"Okay, where's your clutch?"
I pointed to the lever on my left handlebar. Letting go of the grip was a mistake. The heavy bike wobbled underneath me, threatening to knock my sideways. I grabbed the handle again, trying to hold it straight while giving Jacob a sheepish look.
"Jacob, it won't stay up!" I complained.
"It will when you're moving," he promised. "Now, where's your brake?"
"Behind my right foot."
"Wrong."
He grabbed my right hand and curled my fingers around the lever over the throttle.
"But you said…?"
"This is the brake you want. Don't use the back brake for now, that's for later when you know what you're doing."
"Um… that doesn't sound right," I said suspiciously. "Aren't both brakes kind of important?"
"Forget the back brake, okay? Here," he wrapped his hand around mine and made me squeeze the lever down. "This is how you brake. Don't forget." He squeezed my hand another time and I caught myself admiring the warmth and the feel of his calloused skin on mine.
"Fine," I agreed.
"Throttle?"
I gave an exaggerated twist to the right grip.
"Gearshift?"
I nudged it with my left calf.
"Good girl. I think you've got all the parts down. Now, you just have to get it moving."
I felt a small twinge in my chest when he said 'good girl', and promptly ignored it.
"Uh huh," I muttered, afraid to say more. My stomach was beginning its audition for Cirque Du Soleil, and I thought my voice might crack if I opened my mouth. Or worse.
I was terrified. I tried to tell myself that the fear was pointless, that I'd already lived through a few of the worst things possible. In comparison to those, why should anything frighten me now? I should be able to look death in the face and laugh.
A flash of James' face flickered across my mind for a split second, and I violently shied away from it. I slammed the door shut on that train of thought, ignoring the echoing memory of my own piercing screams.
Sure, laugh in the face of danger, right?
My stomach wasn't buying it.
I stared down the long stretch of dirt road, bordered by thick misty green on every side. The road was sandy and damp; better than mud.
"I want you to hold down the clutch," Jacob instructed.
I obediently wrapped my fingers around the clutch.
"Now, listen Bella, this is crucial," Jacob stressed. "Don't let go of that, okay? I want you to pretend that I've handed you a live grenade. The pin is out and you're holding down the spoon."
"There's spoons on grenades?!" I asked confusedly, squeezing tighter.
"Well, no not actual spoons but… whatever we can discuss that later. Do you think you can kick-start it?"
"Uh… if I move my foot I will fall over," I told him through gritted teeth, my fingers white-knuckled around my live grenade.
"No worries, I'll do it. Don't let go of the clutch."
He took a step back, then his foot was slamming down on the pedal. There was a short ripping noise, and the force of his thrust rocked the bike. I started to fall sideways but Jake caught the bike before it knocked me to the ground.
"Steady there," he encouraged. "You still have the clutch?"
"Yes," I gulped.
"Plant your feet, I'm going to try again." This time he put his hand on the back of the seat, too, just to be safe.
It took four more kicks before the ignition caught. I could feel the bike rumbling beneath me like an angry animal. I gripped the clutch until my fingers ached.
"Try out the throttle," he suggested. "Very lightly- and don't let go of the clutch."
Hesitantly, I twisted the right handle. Though the movement was tiny, the bike snarled beneath me, and I felt a thrill run through me. It sounded angry and hungry now. Jacob smiled in deep satisfaction.
"Ohhh yeah. Love that purr. Do you remember how to put it into first gear?" he asked.
"Yes."
"Okay, go ahead and do it."
"Okay."
He waited for a few seconds while I was frozen in place.
"Left foot," he prompted gently.
"Yep, yep. I know," I said, taking a few deep breaths.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Jacob asked, frowning in concern. "You look scared, honey."
"Yes! I'm fine, totally fine. I can do this." I kicked the gearshift down one notch.
"Good girl," he praised me. "Now, very gently, ease up on the clutch."
He took a step away from the bike.
"Um… I'm sorry, what? You want me to let go of the grenade?" I asked incredulously. No wonder he was moving away.
"That's how you move, Bella. Little by little."
As I began to loosen my grip, I was stunned to be interrupted by a voice that did not belong to the boy standing next to me.
This is reckless, childish, and idiotic, Bella, the velvet voice fumed.
"Oh!" I gasped, my hand falling off the clutch.
The bike bucked underneath me, yanking me forward and then collapsing to the ground half on top of me. The growling engine choked to a stop.
"Fuck! Bella! Are you alright? Are you hurt?" Jacob wrenched the two-hundred pound bike off of me with ease. I could hardly listen.
I told you so, the perfect voice murmured sarcastically, crystal clear.
"I'm… I'm fine," I said in a daze, completely unsettled. His voice was back. Was this some sort of psychosis? Was I really losing my mind? Just hearing the perfect clarity of it sent knives shooting through my chest and I tried to breathe through the renewed pain.
Well, this could be a huge issue.
I felt Jacob's warm hands under my arms and then he was lifting me up like I weighed nothing.
"Did you hit your head?" he asked, his voice saturated with worry.
"I don't think so," I shook it back and forth, checking to see if I could elicit any pain. "I didn't mess up the bike, did I?" I asked him guiltily, and his eyes sparkled with mirth.
"Nah, you're good. You just stalled the engine. Next time don't let go of the clutch too fast!"
"Ugh… okay. Yeah." I took a deep breath, trying to center myself. Would that voice come back if I tried again? Would I be ready to deal with that? I felt a strange mix of relief and pain whenever I heard it. I wasn't sure if I wanted it to come back or not. "Let's try again," I finally said, steeling myself. If it came back, well… I'd just have to deal with it.
"Are you sure?" Jacob asked.
"Positive. If not now, when?" I tried to give him a brave smile but I'm not sure he wholly believed me.
This time I tried to get the kick start myself. It was a little complicated; I had to jump a little to slam down on the pedal with enough force, and every time I tried to do that the bike wobbled dangerously, trying to knock me over. Jacob's hands hovered over the handlebars, ready to come to my rescue again.
It took several more good tries, and many more less than stellar tries, before the engine caught and roared to life underneath me. Remembering to hold onto the grenade for dear life, I revved the throttle experimentally. It snarled at the lightest touch, and I grinned at Jacob in triumphant victory. His smile was brighter than the sun.
"Easy on the clutch now," he reminded me.
Do you want to kill yourself now? Is that what this is about? the voice spoke again, his words dripping with fury.
Ah, hell. I bit my lip, doing my best to ignore the voice, deciding it was probably some weird part of my conscience that was dredging up his voice, and focused on what I was doing. Besides, Jacob wouldn't let anything bad happen to me. He'd protect me.
Go home to Charlie, the voice ordered. The sheer beauty of it was a knife twisting in my heart.
"Alright now, ease off the clutch slowly. Millimeters, okay?"
"Yeah, okay. Whew. I got this," I took a deep breath.
I heard a snarl that I wasn't entirely convinced came from the motorcycle.
Trying to focus this time and not let the voice startle me, I relaxed my hand by tiny degrees. Suddenly, the gear caught wrenched me forward.
No! the voice yelled.
And I was flying.
There was wind that hadn't been there before, whipping my hair back and making my skin feel tight. I'd left my stomach somewhere back at the starting point, the adrenaline coursing through my body, making everything I saw slightly sharper. The trees raced past me in a blurred wall of green.
But this was only first gear. My foot itched towards the gearshift as I twisted for more gas.
No, Bella! the angry, honey-sweet voice ordered in my ear. Watch what you're doing!
It distracted me enough from the speed to realize that the road was curving to the left, and I was still going straight. How did Jacob say to turn again?
"Uh… brakes, brakes…" I muttered, and in my panic slammed my right foot down on the pedal instinctively as I would in my truck.
The bike was suddenly unstable, shivering under me first to one side, then the other. IT was dragging me towards the green wall, and I was going way too fast. I tried to turn the handlebar the other direction, and the sudden shift of my weight pushed the bike to the ground, still spinning towards the trees.
The motorcycle landed on top of me again, roaring loudly, pulling me across the wet sand until I hit something stationary. I couldn't see, though I could feel my face squished into the moss. Gross. I tried to lift my head, but there was something in the way.
I was a little dazed and confused, and there was a lot of snarling going on. My bike, the stupid voice in my head, and…
"Bella!" I heard Jacob yelling, and the sound of the other motorcycle cut off.
Suddenly, there was no more bike pinning me down, and I took a big, thankful gulp of air. All the growling went silent.
"Fuck," I sighed, absolutely thrilled.
"Bella, are you alive?" Jacob was crouching over me anxiously, hands fluttering back and forth unsure of what to do.
"Marginally," I giggled, and he groaned in exasperation. I flexed my arms and legs, checking to see how they felt. Everything seemed to be in ship shape. "I want to try again, though you have to remind me how to turn."
"I don't think so," Jacob grimaced. "I think I better take you to the hospital first."
"Why? No! I'm fine!"
"Um, Bella, you have a huge cut on your head and it's gushing blood."
"Oh my god!" I slapped my hand over the throbbing area on my forehead, feeling the wet, sticky warmth. I scrambled backwards, trying to put distance between us. "Oh Jacob, I'm so sorry! I'm so, so sorry!" I couldn't smell anything but the wet moss on my face which probably was staving off my nausea, but the panicked fluttering in my chest was taking precedence over my disgust.
"Why are you apologizing for bleeding?" he laughed, pulling off his shirt. He shuffled closer to me and I froze, simultaneously embarrassed and horrified, and also distracted by the bunch and pull of his chest and abs. He bunched up the shirt, moved my hand away and pressed it gently to the cut on my forehead.
"Um…" Nice. Brilliant response. Eloquent, clever, charming. Top marks, Bella.
He wrapped a long, warm arm around my waist and lifted me up, steadying me against him. My face was level with his strong chest and I tried to swallow but my mouth was suddenly very dry. "Hold this to your head. I'll go grab the truck. Are you okay to stand?"
I coughed and nodded, trying to look steady, but it wasn't the hit to my head that was making me woozy.
Jacob jumped on his black bike, kicked it to start in one try, and raced back down the road spraying sand and pebbles behind him. He looked athletic and professional as he leaned over the handlebars, head low, face forward, jet black hair whipping against the russet skin of his back. I took a deep, shuddering breath, biting my lip. He looked hot.
"Fuck. Fuck, fuck fuck fuck," I swore, kicking the ground. My body was rebelling again, my heartrate was just starting to come down and it was thumping hard again in my chest for another reason. I was so screwed. What was I going to do? I couldn't deny my attraction to Jacob anymore to myself, it was too obvious. I needed to get a grip.
I could barely see Jacob in the distance as he loaded his bike up onto the truck, and I was surprised at how far I'd gone.
I felt better and better every minute as he coaxed my truck to a deafening roar trying to get back down the road to me. My head stung a little and my stomach was protesting the metallic stench of the blood, but otherwise I felt pretty good. Energized, even. My body was zinging from the effects of the adrenaline, and I couldn't help my smile.
Jacob left the truck running as he raced back to me, wrapping his arms around my waist again. "Alright, let's get you in the truck."
"I'm honestly fine, Jacob!" I laughed as he helped me in, glutting myself on the feel of his hard muscles pressed against me. "Head wounds just bleed a lot, it's not a bad cut."
"Yeah not bad for a motorcycle accident," Jacob muttered as he went back for my bike.
"Now, let's just think about this for a second. If you take me to the ER Charlie is going to hear about it and…" I glanced down at my jeans and shirt that were caked in sand and dirt and spotted with blood.
"Bella I'm serious, I think you need stitches. I'm not gonna let you bleed to death."
"I won't, I promise," I soothed him. "Let's just take the bikes back first, then we'll make a stop at my house to dispose of the evidence, okay? Please?"
"What about Charlie?"
"He went to work again today."
"Are you really sure?" Jacob peered into my eyes, the worry evident in his.
"Trust me! I'm an easy bleeder. Albino and all," I winked, trying to get him to relax.
He heaved a deep sigh, shaking his head and muttering some words in a language I didn't understand. He wasn't happy, that was evident. The graceful curves of his lips were pulled down in an uncharacteristic frown, but his desire to not get me in trouble won out. He dropped the bikes off quickly at his house, hiding them deep in his garage, then we were off to Forks.
I felt deeply satisfied that I'd broken my promise to not do anything reckless. The vindictive pleasure wound its way through me and settled in, leaving me feeling smug and haughty. I was my own person, and I could do damn well whatever I so pleased. Vampires be damned.
The only issue with that was those strange hallucinations of Edward's voice. On some level I was deeply concerned at how vivid and clear they were, but then again, adrenaline could do weird things I supposed.
The motorcycle, though, was better than I had ever dreamed. Racing down the road like that had been so amazing. The feel of the wind on my face, the speed and the freedom. I shivered, and Jacob glanced over at me.
"You still okay?"
"Yeah, I was just thinking about how cool it felt on the bike… Thank you, Jacob," I said, and he shot me a curious glance. "Thank you for fixing up the bikes, for teaching me how to ride them. It was really nice of you to do all that for me, even if I messed it up," I sighed. He smiled warmly, his hand reaching over to squeeze mine. The heat of his hand blazed against my skin, and I sighed at the warmth. It felt so nice.
"You're welcome, Bella. You'll do better next time, though…" he frowned again. "I'm disconnecting your damn brake pedal tonight."
I giggled, squeezing his hand back. "Fair deal."
At home I took one glance in the mirror and barked out a laugh. It was pretty gruesome looking. My face was smeared with dirt and moss, with a nice layer of congealed blood trickling down and making a streaked pattern through the other mess. It was also matted in my muddy hair, and I groaned at how long it was going to take me to clean it out. I made sure to only breathe through my mouth, and I was okay.
I washed up as well as I could, then I bagged up my dirty clothes and hid them at the bottom of my laundry basket. I'd have to clean them in the tub or something later tonight. I pulled on a new pair of crop jeans and a button up, pairing them with my ankle rain boots.
"Come on Bella, hurry up," Jacob called from the bottom of the stairs.
"Okay, okay!" I called back down. I double checked that I wasn't leaving anything incriminating, then trotted down the stairs.
"How do I look?" I asked him.
"Better," he admitted.
"But do I look like I tripped in your garage and hit my head on a hammer, better?" I grinned. He rolled his eyes.
"Sure, sure," he chuckled. "Let's go."
We were halfway to the hospital when I realized he was still shirtless.
"Damn, we should have remembered to get you another shirt when we were at your house," I frowned guiltily.
"But that would have given us away," he teased. "Besides, it's not even cold."
"Are you kidding?" I shivered, staring at him aghast. I reached to turn the heat on.
I watched Jacob to see if he was playing tough for my sake, but he looked comfortable enough. He had one arm over the back of my seat, though I was huddled up to keep warm.
Jacob really did look way older than sixteen. Certainly not forty, but definitely older than me. Quil didn't have too much on him in the muscle department, for all the Jacob claimed to be a skeleton. His physique had really started to fill out in the last few months, not to mention his height. Then there was his skin, which was such a beautiful tan that it made me green with envy.
Jacob noticed my staring.
"What?" he said, suddenly self conscious.
"Nothing… did you know you're sort of beautiful?"
Once the words slipped out I immediately shut my mouth. There I went, saying too much again. Heat flooded my face in embarrassment.
Jacob, however, just rolled his eyes. "You hit your head pretty hard, didn't you?"
I giggled. "No, I didn't! Besides," I sighed, deciding to just say what was on my mind. "You are beautiful, for real."
"Well, thanks. Sort of." He coughed, and I couldn't tell but he might have been blushing under that russet skin.
"You're welcome, sort of," I grinned.
I had to have four stitches to close the cut on my forehead. After the sting of the local anesthetic, there was no pain in the procedure. Jacob held my hand tight while one of the PA's was sewing me shut.
It seemed like we were at the hospital forever. By the time I dropped Jacob off it was almost nightfall, and I had to hurry back to cook Charlie dinner.
Charlie seemed to buy my story fairly easily about falling and hitting my head. There was one benefit to being clumsy and accident prone- pretty much anything went at this point. This hadn't been the first time I'd landed myself in the ER with no more than the help of my own two feet.
I went to bed early that night, finally exhausted enough for a dreamless sleep, until a gentle hand on my shoulder woke me up.
"Uh, hey Bells. You doing alright?"
I blinked up at Charlie sleepily. "Huh? Dad? What's up? What's wrong?" I glanced over at the clock on my night stand. Midnight?
"Dr. Gerandy told me I should wake you up, uh, a few times tonight because you might have a concussion." He narrowed his eyes again, and I knew he was doubting my excuse. Damn. I hadn't realized Dr. Gerandy had called him. "Maybe you should stay out of the garage altogether, from now on."
I panicked, worried that Charlie would lay down some edict preventing me from visiting Jacob or La Push.
"But this didn't happen at the garage!" I protested quickly, trying to get my sleepy mind to cooperate. "It happened while we were hiking. I slipped down a hill and hit my head on a rock."
"Since when do you hike?" Charlie asked skeptically.
"Well, you can't expect me to work at Newton's and not have it rub off on me after a while. Plus, Jacob likes hiking," I shrugged.
Charlie glared at me, unconvinced.
"I'll be more careful," I promised, crossing my fingers under the covers.
"I don't mind you hiking around in La Push, but keep close to town, okay?"
My curiosity was piqued. "Sure, but why?"
"Well, we've been getting a lot of wildlife complaints lately. The forestry department is going to check into it, but for the time being…"
"Oh! The big bear everyone's been seeing," I said with sudden comprehension "Yeah, some of the hikers coming through Newton's said they'd seen it. Do you think there's really some giant mutated grizzly out there?"
He frowned. "There's definitely something. Just keep it close to town, okay?"
"Sure, sure," I said quickly. He didn't look completely appeased.
"Alright, well, get some sleep. I won't wake you up again since you seem fine," Charlie said, pushing himself up from his seated position from the edge of the bed. I had a sudden flashback to feeling like a child after he'd told me a bedtime story, and the corners of my lips turned up.
"Night dad."
"G'night Bella."
"Charlie's getting nosy," I complained to Jacob when I arrived at his house the next day. I took my normal place perched on the couch in his garage while he fiddled with some greasy metal part.
"Maybe we should cool it with the bikes." He saw my objecting expression and added, "At least for a week or so. You could stay out of the hospital for a week, right?"
I stuck my tongue out at him, then sighed. "What are we going to do?" I griped.
He smiled cheerfully. "Whatever you want girl."
I had been thinking all morning on my drive down about the voice and how I might get rid of it. It was stalling my healing, even regressing me a bit. Plus, it wasn't really all that healthy to hallucinate the voice of your ex boyfriend/vampire who shattered your heart. Not that I'd read that anywhere, but it seemed like a logical conclusion. An idea came to me suddenly, and I gave Jacob a sideways glance. Psychology books always went on about 'immersion therapy', and I could think of one place that had his presence stamped all over it. The idea had a huge potential for backfiring, and it might be horribly painful, but it was worth a shot.
Maybe I needed to expose myself to the full brunt of the pain, and then I would finally be able to move on.
"How do you feel about hiking?"
"Hiking? You?" Jacob asked incredulously.
I gave him a wry smile. "What? Anyways, there's this place I know of, I came across it last year while I was, um… hiking. A little meadow, it was so gorgeous, but I don't think I could track it down again on my own. It would definitely take a few tries."
"We could use a compass and a grid pattern," Jacob said excitedly, oozing confidence. "Do you know where it started from?"
"Yeah, just below the trailhead where the one-ten ends. I think it was headed mostly south."
"Cool! We'll find it for sure." As always, Jacob was game for anything I wanted to do, no matter how strange it was. I was so lucky to have him. "I have a good map in my kitchen, let's go take a look."
After Jacob had located the topographical map of the Olympic Peninsula in his room, he sprawled out on the living room floor taking up the whole room while I perched on a chair at the kitchen table talking to Billy. Billy didn't seem at all concerned about our proposed hiking trip. I was surprised that Jacob had told him where we were planning to go, given the fuss everyone was making about bear sightings. I wanted to ask Billy not to say anything about this to Charlie but I was afraid making the request would yield the opposite result.
"Maybe we'll see the super bear," Jacob joked, his eyes glued on his design.
I glanced at Billy swiftly, fearing a Charlie-style reaction.
Billy just laughed at his son. "Maybe you should take a jar of honey, just in case."
Jake chuckled. "Hope you have some shoes that are fast enough, Bella. One little jar isn't going to keep a hungry bear occupied for long."
"I only have to be faster than you," I shot back.
"Good luck with that!" Jacob said, rolling his eyes. I grinned, but found myself considering his words.
"Now that you mention it, I do really need a decent pair of hiking boots. We should stop by Newton's on our way there."
"Sure! I'm all done," Jacob folded his map and stood up.
"Have fun kids," Billy rumbled, wheeling himself towards the refrigerator.
Charlie wasn't hard to live with by any stretch of the imagination, but to me it felt like Jacob had it even easier than I did.
We stopped by the Newton's store on our way out to the trailhead, and thankfully Mike wasn't there, just his mom. We exchanged friendly chatter while I tried on hiking boots, and Jacob wandered around, admiring the shiny mountaineering equipment, and various tents and backpacks. Once I'd purchased my boots using my twenty percent employee discount- the first and probably only time I'd use it, our excitement rose.
"Swe-e-e-t! I can't wait!" Jacob grinned as we got into the truck.
I drove to the very end of the dirt road, stopping near the sign that marked the beginning of the trailhead. It had been a very long time since I'd been here, and my stomach reacted nervously. This might be a very, very bad thing. But it would be worth it if I could find some sort of closure and get rid of the stupid voice.
I got out and looked at the dense wall of green.
"I went this way," I pointed straight ahead.
"Huh."
"What?" I turned and looked at his doubtful expression.
He looked at the direction I'd pointed, then at the clearly marked trail, and back.
"I would have figured you for a trail kind of girl."
"Oh, but what's the fun in that?" I wanted to kick myself. Of course it was weird and I'd have to come up with an excuse, why didn't I think of one? "I'm a rebel," I ended up saying lamely.
He laughed, then pulled out our map. "Alright rebel, give me a second."
I breathed out a sigh of relief at his easy-going attitude. He held the compass in a skilled way, twisting the map around until it angled the way he wanted.
"Alright! First line on the grid. Let's do this!"
I could tell that I was slowing Jacob up, but he didn't complain once. I tried very hard not to dwell on my last trip through this part of the forest, with a very different companion.
It wasn't as hard as I would have thought to keep focused on the present, though. The forest looked a lot like any other part of the peninsula, and Jacob set a vastly different mood.
He whistled cheerfully, an unfamiliar tune, swinging his arms and moving easily through the rough undergrowth. The shadows didn't seem as dark as they would have otherwise. Not with my personal sun along.
I found myself smiling watching him, marveling at how much more fun an activity like this was with him.
Jacob checked the compass every few minutes, keeping us in a straight line with one of the radiating spokes of his grid. He really looked like he knew what he was doing. I bit my tongue against complimenting him, I didn't want him to add even more years onto his already inflated age. The thought made me laugh quietly.
My mind wandered as we walked, and I remembered our tense conversation from yesterday. I was worried about how Jacob was doing with all that stress. It wasn't like him to be negative or angry.
"Hey, Jake?" I asked hesitantly.
"Yeah?"
"I know we only talked about it yesterday but I hope you know you can talk to me, you know, about the Embry thing. And if Sam or the others really start bothering you you just come right to my house, okay? You can always stay on the couch."
He smiled, but it didn't touch his eyes.
"Thanks, Bella, but I think that would put Charlie in a weird position when Billy reports my kidnapping to the police." His tone was joking, but it still carried a sour, angry note that made me sad.
"Oh, well, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it, won't we?" I said as cavalierly as I could manage, and I was rewarded with Jacob's hearty chuckle that I loved.
We stopped when Jacob said we'd gone six miles, cut west for a short time, then headed back along another line of his grid. Everything looked the exact same as when we'd headed into the forest, and I felt myself deflating. My silly quest was probably doomed, and I'd just wasted an afternoon of our time. I admitted as much when the sun started to set, but Jacob was more confident.
"As long as you're sure we're starting from the right place," he glanced down at me.
"Yes, I'm sure."
"Then we'll find it," he promised, grabbing my hand and pulling me through a mass of ferns. On the other side was the truck, and I smiled up at him. He gestured towards it proudly. "Trust me."
"You're good," I admitted. "Next time we should bring flashlights or headlamps, I think."
"We'll start earlier in the day next time. I didn't realize you were that slow," he teased me.
I yanked my hand out of his grip and stomped around the other side of the truck while he laughed at my reaction.
"So you up for another try tomorrow?"
"You sure we'll be able to finish before midnight 'cause of my gimpy pace? You might just want to go alone." I sniffed, climbing into the driver's seat.
"I'll survive," he assured me with a laugh, swinging into the passenger's seat and grabbing my hand again once we were back onto the one-ten. "If we're hiking again though you might want to grab some moleskin. I bet your feet are feeling those new boots right now."
"A little," I confessed. I'd definitely felt a few new blisters being born towards the end of our hike there.
"I hope we see the bear tomorrow, I was a little disappointed about that."
"Yeah me, too," I replied sarcastically. "Maybe we'll get lucky and something will eat us!"
"Bears don't eat people, silly. We don't taste that good." He grinned at me in the steadily darkening cab as the sun dipped below the treeline. "Of course, you might be an exception. I bet you'd taste good."
Heat flared low in my abdomen out of nowhere, and I clenched my jaw so it wouldn't drop, keeping my eyes on the road. He couldn't have known the double entendre in his words, but my body was singing about it.
"Hah, thanks so much," I muttered, glad the darkness was hiding my furious blush as his words echoed in my mind and the images followed, unbidden and taunting me. My heart rate picked up and I was glad for once no one could hear or smell what was really going on under the surface.