The surrounding leafless trees swayed under the surges of wind, bathed by a few rays of sunshine that had fought their way through the clouds. It was the only source of colors and warmth in this dreary landscape. Hayden headed for the patch of ground that was less covered with snow and pulled a waterproof outdoor blanket out of his duffel bag.
He placed it down and cleared the snow off the ground before he gathered some rocks and made a small platform out of them. Then he pulled firewood out of the bag and placed it on the rocks.
I grinned as I watched him start a fire, fascinated. He reminded me so much of Kayden, who made fire each time we stayed here overnight. “You thought about everything.”
“Of course I have. I wouldn’t want you to ‘die from hypothermia.’” He sat down when he finished and opened his arms, inviting me to come. “Come here. I’ll keep you warm.”
He didn’t need to tell me twice. Letting my backpack slip down to the blanket, I rushed into his embrace. He pulled me up on his lap, making me straddle him, and kissed me. A surge of warmth coursed through me when my lips parted and his tongue darted out to meet mine. His arms wrapped around my waist and held me close to him.
His lips continued their journey along my jaw, and I tilted my neck to give him better access. I dug my fingers into his shoulders when he sucked the spot below my ear, much warmer than just a couple of seconds ago.
“Your skin is so soft,” he muttered and pulled my knitted scarf a few inches down so he could kiss the hollow of my neck.
He palmed my backside and pressed me against him before he claimed my lips again, and I let out a small moan. I couldn’t resist moving against him, rocking my hips to meet his.
I was all hot and breathless when I pulled away to sit next to him a few minutes later.
“I told you I’d keep you warm,” he said and snaked his arm around my waist.
I touched my swollen lips, impressed all over again at how good of a kisser he was. “I never doubted your tactics.”
His laughter filled the air, and I grinned, satisfied that I made him laugh.
We lapsed into silence, and our gazes set on the clearing sky. The clouds had floated away, and the sun shone brightly, doing wonders for my mood. The firewood popped and crackled with flames dancing in an upward spiral, which soothed me and warmed me enough against the occasional gusts of wind.
“Sometimes, I wish the brain was like a computer memory,” he said. “We’d be able to clear any data we want and replace it with new information.” He glanced at me. “You’d be able to completely forget about that evening I brought you here and remember only today with me.”
I gazed off into the distance, thinking about this. I was amazed he’d wanted to do this for me—to replace the old memories with new ones, which helped me heal.
“I really appreciate what you’re doing for me. This place already feels different because you’re different too.”
He ran his gloved fingers down my cheek. “You know that it was never real? Pretending I was going to rape you that night, threatening to steal your virginity... It was all just to get into your head. I never meant to do it.”
“I know.”
He curled his fingers into a fist. “I’m so sorry.”
“It’s okay.” I took his hand in mine. “I’m not going to lie; what you did that night in the forest felt all too real, but I know you’re regretting it, and I know you wouldn’t hurt me.”
I brushed my lips against his, speaking the truth of my words through this sweet kiss.
“You’re not that old Hayden who instigated fear in me. You make me feel happy and loved, and that’s all that matters to me now.”
He drew away with a smile. “That’s good.”
“I’m curious about one thing, though.”
“Yes?”
“You knew exactly how to reach this place back then. How do you know about this spot? Did you visit it before with Kayden, or did he tell you about it?”
“Actually, this was my dad’s favorite spot.”
Oh. My lips parted at this unexpected revelation. Kay never told me this. He mentioned he liked this spot on the small hill because it had a perfect sky view, but he didn’t say how he’d found it in the first place.
“Whoa. I never would’ve imagined that.”
“Dad used to bring Kayden and me here. Those memories are vivid in my mind, like everything happened just yesterday. Carmen brought us here a few times when we were in elementary school, which helped me memorize the way.”
I intertwined my fingers with his. Kay hadn’t been able to tell me anything about their dad since he didn’t remember him, so I was all the more curious about him.
“I always wanted to ask you about your dad. Do you remember what he was like?”
A shadow of a smile flickered across his lips as he directed his warm gaze at the sky. “He was the best.” His whispered words carried deep longing, and I couldn’t look away from his face, captivated by its rapt expression. “He always played with us and took us outside. He never got mad at us, and he was always so... Full of energy.”
He placed a kiss on my forehead and drew me flush against him. A flock of birds flooded the sky, creating formations that captured our attention in a short moment of silence.
“Kayden and I were completely different from each other even then. Kayden was shy and didn’t want to be separated from our mother, while I was hyperactive and wanted to be the center of everyone’s attention. Dad called me his little adventurer because I liked to explore and do things I wasn’t supposed to do.”
“Like what?”
“Like climbing to the top of a cabinet to reach the toy I wanted to play with at preschool.”
I burst out chuckling. “What?”
“Yeah. They used to keep some toys on top of a really high cabinet. We had limited time for playing, but I was bored and I wanted to play with that toy. There was a drawer next to it, so I got on it first and then climbed to the top of the cabinet.”
My chuckles turned into laughter. “What did your teacher say?”
He snorted. “She nearly had a heart attack. She started yelling at me and called other teachers to help her to get me down. Carmen was so angry with me and wanted to punish me, but dad... Oh man, he cracked up when he heard about that. He was laughing about it for days. He even told me he was proud of me.”
I traced his jaw with my finger. My chest swelled with bitter pain, hurting for Hayden who lost his dad so young. “It appears that Carmen and your dad had different parenting styles.”
“You can say that again. She was always so strict. Take our diet, for example. She prohibited us from eating chocolate and snacks most of the time, but dad allowed us to eat them whenever she wasn’t there to keep an eye on us, promising to keep that as our secret.”
He smiled for real now, and his voice turned more unsteady the further he went down the path of memories.
“I loved him so much.” His teary eyes landed on my face. “I was his favorite, and only he and I knew about this. Once, he painted with me on his lap, and I remember him saying he loved me the most. I used to spend a lot of time there, watching him paint... I even used to dream about becoming like him one day.”