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“This was worth the hike.”

“I knew you’d come around.”

She walks ahead toward the rocks at the edge while I set the pack down beneath a tree.

There’s nobody else here, which is exactly what I was hoping for.

We spend the first hour doing almost nothing. We eat the sandwiches I packed, sit with our feet near the water, and talk about whatever comes up. Ruby asks which rock Conlin jumped from, and I point out one far enough above the water that she immediately says he was an idiot.

“He was seventeen.”

“That doesn’t make it better. Your poor mother must have constantly worried about the three of you.”

“I’m sure she did, but she had sense enough not to ask too many questions as long as we came home in one piece.”

She laughs and leans against my shoulder.

The sun moves higher while we sit there, warm enough that the cool air under the trees stops mattering. I kiss her once because she’s close, then again because she smiles into the first one.

It’s been like that lately. Kissing her doesn’t always feel like the start of something anymore.

Sometimes it’s just because I want to.

After lunch, Ruby stretches her legs out in front of her and looks toward the water. “How cold is that?”

“Not bad.”

She turns her head slowly. “That means freezing.”

“It’s a river in Northern California, so yes, usually pretty cold.”

I stand and pull my shirt over my head. “You brought a swimsuit.”

Her eyes follow me as I kick off my shoes.

“I did.”

I look around the empty clearing, then back at her. “Seems unnecessary.”

Her eyebrows lift, and I wait.

“You brought me all the way out here because you wanted to get me naked in a river?”

“I brought you because I thought you’d like the place.” I unbutton my jeans. “The naked part just occurred to me.”

Ruby’s expression says she doesn’t believe that for a second.

I grin and finish stripping before she can call me on it, then walk straight into the water. It’s cold enough to tighten every muscle in my body and shrink my dick, but I refuse to give her the satisfaction of reacting.

Ruby sits on the rock watching me. “Not bad, huh?”

“Feels great.”

“You’re a terrible liar.”

I push farther out until the water reaches my chest. “You coming in?”

She glances around even though we both know nobody’s here.