“That’s beautiful,” Cherry said. “I love that.”
Another half shrug and then Ellis looked down at their feet. “How are the new shoes?”
Slowly nodding, Cherry tipped her foot in different directions, held it at different angles. “Really, really great. Maybe a little hot, but I think they’re waterproof, so that’s probably why.”
“Yeah? You should check and see.” Ellis indicated the stream with her chin and grinned.
Cherry’s smile grew, and something about seeing it after what felt like a long time of seriousness gave Ellis a sense of relief. Which she didn’t quite understand. “I think I should,” Cherry said, then reached out her hand. Ellis took it, the warm softness of Cherry’s skin shooting a jolt straight to Ellis’s center.
She swallowed hard.
Cherry stepped over a rock, then another, and set her foot directly into the water. She stayed shallow, as the boots were mid-cut, and she likely didn’t want to finish the hike in wet socks.
“And?” Ellis asked.
Cherry tipped her head one way, then the other, as if deciding on her answer. Finally, she said, “Well, my foot is cold, but not wet. Very cold, in fact.”
Her hand still in Cherry’s, Ellis squatted down and stuck her hand in the stream…and yanked it right back out again. “Holy shit, that’s freezing.” She stood back up and tugged Cherry by the hand. “Come on. Out.”
“Already?” Cherry teased. “How come?”
“Because if you fall in, I’m not jumping in to rescue you. Sorry. Too fucking cold.”
“Fine. I see how it is.” Cherry stepped back over the rocks, and her foot slipped. At least that’s what Ellis thought happened because in the next second, Cherry was in her arms, Ellis having kept her from falling on her ass. When Cherry met her gaze, their noses were mere millimeters apart. “Oh. Hey.”
“Hi,” Ellis whispered, and she kissed her. Hard.
Cherry kissed her back without hesitation, and Ellis marveled at that. No uncertainty. No tentativeness. Just lips and tongue and hands and…
The loud snapping of a twig jerked them apart, and they turned their heads in tandem to see another couple—a man and a woman—walking by, on the trail rather than the bank of the stream, but clearly looking their way. Cherry waved at them, said hi, and asked them how they were doing.
“Not as well as you two,” the guy said with a laugh and a thumbs-up. “Don’t mind us. We’re moving right along. As you were.”
Ellis watched in fascination as a line of red inched up Cherry’sneck and colored her face. But she was still smiling, and that made everything okay somehow. “So, PDA? Makes you blush?”
Cherry laughed and dropped her forehead to Ellis’s shoulder. “I’m a redhead. Everything makes me look like I’m blushing.”
“I disagree. You’re not a typical redhead, and this is the first time I’ve seen you blush. It’s really kind of adorable.” And it was. Cherry lifted her head again, and those deep brown eyes held so much in that moment—promise, sensuality, expectation—that Ellis felt herself go a little light-headed. She had to take a step back with one foot to keep herself from falling right the hell over at the impact. Her mouth went dry, and she needed a beat to compose herself.
“Everything okay?” Cherry asked with a cute little tilt of her head.
“Mm-hmm,” Ellis replied, then pecked her lips once before taking a subtle step back. Cherry gave her a look. Confusion? Uncertainty? Amusement? She wasn’t sure. All she knew was that she needed to put a little space between them, so she could breathe again. Because that was the issue, wasn’t it? Cherry literally stole her breath.
By unspoken agreement, they continued walking until they came to the cute little wooden bridge that crossed over the stream. They crossed it single file, Cherry still ahead. It turned the trail back on itself, so they were then heading the way they’d come.
Ellis forced herself to look around. To take in the trees and sunshine and nature itself. To inhale the scent of earth and sprouting flowers and spring. It was spring, and in Upstate New York, that was the marker for new beginnings, which wasn’t lost on Ellis, the irony. The parallel to her current life situation. Was Cherry a new beginning?
As if sensing her pensiveness, Cherry slowed a step or two, so they walked side by side on the narrow trail, and something about Cherry’s proximity seemed to calm things for Ellis. She couldn’t explain it, but it simultaneously calmed her and freaked her the hell out. Which shouldn’t have been possible, but totally was.
“I love this trail,” Cherry said, her voice almost reverent. And then she inhaled deeply through her nose and held her arms out to her sides. When she dropped them back down, she bumped Ellis with a shoulder. “You having an okay time?”
“I’m having a great time. Thanks for inviting me.” With a glance down, she asked, “How are the shoes holding up?”
“Amazing. Not a blister in sight.” She kicked up a heel, then almost fell, and Ellis caught her. Again.
“Wow, you’re really kind of a klutz, aren’t you?” she said with a genuine laugh, and Cherry joined in.Unless you’re just trying to get me to kiss you again…
“Maybe I just want you to kiss me again.”
