Page 94 of For Better or Hearse
Her cheeks stain with color. “You didn’t have to do that.”
“Think of it as making me feel better,” he says around the lump in his throat.
She considers him, lips pursed. “I’m truly split between adoration and complete violence.”
As they continue along the path, silence ripples between them. The only sounds the crunch of their boots on the hard rock path, birdsong. His arm swings side by side with Ash’s. Every few seconds, their pinkies touch, sending a shockwave singing down his spine. It’s painful how close she is. Her heat. Her scent.
Jesus.
His fucking dick twitches. He clenches his teeth, racks his brain for a topic that will force it back into playing dead.
“Truth,” he says, and Ash’s eyes bounce to his. “Sunsets or sunrises?”
“Sunsets,” she answers. “They’re like nature’s last scream.”
Nathaniel pushes a branch out of their way, letting Ash pass. Over her shoulder, she asks, “Would you rather wear a fedora every day for the rest of your life, or for every beverage you drink for the rest of your life to contain two drops of pee?”
He snorts, catching up with her. “I’m not answering that.”
“Why not? The answer is obviously pee, and you know it.”
“What’s this?” Delaney’s curious voice carries. “What are you doing?”
“It’s Ash’s game,” Augustus says.
Ash turns around and walks backward. “It’s a question game. One person asks a question. The person who answers it can either tell a truth or a lie.”
Nathaniel adds, “It doesn’t make sense.”
With a grunt, Ash shoves him into a palm frond. “Ignore him. Here. For example, does or does Nathaniel not look like a highly trained assassin in his all-black hiking attire?”
Claire’s face pinches like she’s trying to hold in a laugh.
Augustus laughs, big and boisterous.
Nathaniel rolls his eyes. Fights a smile.
“Yes, he does, and that is the truth.” Delaney howls in laughter. “Okay, okay, my turn. Does anyone else think Dad’s just been holding in his farts his entire life?”
“Delaney!” Claire exclaims, eyes wide.
“What? I’ve never seen him let one loose!”
Nathaniel’s mother looks scandalized, but they’re laughing. Everyone’s laughing. Like some invisible wall has come down. Nathaniel takes each one of them in. Something inside him lightens. Relaxes.
“My turn,” Tate says, shoving his phone into his pack.
Even their mother gets in on the action. For the remainder of the short hike, the whole group plays multiple rounds of Ash’s game. Finally, they reach the top of the viewpoint.
“Whoa,” Ash breathes as they pass a massive banyan tree. Fig vines hang like delicate curtains. She looks up, boots slipping as she turns in a circle to take in the lush tropical rainforest.
Steadying her, Nathaniel places a light hand on the small of her back. Then he guides her up the trail. Now that he’s started touching her, he can’t stop. Her creamy bare skin, her tattoos, the way her long wild hair falls forward over her shoulders, is a rush of the senses. He’s powerless against her. He’d commit arson if she asked.
When they get to the special viewing platform, they all gasp. The scenery is stunning. Water rushes over the falls at great speed and erupts in white water below. Mist and water droplets pepper their skin. Thanks to the rising sun, a dazzling rainbow hovers in the falls like a mirage.
Ash laughs and holds out her hand to the mist. She stretches out on tiptoes, on those squeaky black boots of hers, like she can touch the sky, and Nathaniel almost believes she could.
Augustus grins. “Now that’s a wonder.”