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“That is the Southern Cross constellation up there and I think that bright light is Venus. I believe it’s even better than the glowworms. Don’t you think? Of course, I arranged the cloudless sky especially for us.”
“It is incredible, but I’m wondering, how are you going to top this?”
“I don’t think I can, but I do have chocolate.”
“Chocolate is good,” she said, putting out her hand for some. “By the way, what the heck is a bunyip?”
“It’s an imaginary Australian creature that lives in rivers, so you are okay, probably.”
Autumn dug her elbow into my chest.
The two of us sat there eating chocolate and staring at the night sky. I wasn’t sure how well we would sleep, but for now, things were perfect. I would hold on to this memory.
“Thanks for this. When life has gone wrong in the past, I didn’t expect any more. Tonight has had a silver lining, just like you said it would.”
“I hope that means the kiss as well as the stars?”
“I can safely say I look forward to more when I don’t have sticks poking in my back and birds screeching overhead. Plus, the threat of a bunyip.”
The two of us settled down for the night as she turned on her side and I cuddled up beside her. Autumn would have noticed the bulge in my pants pressing against her back, but she didn’t move away. Things were turning out well. I could put all thoughts of Melbourne and family issues behind me while I devoted his time to making Autumn happy.
TEN
Autumn
A magpie warbled nearby and then a kookaburra started to cackle. I took a moment to work out where I was as I opened her eyes. Then it all came back. My whole body ached, and I was sure the ground beneath was tunneling into my hip.
Two things were apparent at the moment. One being the big body of Ryan that was spooning me, and two, he had an erection pushing into my back. I might be uncomfortable, but the idea that I was turning him on made me smile. Then reality kicked in, and he probably needed to pee, just like I did. I wriggled and he hugged me tighter. He was so darn cute. I had not allowed myself many cuddles these past few years. Laying here I realized how much I missed them. I still needed to move though or my bladder would burst.
“I need to pee, Ryan.”
“I was just holding onto the moment of feeling your ass pressed against me. It was a great way to wake up.” He kissed the back of my neck.
“I noticed, plus your erection, which is hard to miss. Now I am going to relieve myself and hope a snake doesn’t bite my bottom when I do.” Darn it but he was just too likeable.
“The way you say bottom is so English. You even sound so adorable when talking about butts.”
When I returned, Ryan was up with the backpack on and the water bottle in his hand. There was a buzzing noise that sounded like a chain saw coming from a distance.
“Have a drink of this and we can be on our way. I think the local forestry guys may have found the fallen branch blocking the path. We can head toward the sound and hopefully get out of here without falling off a cliff.”
“I think that sounds like a great idea.”
We walked along, and I thought of reaching out and taking his hand. We had been physically close last night, but that was to do with sex. To hold his hand casually would mean something else and I didn’t want to go there. Fun was what I required. The last thing I needed was a relationship. My track record was terrible, and it would be simpler this way.
After about half an hour of walking through the bush and climbing over logs, we found the fallen tree branch and the men working on cutting it up. Their faces were a picture when they saw us coming out of nowhere. They put down their chainsaws and shook their heads.
“Where the hell did you two come from?” the first guy said.
“We were bushwalking last night when the tree came down. Slept under the stars,” Ryan said.
The smell of eucalyptus was strong. I closed my eyes and breathed in. It was beautiful and soothing despite the noise when the guys started up their chainsaws again. I saw them wink at Ryan like he’d been clever enough to get a tree to drop its branch and almost kill us.
We arrived back at the parking lot. A part of me was sad now we were back with humanity again. It had been fun to just be the two of us under the stars, and then there was that kiss. My life had been missing something, and that kiss was just what the doctor ordered. The real world had seemed a million miles away last night.
Ryan stopped on the way home at a local café. He bought us coffee and a bacon and egg roll, and it was the best thing I had eaten in months.
“I could give you a kiss right here on the main street of Katoomba just for this.” I sipped the coffee and sighed. Then I gobbled down the roll with relish. As we drove back to the cottages, I wasn’t sure what to say about the next step in our arrangement. Maybe I would google how to deal with a fuck buddy when I got home.
