We Fall Like Ashes | Wildfire Series

Fifteen: Don't Sleep On The Floor

"Adrenaline is powerful stuff," I said. "Like a drug."

And not so different than desire. Not so different from the high she experienced at my fingertips, the one that I knew she craved beyond control. At least that night she had, anyway.

"In my experience, it's terrifying," Collins said.

My few minutes of control were up. I pressed against her back again, my face's reflection forming in the window, right behind hers. If I hadn't been watching so closely, I probably would have missed the way her eyes widened just slightly when I caught her waist between my hands.

"Terrifying?" I repeated. When Collins' realized I was looking at her in the reflection, she stilled. Her breathing changed, and I dropped my voice. "I know your pulse has raced for reasons other than terror, Collins."

She didn't seem to know what to say, letting her body talk back instead. She leaned back, her weight sinking into me. It only lasted a few seconds, but I felt how she melted. How she trusted me in that tiny blink of time to hold her, to touch her. How she liked it. How it made her heartbeat pick up.

But then the moment was gone, and she twisted around, poking me in the chest. "You're honestly going to fly down that thing when you're already injured? Beau Martin, I thought you had some sense."

"Collins," I said, grabbing her hand for the second time tonight. "I'll be fine. There's not even any trees on the half-pipe."

My wink didn't make her smile like I thought it might. She only scowled before looking back over her shoulder at the mountain.

"Tell me you at least wear a helmet."

Oh, tonight was doing something dreadful to me. All the sweaty hands, all the weak knees. Not only was she starting to open up a little bit, but she was also so goddamn caring that it made my chest ache. It shouldn't surprise me. She'd spent several years working with kids who'd come from broken places, and people didn't do that unless they were a nurturer in some way. But I never expected for her to turn that hidden trait of hers on me.

"I wear a helmet."

When a shiver ran down Collins' spine, I took the opportunity to scoop her up and plop her onto my bed, where a thousand-pound comforter awaited her. No need to stand by the chilly window and continue to argue about my apparent doom. Besides, she smiled a tiny bit when she landed on the pillows, pulling the throw blanket up over her. And then, in her shy little way, she patted the bed next to her.

Ah, shit. I hadn't really thought this far.

Resigning myself to this new circle of hell, I eased myself down carefully and tried not to wince.

It didn't work.

"Beau...." Collins started, worry in her eyes. But I cut her off before she could go any further.

"When I was fifteen, I started bagging groceries so that I could pay for lift tickets. My parents paid for them when my brother and I were little, but as soon as we were old enough to get a job, if we wanted to snowboard....well, we had to find a way to do it."

"Wow." Collins couldn't seem to hide the surprise on her face. "Really?"

I nodded. "I got access to my trust fund when I was eighteen, but before that? I worked my ass off for everything I wanted to buy." Sighing, I let my memories take hold of me a little bit, grinning like a fool. "When we got our license, this was the first place my parents let us drive outside of like a ten-mile radius of home. I remember I was so fucking stoked to come here without them."

She lay her head down on the pillow, snuggling into it. "A young and wild Beau Martin, I like to picture that."

Mimicking her, I leaned back into the pillows, too. With my head propped up in my hand, I teased her.