Page 81 of Cloudy With a Chance of Bad Decisions
“You know, this morning?—”
“Let’s not talk about this right now,” I cut him off, cheeks red. “Please. People could hear and—and?—”
“Yeah, okay.” Alex agreed easily. “Later, then.” He didn’t push me, which was weird but nice. Just like his behavior last night had been, and the day before. “When we’re alone.”
Oh god.
I was going to have to be alone with him again, wasn’t I?
We shared a tent.
“Roll up your sleeves,” Alex urged. “I’m gonna get you covered in no-no bug juice.”
“No-no bug juice?” I arched a brow. “What are you, five?”
“Apparently.” Alex smirked. “Got you to smile, didn’t I?”
“Oh.”
He was right.
Iwassmiling.
Huh.
“Whatever.”
I glared at him.
Then I did as I was told, rolling up the sleeve on my right arm. I was careful not to allow him to see the burns on my fingers, lest he judge me.
Alex was, as always, very handsy as he helped spray me for bugs. He dealt with my left arm, pushing up the fabric so he could get at bare skin, fingers firm and sure. Somehow his touch was even more electric than before. And his scent—Christ, his natural musk made me feel like I was going crazy every time I got a whiff of it. All clean sweat and sunshine.
He had to have some crazy pheromones because I hadneverin all my life been more tempted to climb on top of someone and rub myself all overthem. I knew firsthand what it felt like to be squashed up against all that bulk. Strong. Squishy in all the right places. Hard in others.
I swallowed, once again distracted.
Get your mind out of the gutter, George.
Change the subject.
“Doyoulike hiking?” I asked as I tipped my head away while he sprayed my exposed arms and legs. The smell was awful. Which was unsurprising. I tried not to breathe it in.
“What gave me away?” Alex winked. I narrowed my eyes at him, and seeing my ire, he elaborated. “I didn’t get to do this a lot. Dad was busy when we were growing up, so June and I didn’t branch out much with our hobbies till we were adults. We’ve tried a lot of things together since. Travel. Et cetera. But camping and hiking are her favorite—hence why she wanted me to rent out a glorified summer camp for her wedding. She drags me out all the time with her and Roderick.”
“You spend a lot of time with each other?”
“Oh, yeah. She’s my best friend.” Alex said this with no hint of self-consciousness whatsoever. He fanned a hand over my arms to dry the bug spray. “Right out of high school, we went backpacking together. Spent a few days in Utah climbing through Zion, some time at the Redwoods, and Yellowstone. Went to Central America at the end, hiked Machu Picchu. We don’t go nearly that wild anymore—both of us are mostly homebodies—but we find time to hang out even when we’re home.”
“Wow.” Very outdoorsy then. That paired with his admission on the plane that he liked sports, and I was swiftly realizing that Alex was more unhinged than I’d hypothesized. I mean…who chooses to do any of that? Insane people, that’s who.
“You don’t have to look so disgusted,” Alex teased. I hadn’t realized my nose had been scrunched up until I forced it to relax. His skin was hot as he rolled my sleeves back down when I was sufficiently dry.
The innocent touch made my skin tingle.
“I’m not disgusted, I just…” I shuddered. “I don’t see how you could voluntarily put yourself in that position.”
“In the position of going outside?” Alex was obviously trying not to laugh.
