Coveted

|Chapter 12

"In that case, what do you say to dinner?" he took a step closer to me and reached out his hand for me to take. If I hadn't already been smiling then I was definitely beaming now. Dinner. Old fashioned dinner. Except for the minute I took his hands and felt that blissful calm take over, I knew somewhere in the back of my mind that this was only the beginning.

|Chapter 12

Dinner was nothing like I had expected. I mean it wasn't awful, the food was pretty good and the atmosphere was like something I'd never felt before. Everyone was so close, everyone smiling offering whatever they could to each other and Shane was under constant approach. The minute one person said goodbye another would show up and that's exactly how the rest of the night went.

I sat next to him smiling and introducing myself whenever asked, my hands shakily holding the metal fork as I nervously nibbled at the food in the small grey container. By the time the light from the sky had dimmed to a dark blue, I let my gaze fall from the various groups of families and Shane smiling handsomely, glowing as if he radiated his own light to the fire roaring in the middle of the pit of people.

Right now, right here I could breathe. Leaning forward on the log supporting at least five of us, I wrapped my arms around myself letting my now freed hair whip wildly across my cheeks the events of last night evading my thoughts.

In one way it had been pretty liberating, I knew more about my body these past few days with Ian than ever! There was nothing holding me back, insecurities didn't matter with his ability, it was just pure and raw but then again what did I actually know about him? Or Regan for that matter. I knew nothing other than the fact I liked the effects they had on me . . . even I don't admit most of the time.

At the same time, there was always the issue of Danny.

Right now, he'd be dreaming about my death. Maybe even happy wishing away that someone beat him to the dirty job.

"Hey," My eyes flew from the flames quickly at Shanes soft voice breaking through my thoughts. "Sorry about dinner, probably should have gone somewhere else." He joked nervously as one hand fell to the back of his neck massaging his spine. "Do you want to go back to your tent?"

"I thought you were going to take me back to Regan?" I asked, standing in front of him.

"One night won't hurt. I'll take you back in the morning." He replied with that same old smile. Nodding I followed next to him as we made our way past the still chattering groups back towards the blur of tents. How the hell was I ever supposed to remember my way through all this? They all look the same!

Making sure to keep up, I tried searching for any way to identify the way for future reference but other than the blue, green, purple and grey tents there wasn't much. "Don't worry, you'll get the hang of this place soon."

"Am I that obvious?" With a quick glance and a matching smirk, I got my answer.

"Don't worry, I'm far more skilled at reading people than the average person." He added, his voice carrying gently in the wind as I walked closer beside him, the chatter from the camp dying down into a muffled buzz behind us.

Silence fell between us again but it never felt awkward, just more like a welcomed silence, a moment to let my brain process whatever it needed too.

Smiling, I tightened my arms around myself letting my own thoughts carry me away until Shane had come to a stop outside my tent.

With his hands tucked into the side pockets of his jeans, he turned to face me, his smile warm. "Here we go."

"Oh are . . . You not . . ." I paused, my hand pointing to the entrance of my tent as I looked from it to him. "You're not staying?"