Our Hill Of Stars

Chapter 11: Oh, Canada!

"Stop moving or I swear to God I'll put sand in your bed, newbie." I grab Ace's chin.

He just laughs in my face. I scowl and attack him with the wet paper towel in my hand.

Temporary tattoos are a must on Canada Day. Hence, my struggle with the man child in front of me.

I've been attempting to put the Canada-themed tattoos on Ace for the past twenty minutes. He has complained the entire time. He's absolutely ridiculous.

"How long do these things take?" Ace complains.

"It takes longer the more you move your goddamn mouth." I grab his chin once again.

I finally finish putting his tattoos on and sit back on the bench. I examine my work. I had placed two red maple leafs on his cheeks and a Canadian flag on his forehead. I smile at the result.

"All done."

"Sure took you long enough."

"That was on you, dummy." I push his shoulder, jokingly.

"Whatever. Your turn, Tuffs." Ace snatches the paper towel out of my hand.

He picks out a couple tattoos, cutting them out from the sheet. "Sit down." He orders.

"Hurry up." I mock him, perfectly fine with waiting. Every camper was getting tattooed so we didn't have to be anywhere.

Ace just grins and straddles the bench in front of me. I try not to stare at his thick, muscular legs. Damn. I bring my eyes back to his face. He smirks knowingly.

Surprisingly, things weren't awkward between us because of the night before. Which I am extremely grateful for - I think I would die of embarrassment if Ace had said anything.

I sit as still as possible as Ace peels the plastic off of the sheet. He gently presses the tattoo on my cheek. My breath catches in my throat.

His fingers are warm and soft as he rubs the sticky paper on my face. Ace's eyebrows are drawn in concentration as he presses the damp paper towel over top of the paper on my cheek.

I don't think I'm breathing.

My face heats up when he pulls his hand away. Ace repeats his process with two other tattoos. My voice doesn't seem to work.

"I didn't realize you had to hold your breath when applying temporary tattoos." Ace whispers, his breath tickling my nose.

I don't think I could blush any harder.

"I didn't realize you had to press the paper towel on for so long." Without moving my head, I glance down at his long fingers that are still pressed on my cheek.

It's his turn to blush.

And yet, he doesn't remove his hand. It stays there for a couple more seconds.

I smile shyly. He answers with his own, dimples making an appearance.

"We better go make sure the rest of the campers got their tattoos" I whisper when Ace doesn't lean away.