Read Online Camouflaged (Hiding From Love #0.5) by Selena Laurence - Free Book Online Page B

could see how discouraged she was. Her face was drawn and her lips were tense. “Do you have more for yourself?” she asked.
    “Nah, but I’ve got on all this gear. I’ll be fine.”
    She scowled at me. “That’s just dumb. I know you’re all into the macho guy thing, but I’m tough. I can handle a night of cold weather. I’ll take one blanket and you have the other.”
    I shook my head. “You’re stubborn as hell, you know that?”
    “No, I don’t play into your bullshit sexism, and that pisses you off.”
    “Jesus,” I burst out. “Here we go. Once again, I’m the big, bad Alpha dog. For your information, babe , I’d make the same offer to a civilian dude who didn’t have a jacket. I’m trying to be a nice person. Only you could turn that into some sort of politically incorrect power play.”
    She rolled her eyes, grabbed one of the blankets from me, and threw herself onto the dirt, curling up in a little ball.
    I shook my head at her for a moment. “Alexis, seriously. You’re going to be inhaling dirt all night and freeze half to death. Will you let me make you a bed so you can be comfortable? I promise not to tell anyone you gave in to my chauvinistic gesture.”
    She rolled over and glared at me for a minute before a small smile broke loose around her mouth. Pretty soon she was giggling and I grinned back at her.
    Finally, she said, “So, if I were another soldier, what would you be doing?”
    “Honestly?” I asked.
    “Yeah, of course.”
    “Well, we’d probably both roll up in our own blankets because we’re too attached to our soldier cards to do the thing that’s actually recommended.”
    She propped her head up on her arm. “What’s actually recommended?”
    “If you’re exposed in the cold with another person, the best thing you can do is find a small space and curl up together for shared body warmth. Just think of little animals like foxes in their dens. Pretty much the same concept.”
    She seemed to consider that for a minute. “We don’t have a small space.”
    “True. This cave does some of the same things—protects us from the direct wind, traps some of the heat we put off. But it doesn’t get any sunlight during the day so it’s not real warm to start with.”
    “So the smart thing to do would still be to curl up together for the shared body warmth?”
    When I’d started this conversation, I’d been answering her questions. No ulterior motives. But now, faced with the prospect of curling up with Alexis, I was having a hard time answering objectively. Boyfriend , I told myself. Across the ocean , myself answered back.
    “Uh, well, sharing body heat is the best thing to do for survival . . .” I trailed off, not sure where to go with the whole thing.
    She blinked at me a couple of times and then yawned. “Well, I think we should do that. The sharing body warmth. That way we can both lie on one blanket and put the other one over us.”
    She seemed perfectly fine with this idea. I felt my pants tighten and had to clear my throat before I answered her.
    “You’d really be okay with that?” I asked, one eyebrow raised.
    “Sure. Why not?”
    “Well, there’s your boyfriend and all,” I replied.
    “We’re snuggling for survival, Gabe. Not screwing like bunnies.”
    “I know, I just, well . . . have you slept with a lot of guys without the sex part?”
    “Not a lot, but a few. I mean, I’ve got a guy friend I’ve slept with a bunch of times when one of us had drunk too much to drive home.”
    “And your boyfriend was okay with that? Is this friend gay?” I asked, not believing for a second any straight guy could sleep next to Alexis and not try to score.
    “Yes, Marco was fine with it, and no, the guy’s not gay. He’s just a friend, and we’re not like that. You’ve never slept with a girl without having sex?”
    I scratched my head. “Well, actually . . .”
    Her eyes widened. Then she gave one harsh laugh. “You have got to be kidding