"Can you guys slow the fuck down?" Zach called.
His voice sounded farther away than the last time I heard him complain. I glanced back down the trail. The rest of the guys were around a bend and I couldn't even see them anymore. I looked back at Jonah beside me. He'd stopped walking and was laughing as he looked back at the empty trail.
"You said this would be a 30-minute hike!" Daniel yelled.
"I have lost my will to live. Just bury me on the side of the trail," Corbyn said.
"I vote we should eat Zach first," Jack said. Jonah and I laughed.
"Hey!" Zach yelled.
"What? That's a compliment!" Jack insisted. "You've got the biggest arms. You'd be the best choice."
"What about Jonah?" Zach asked.
The guys continued bickering back and forth and I could hear their voices getting closer. Even though Jonah and I were far ahead of them, I was still just as tired. I took this moment to catch my breath a little. We were high up on the mountain at this point and the air was a lot thinner. I'd just barely caught my breath when Jonah grabbed my hand.
"Come on," he said quietly with a smile on his face. "I want to get there before they do."
"That won't be very hard," I said as I followed him up the trail. He laughed loudly and I smiled.
Jonah kept my hand in his and I looked him up and down while we continued our hike over the tree-lined trail. He was wearing a tank top that exposed his arms and all his tattoos and there was a bandana around his head to keep his hair out of his face. We'd been hiking for a while, so he was pretty sweaty at this point. We both were. However, seeing him sweaty like this just made me think of other times we'd been sweaty together. It made me think of times the rest of the guys didn't know about yet.
After hiking for a while longer, the trail finally started to level out. We were still surrounded by tons of pine trees so there wasn't much of a view yet. I kept my eyes on the ground so I didn't trip over any roots or rocks. My shoes were covered in dust and there was even dirt on my legs. I was extremely grateful that the campsite we were staying at had actual bathrooms with showers. There was no way I was going to sleep like this.
Jonah stopped walking and I finally looked up again. My jaw dropped when I saw the view. We'd ended up on an overlook with a perfect view of the valley below us. The mountainside sloped down toward the glassy lake where our campsite waited. Everything was so green and peaceful. There was a calm silence that accompanied the view. At first, I didn't even want to say anything so I didn't disturb the peace. But I couldn't contain my amazement.
"This is so beautiful," I whispered.
"Worth it?" Jonah asked. He looked at me with a smile and he turned toward me. His hands ended up on my waist and he stepped closer. I put my hands on his arms and slid them up to his shoulders. Once again, I thought about touching Jonah when he was sweaty like this. I bit my lip to try and suppress those thoughts for now.
"Definitely worth it," I said.
Jonah closed the gap between us and he kissed me slowly. His lips were always so soft and enticing. Whenever he kissed me, it always started out slow like this but he had a talent for making me want him. Already, I was pressing closer to him and wrapping my arms around his neck. His hands slid down so he was grabbing my ass. He squeezed it and pulled me up a little. I was on my tiptoes and I smiled into the kiss.
Then we heard the voices of the other guys along with the sound of them dragging their feet on the trail. Jonah quickly let go of me and I stepped away from him. There was a good distance between us by the time the guys finally made it into our view. They all looked exhausted and mildly annoyed.
