Jake turned his face back toward the sky and spent some time scratching his eye.
“You’re one of the best, Jake. You’ll be fine, and so will Sophie. With any luck, she’ll grow up to be just like her Aunt Shelby.”
He smiled, though he wouldn’t look at me. “Heaven help us all.”
I scoffed while he laughed softly, both of us appreciating the lighter tone.
“Alright. I’m going to sleep.” I snuggled down in my bed, pulling my hoodie over my head and ears. The tips of my fingers were frozen solid, so I tucked them into my sweatshirt and tried to think warm thoughts when he spoke.
“Hey, Tuck?”
“Hmm?”
There was a long pause before he spoke, giving weight to the moment. “You were the best part of my childhood too.”
I looked at him then, the orange embers of the fire highlighting his face. His eyes were on mine, and our gazes held. The longer we stared, the more erratic my heartbeat became.Memories of his kiss not so long ago began replaying in my mind. And then he held his knuckles out for me to pound them, effectively ruining the vibe and causing me to doubt the entire moment.
“Except, now that I’m thinking about it,” he said, “if you had stayed in town and chased off Miranda, this whole thing could have probably been avoided. You really dropped the ball there at the end.”
I grabbed a small rock I found by my sleeping bag and tossed it toward him, missing him on purpose.
“No wonder you didn’t go pro.”
I fluffed the pillow under my head, pulled the covers up to my shoulders, and turned away from him, giving him the only parting shot I could. “Sleep tight, Nancy.”
Sometime later,I woke to Jake unzipping my sleeping bag. It felt like I hadn’t even gone to sleep; I was just sort of frozen in a numb state of mind and body.
“What are you—“ I started to ask before my body began violently shaking at the cold blast of air coming through my newly unzipped sleeping bag.
“You’re freezing. I fell asleep for too long, and the fire went out. You’re going to break your teeth with how hard they’re chattering. Get in with me for a minute to warm up.”
All I heard was “get in with me,” and the plan seemed reasonable enough. I crawled into his sleeping bag while he settled in after me, pulling mine around us like a blanket.
A sigh escaped me immediately as his arms pulled my back to his chest, the heat from his body sending a blast of relief to mine.
“How are you so hot?” I moaned, my teeth shivering.
Jake rubbed his hands up and down my arms, attempting to revive me. “If I had a dime for all the times I’ve been asked that question…”
“Why couldn’t we have a tent again?” I asked.
“I didn’t count on you being such a wuss.”
With that, I rolled over and snuggled into him, burying my chilled nose in his neck while I shoved my frozen fingers into his armpit.
Jake sucked in a breath. “Holy crap, woman.”
“If you tell anybody about this, I’m publishing your full name in theEugene Gazette.”
Jake brought his arms tighter around me, pulling me close. “I think Tessa’s doing a great job spreading my full name around, thanks to you.”
After a long while, my shaking subsided, allowing my body to thaw and my breath to even out, leaving me wrapped in the cozy cocoon of Jake’s arms.
Somewhere in a completely relaxed state, I heard Jake say, “You’d better go back to your own bed, Tuck.”
“I’m going,” I whispered, inching closer to his warmth.
“Good. Get out of here.” Jake shifted to his back, bringing me with him so one of my legs tangled with his and my head rested on his chest. I ran my right hand across his stomach before I buried it in his armpit once more.