Chapter 12
"Why haven't we done this before?" Sam asked her jeans rolled up as she waded in the stream.
"Dunno," Jake shrugged. "Guess I never thought of it."
"Shame on you," Sam teased. "And you call yourself a friend."
Jake chuckled. "Guess I'm not a good friend."
Sam's head whirled in his direction so quickly he was surprised.
"Why would you say that?" Sam yelped.
Jake shrugged.
"Are you serious?" Sam asked.
Jake shrugged again.
"I can't believe you," Sam kicked water at him, drenching him.
"Hey," Jake jumped back. "Why did you do that for?"
"Think about it, you moron," Sam splashed out of the stream and sat down to pull on her socks and boots.
"Brat, I was joking," Jake told her.
"No you weren't," Sam shook her head. She felt the tears in her eyes and tried to blink them away.
Jake stooped down in front of her. "Yes Sam, I was."
Sam looked into his eyes, seeing the truth of his words. She gave a sigh and wiped her tears.
"What's got you so upset?" Jake asked.
"I don't know," Sam answered honestly. "I feel like you don't want to be my friend sometimes."
"You're imagining it," Jake stood back up.
"Am I?" Sam wondered.
"Yes," Jake said.
"I don't think I am," Sam told him. "You've changed around me."
"No," Jake shook his head, but he rubbed the back of his neck.
Sam knew then there was more going on then what Jake was saying. She also knew there was no way she could force him to tell her. Nobody could force Jake to do anything, but especially make him say something when he didn't want to.
She sighed again. She would have to be satisfied, for now, with his explanation. For now.
Jake saw her luminous brown eyes meet his. He saw the questions there. How could he ever explain? Would she care that he cared for her as more than a friend? Jake was too shy, even with Sam, to say anything aloud to her about this. It was easier right now to just let her figure it out on her own.
"You ready to go back?" Jake asked.
Sam's eyes searched his. He shuttered his eyes to her.
"Yeah," Sam sighed. She stood up, stomping her feet to get them completely into her boots. "Thanks for this."
"You're welcome," Jake smiled. Sam couldn't help smiling back at him.
"We need to do this more often," she told him. "We don't goof off enough any more."
"No, we don't," Jake agreed.
"Why is that?" Sam wondered.
"Good question," Jake said.
"Because you've gotten boring in your old age," Sam teased.
Jake's mouth curved up, his teeth white in his dark face. "That must be it."
"Finally! We agree on something," Sam gave him a shove. She heard him as he chuckled, pretending to almost lose his balance.
She jumped on his back then and he almost did fall. Sam screamed as he struggled to regain his balance.
"You could give a guy some warning, Brat," Jake looked over his shoulder at her. She smiled at his smile.
"That wouldn't be any fun," Sam said, locking her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. "Giddyup!"
"You weigh more than you did the last time you did this," Jake teased.
"Are you saying I'm fat?" Sam almost screeched.
"'Course not," Jake rubbed his ear, not sure he'd ever regain full use of that ear. "Though you're crazy if you think I'm going to let you ride on my back all the way back to camp."
"I thought you said you were my friend," Sam teased.
"I am your friend, Brat," Jake suddenly wasn't smiling any more. "I'll always be your friend."
"You just want that free meal," Sam joked.
"Yeah, that's it," Jake responded.
