Jason's POV
Noah's cottage was on the Agua Fria River, not far from Forum Vern. When we were younger, we'd hang on the dock, go fishing, eat as much junk food as we could stuff down our throats, and stay up late watching cheesy horror movies. One year, Noah scared the crap out of us when he jumped on our bed, yelling at the top of his lungs and wearing a white goalie mask. You know, of the Trevor variety. Funny now, but not so much back then, because Luke crapped his pants. Like literally.
I'd been coming here since I was a kid, tagging along with Noah and his parents, but over the last couple of years, a few things had changed, namely the lack of parents. Now we came up on our own, and as long as we don't get stupid and trash the place, Noah's dad is okay with us using it.
Man, that first time, we'd felt like kings. On our own with no adults to tell us what to do.I'd only been fifteen but had told my folks we were going with Noah's dad. A total lie, and I eventually got caught, but Luke (who was the oldest and had a license) drove us up. We were serious musicians, and it was just us guys, and we were going to write hit songs and get drunk and eat as much crap as we could. We weren't going to worry about girls and all the drama they brought with them. Except, you know, girls do add a certain flavor, and after the second night, we knew we were missing something. Girls and guitars just seemed to go together.
I glanced up at the place as Noah pulled his truck in behind Luke's car. We'd had some pretty intense parties up here, a lot of good times, and it felt good to be back, even if some of the gang was missing.
Cat had fallen asleep on the ride up, and she was curled into my side. She was soft and warm, and I could have stayed holed up with her in the back of Noah's truck all afternoon. Pretty hard not to think along those lines, because she was so damn sweet with her long lashes touching the tops of her cheeks, and she was going to hate this, but the girl snored softly. It was kind of adorable, although I had no plans to tell her.
I couldn't help myself. I let my finger trace the contours of her top lip and then slipped my hand into her hair so that I could kiss her.
There's something to be said about how amazing it feels to wake up a girl with your mouth. Especially when she tastes as sweet as Catherine Moss.
She moved against me, turning slightly, and I thought I should pull back. Hell, we were in the back of Noah's truck,and Noah stood a few feet away, leaning against his car. But she was so soft and warm and...
I deepened the kiss, wanting more, needing to feel her wanting the same thing. Her eyes flew open, and she stilled, her hands already buried in the hair at the back of my head.
"Hey," I said, voice a little rough, because man, there were zings and zongs going off in my body. Things had heated up pretty fast.
"Sorry," she breathed. "I didn't mean to fall asleep."
"It's all right. You can sleep on me anytime." Her eyes slid away, and her cheeks got all rosy. It took everything I had not to kiss her again. Like I said. Adorable.
"We should go help get our gear in," I said.
She never looked away. Her eyes were dark, like liquid navy, and I thought they were the most amazing eyes ever. "Okay. Sounds like a plan."
I waited for a few moments and then cleared my throat. "You might have to move a little." The girl was snug between my legs, and I was hoping she was going to move to the right, because if she moved to the left, well, let's just say I wasn't prepared for that.
"Oh." She glanced down and then her eyes shot back to mine. "Oh. I'm sorry. I..."
I had to laugh. "Cat, don't worry about it. It's my deal, not yours." I bent forward and kissed her nose. "You can't help it if the sight of you makes me crazy."s
"Does it?" There was that soft, slow smile that I dug.
"Do you want me to show you right here?"
She glanced out the window. "Um...no!"
We both rolled out of the truck and followed Anabeth, Noah, and Luke up the stairs with our bags. The guys went back a few more times for the coolers that were stuffed with food, bear, and--
"Who the hell packed two club packs of popsicles?" I eyed Luke, but he shrugged.
"Not me."
"I did," Anabeth said, grabbing them from me and heading to the kitchen with them. "They're, like, my kryptonite."
I made a weird face, and Cat tried like hell not to laugh.
"So, they'll kill you?" I asked, following her into the kitchen. She was stuffing them into the freezer.
"Huh?"
"Kryptonite. It was the one thing that made Superman weak."
She grabbed a cherry popsicle but didn't bother to offer me one. "Superman?' she asked, tearing off the wrapper. "What does Superman have to do with me?"
I opened my mouth to answer, but Noah was there, biting off a huge piece of her popsicle. "Mmm," he said, moving in for a kiss. "Cherry is my new favorite flavor."
He pushed her back against the kitchen cabinets, and the two of them started to make out like porn stars. Time for me to leave. I glanced at Cat, but she was already moving back towards the family room that overlooked the river.
"Our bedroom is that way." I grabbed her bag and she followed me down the hall. The cottage wasn't big, but the bedrooms were a good size. Noah was taking his parents' room, which overlooked the water and had an exit to the hot tub. The guest room had a view of the shed and not much else, because it was tiny. I was okay with that because the bed was a huge king-sized monstrosity that took up most of the space, and we had our own private bathroom.
Win.
"Wow," Cat said softly, eyes on the red and white plaid blanket. "It's...big."
I tossed my bag. "And squeaky. The springs are shot."
"What?"
I tried to keep a straight face but lost it when she took a step towards me. "Kidding," I said, hands up in surrender.
"That's not funny." She tried to punch me in the shoulder, but I ducked and grabbed her around the waist.
We both fell into the bed. Again, win.
And she ended up on top of me. Double win.
I was laughing, and she was trying not to laugh. And my hands were on her hips and then she was leaning over me, her hair tickling my nose. She had bare legs, an exposed stomach, and a summer sweet smell.
God, she felt great.
Our laughter slowly died and I couldn't bear to close my eyes. I exhaled and tried to get my head screwed on straight, but it was damn hard. The air was different. It was thick and heavy, with a need that I didn't think we were ready for. At least, not yet.
I tucked that piece of hair that teased me behind her ear, shifted a bit because, well, she was on top of me, and cracked a smile.
"See? No squeaks."
I sat up, Cat still straddling me, and wrapped my arms around her. What was it about this girl that made me all fuzzy and warm, acting like a damn teddy bear?s
"I should unpack," she said.
"Yeah," I said slowly, pressing one last kiss on a mouth that was pretty much perfect. Her breath hitched, and that did all sorts of crazy stuff to me. More than a little unsteady (when had a girl ever made me feel this freaking crazy?), I pulled away.
"We've got all weekend."