
got dragged in my some large animal that I had no intention of saving you
from!”

She smiled. “You should come in. The water feels great.”

“I don’t have a suit.”

“So?” She shrugged her shoulders and laid flat along the
surface of the water, happily floating with her face turned up into the heat of
the sun. “You don’t need a suit. Nobody will come around here. Just strip down
and jump in.”

“Are you naked under there?” My eyes squinted in a desperate
attempt to see under the water. I shouldn’t have been trying so hard, but,
dammit, I was a guy and there was a smoking hot body under there without
anything to cover it.

Laughing, she righted herself and was treading water. “I’m
not naked, Hunter. So stop trying to sneak a peek. You are such a
perv
.”

“Am not!” Okay, I’ll admit that was an elementary school
response, but the thought of Ellison in nothing more than her underwear was
enough to cause short circuits in the old gray matter. “Why is it every time
I’m near you, you’re trying to get me naked?” It was a valid question.

“Get over yourself, Hunter. I won’t look if that’s what
you’re afraid of. Isn’t it possible for two people to go swimming without you
trying to turn it into something sexual?”

No. No, it was not possible — and the sudden tight fit
of my pants was proof of that fact.

The sun was beating down on my head and back and the water
looked oh so enticing. I kicked off my sneakers and socks and waded ankle deep
into the water. “Holy shit! That’s cold!”

“Well, yeah. It’s a spring.” She pointed over to a darker
area where more bubbles were breaking up at the surface. “This water is fed
from underground, so the temperature remains cool, even during the hot summer
months. Just jump in and you’ll adjust to it in no time. Stop being such a
sissy.”

Walking back to shore, I pulled off my shirt and turned to
notice that Ellison was watching intently as I stripped down. Her cheeks
reddened when I caught her looking. “It’s okay. You can look if you want to.
I’m not shy.” I winked at her. Two could play this game.

She shook her head and dove back under the water. When she
resurfaced, she said, “It’s not like I haven’t seen a naked man before, Hunter.
Don’t get all big headed about it.”

“Yeah, but you haven’t seen ME naked. I promise you it’s
like nothing you’ve ever experienced before.” I couldn’t tell, but I swore she
rolled her eyes at that comment. My ego was taking hits left and right with
this girl.

Swimming farther out, she called back, “We can’t stay here
all day, so either shut up and get in, or just shut up.”

Stripping down to my boxers, I attempted to walk into the
water slowly. The water was so
cold,
it felt like ice
against my heated skin. My balls instantly retreated into my body and my
manhood, well, let’s just say, I’m sure it wasn’t looking all that impressive
at the moment. I hesitated and instinctively wrapped my arms around my chest as
if that would somehow warm the chill now shooting through my body.