Free The Slam by Haleigh Lovell

against the wood floor as I got to my feet. “Instant Ramen. It’s either that or Mac n Cheese.”
    “Ramen noodles, please.”
    She sat on the bed watching me as I busied myself by the stove. Over the pot of boiling hot water, I split open four packs of Top Ramen, then used a fork to break the noodles apart.
    As I was adding the seasoning, she said softly, “Were you completely naked, too?”
    “No,” I said, stirring the noodles. “I happen to wear underwear. Maybe you should try that sometime. Underwear’s pretty awesome.”
    She managed a weak smile. “Sorry if it bothers you. I find underwear very uncomfortable and… restrictive.”
    “What about clothes?” I asked.
    “The same,” she answered. “That’s why I prefer loose fitting shirts. Some fabrics just rub my skin the wrong way. It’s a sensory thing…” Her voice broke off.
    Dropping to a crouch, I fed more firewood into the wood-burning stove. “Trust me,” I said. “I’m not bothered at all. You can walk around naked for all I care.”
    In four minutes, dinner was ready and we practically inhaled the noodles.
    As I began clearing the bowls from the makeshift table, she said, “Are we stuck here?”
    “I’m afraid we are.” Turning my back to her, I set the bowls in the sink. “Just for tonight, though. We can make the hike back down in the morning.”
    She was silent for several moments. “What about my clothes?” she said in a small voice. “Are they dry yet?”
    “No. And they probably won’t be dry ’til tomorrow.” When I spun around, I found her staring at me with those doe eyes. Swallowing hard, I took in the sight of her sitting on the bed with her knees drawn up against her chest, the quilt wrapped around her shoulders like a cloak, wearing that look on her face.
    You know, that sexy lip biting, I just had wild sex look.
    God, she was so damn sexy and she didn’t even know it.
    Exhaling forcefully, I grabbed a pack of cards off the counter and sat down in front of her. “Let’s play,” I said.
    “What do you have in mind?”
    I split the deck. “Strip poker.”
    It took her a moment before she found her voice. “O-okay.”
    Adelaide really hadn’t changed at all. She never said no to me.
    Either she still trusted me, or she never backed down from a challenge.
    “Standard five-card draw,” I said. “Rules are simple. Each hand, the ante is one article of clothing, which you don’t lose until you lose the hand.”
    She lifted her chin. “And what happens when one of us is naked?”
    “You have to stay naked for the rest of the night.”
    A beat passed.
    Then another.
    Finally, she reached for the blankets and quilts at the foot of the bed and draped them around her shoulders. As for the last blanket, she wrapped it around her head like a turban. “To even things out,” she said.
    “Of course.” Smiling at her turban, I began shuffling the cards and laid them in front of her so she could cut the deck.
    “Ante up,” I said.
    “Shirt,” she replied.
    “Turban,” I said as I dealt out five cards.
    Adelaide lost the first round and removed the turban from her head, shaking her long and messy hair free. My cock stirred. She had total sex hair.
    Despite her first loss, she won the next round. I stood up and peeled off my shirt.
    A smile hovered on her lips. “Your chest,” she said, openly staring at my torso. “You’re plucked, preened and waxed up like a baby seal. Is that what women go for these days?”
    “I wouldn’t know,” I said, turning the question back to her. “You tell me.”
    Her gaze turned thoughtful. “I guess if I had to choose between a woolly mammoth or a baby seal, I’d go with the woolly mammoth. I imagine it would feel like cuddling up to a rug.”
    “Oh, really?” I said, shuffling the deck. “Then I need to introduce you to my buddy, Kyle. He has a sweater… there’s no delineation between his chest hair, armpit hair, or back hair.”
    “Ew!” Her nose pinched with