Bet on It (56)

“Shut up!” she grumbled, knowing he was right. “I’m going back to the car, you don’t deserve to see the beauty of my extra special, super-secret spot.”

His arms went around her waist before she could stomp away. He pulled her closer, until her back was flush with his chest. It was hot out, one of those days when it wasn’t uncommon to hear “it’s too hot out for all that touching” in Black households. They both wore shorts; him, a pair of dark khaki ones that fell just above his knee, and her, a pair of black ones that barely contained her thighs. They’d only been touching for mere moments, but the skin on their arms stuck together as she put hers over his around her middle.

“Wait, wait, wait…” The words were said into the shell of her ear. “Maybe I was too quick to judge. Maybe you are here to drag me to my death.”

“And…?”

Walker sighed deeply. “And maybe I don’t know the true nature of your being just because we’ve had sex.”

She flicked the back of his hand, and his arms tightened around her. “But just so we’re being clear,” she said with a smile, “you’re admitting to me that I could absolutely kill you if I wanted to. And that you don’t know me well enough to be absolutely, completely sure that I wouldn’t. And for that reason you should always be a little bit scared of me.”

“Oh, well, I can tell you right now that I’m completely fuckin’ terrified of you. Just not necessarily for that reason.”

She tilted her head back against his shoulder and lifted her face up towards him so she could look him in the eyes. “I would like to clarify that you should only be afraid of me because I could, in theory, murder you. Not for any other reason.”

“You could do a lot worse than kill me.”

She shook her head and pulled away completely. His arms around her were too overwhelming, the feeling of him sweeping her up in something they were actively trying not to get swept up in.

Aja told herself that Walker was referring to her ability to maim him or rob him blind. She was willing to consider any possibility as long as it was far from what her gut told her he was referring to—that she had the power to break his heart. She couldn’t go down that road, not right now, not ever. If she let herself think about how she had that power, she’d have no choice but to admit that he might have the same over her.

Unacceptable.

Absolutely un-fucking-acceptable.

She cleared her throat. “We should keep going,” she said. “I know you have to take Ms. May to her doctor’s appointment later, and I don’t want to make you late because we were fucking around before we even got to the spot.”

“Right.” He looked away from her and into the trees. There was a look on his face, and she couldn’t tell if it was anger or hurt. She figured it was probably both.

They continued the trek in silence, the only thing reminding her that she wasn’t alone was the heavy sound of his footsteps behind her. When they reached the end of the wooden path, they got an unobstructed view of their destination.

In an effort to convince him to join her, she’d spent days hyping up her super-secret, super-special spot. She’d teased him about how she was relatively new to Greenbelt but still had the inside scoop on a place he knew nothing about. Once he’d finally agreed, she’d realized that she had built a lot of expectations for a spot that, in reality, wasn’t very exciting.

It was beautiful, to be sure. A large clearing with lush, well-maintained grass. A small creek ran through the center. The water was barely ankle deep, but it ran swiftly, rushing down its path until it disappeared into the woods behind the clearing. Rocks of varying sizes rested on either side of the creek; some were stones small enough to skip along the water, while others were boulders big enough for multiple people to sit on.

There was no one else in the space, only the bubbling sound of rushing water, the wind rustling the tree leaves, and the two of them, somehow more silent than the nature around them.

“How in the hell did you find this?” Walker asked.

“Some of my friends brought me here last week. Apparently this is where all the kids used to come and get freaky. They call it ‘Cunny Creek’.”

His face twisted like he’d smelled something nasty. “I’ve never been here.…”

“I figured.”

He turned his eyes on her and she realized her words may have come off wrong. “I mean … not like that … you told me that you weren’t very … outgoing when you were in high school … so I just figured…”

“I know, Aja, don’t worry,” he snorted. “I sure as hell wasn’t spendin’ any time at Cunny Creek when I lived here. It’s nice though.…”

“Isn’t it?” She walked in a slow circle, slowly breathing in her surroundings. “I found it really peaceful. I thought you might like it.”

He smiled softly at her, the awkwardness from before seemingly forgotten. “You’re right. I do like it. Thank you for bringing me here.”

“I can’t give you the full Cunny Creek experience, but I can show you the most comfortable rock in existence.”

She took his hand in hers, working hard to ignore how good and natural and right it felt to touch him so casually as she led him to the largest rock in the clearing. It wasn’t high off the ground, so neither of them had to strain to get on top. It was rounded on the sides but flatter on top, providing a stable base to sit on. The rock had been big enough for her, Miri, Jade, and Olivia together. She and Walker didn’t, technically, have to sit so close, but they did anyway. It seemed like whenever there was even the slightest opportunity for them to be close, they took it. Even when it would have made more sense and been wiser to keep their distance.