Primal Instincts_ Volume 2(22)
Author: Nicole Edwards

 

“You keep askin’ about my datin’ habits, darlin’,” I told her as I pulled the food from the bags and passed hers to her. “What about you?”

 

Journey grinned, leaning in and stealing one of my fries. I returned the favor, stealing three of hers.

 

Her smile widened as she unwrapped her burger. “The last date I had was in high school. He took me to a football game, where I sat with a couple of my friends while he walked around with his. I’m not sure it counts as a date, but back then, I thought it meant we’d one day get married.”

 

“The wild fantasies of youth,” I teased. “Did you love him?”

 

“Sure. In that sixteen-year-old way, when we mistake hormones for emotions and think that tingle in our bellies means we can’t live without someone.”

 

“Oh, yes. Those days.”

 

“It didn’t last, but not for lack of trying on his part.” She was staring at her burger as she spoke. “He was my first and only sexual encounter.”

 

“Tell me he didn’t bail after,” I said. “If he did, just give me his name. I’ll hunt him down and kick his ass.”

 

She laughed, and this time the sound was genuine. “No. I broke up with him. He thought those two minutes were mind-blowing and perfect. I had a hard time remembering it happened. When I told him I didn’t want to do it again, he accused me of being a bitch.”

 

“Really?”

 

Journey nodded, her gaze swinging out over the water. “Yeah. He ended up going out with one of my frenemies. I didn’t care. I’d built up this notion that sex was supposed to include fireworks, and if you didn’t get them, you were with the wrong person.”

 

“Fireworks?”

 

“You know, Roman candles and rockets. What I got couldn’t even be classified as a sparkler, never mind that we’d had nearly a solid year of foreplay. I didn’t know if I was broken or if he was, and I couldn’t get past it.”

 

This girl. Fuck.

 

“Roman candles and rockets, huh?”

 

“Yes,” she said adamantly. “Aerial, at the very least.”

 

Her metaphors were going to kill me.

 

She held a fry to her lips as she peered over at me. “Surely you shot fireworks when you were a kid.” She chuckled. “Literally, I mean. Not…”

 

I watched the color rise in her cheeks. “Oh, yeah.” I nodded, chewing. “Plenty. Not much else to do in a small town with a population pretty much equivalent to the number of branches on the family tree.”

 

“You’ve got a big family, huh?”

 

“Lots of cousins,” I admitted. “My dad’s got four brothers and three sisters.”

 

Journey’s eyes went wide. “Your grandparents had eight kids?”

 

“They did. Everything’s big in Texas, don’t you know that?”

 

“I guess so.” Her smile was bright. “Eight. Wow.”

 

“At last count, I had like thirty-two first cousins.” I chewed a few fries. “Made meandering the dating pool awkward.”

 

“How do you keep track of all of them?”

 

“When I saw them day after day, it was easy. Not so much now since I don’t get back there as much as I should.” Wanting to keep the subject upbeat, I added, “Have you heard of Cheyenne Montgomery?”

 

Her eyes narrowed a little. “The country music star?”

 

“One and the same.” I grabbed my burger, took a bite. I casually chewed and peered out at the water.

 

“Don’t you dare leave me hanging here, Walker,” she snapped, belying her adamance with a laugh.

 

Pretending I forgot the point, I stared at her for a long moment, then grinned. “Oh. Right. The important part. She’s married to one of my cousins.”

 

“Wow. That’s … wow.”

 

She brushed her hair back behind her ear as she looked at her burger. She’d only eaten a few bites, but I considered it progress since I was sure she would’ve bypassed dinner if I hadn’t stopped by.

 

“You want the rest of this?” she offered.

 

Because it would’ve been rude not to, I took it, finishing it in a few bites while she tucked our trash into the paper sack.

 

“It’s nice out here,” she mused, turning to face the water.

 

I didn’t respond. Not because I disagreed but because I was enraptured by her beauty. With the water and darkening sky as a backdrop, Journey was quite possibly the most stunning woman in existence. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d looked at a woman. My first glimpse usually told me whether she was attractive enough. Meaning I wouldn’t hate myself too much come morning. But it’d been a long time since I’d stopped to really pay attention. With Journey, it wasn’t only the outside packaging that made her stunning; it was everything about her.

 

After a few minutes of silence, I moved closer under the guise of wrapping her in the spare blanket. I would’ve been content with that, but then Journey leaned back against me, and I couldn’t resist the urge to wrap my arms around her. I wanted her to feel safe with me, if nothing else. She might doubt me if I told her I’d slay dragons for her, but it was true. Wayne Parson didn’t realize the shitstorm he’d stirred with his actions.

 

I took a deep breath, inhaling her sweet scent. Her hair smelled like oranges and ginger, something I’d likely be smelling in my dreams for a few days.

 

“I love this,” she whispered.

 

“What’s that?” I spoke close to her ear, letting her hear my amusement. “My big, manly arms wrapped around you?”

 

She giggled. “Well, that, for sure, but I was talking about the ocean. It’s peaceful out here.”

 

“Yeah. I come here when I need to think.”

 

“You ever miss Texas?”

 

“Rarely. I don’t miss the bowels-of-hell summers they’ve got goin’ on down there.”

 

“You didn’t move back after college?”

 

“Nah. I saw them a lot when I was at A&M. Enough that I never got homesick. Then Nick had this grand idea for us to come out here. I couldn’t see a reason not to. That was all she wrote. Anyone in my family’ll tell you I’m crazy, but Cali feels like home to me.”