AllFreeNovel
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He grins. “I see.”
“I would have used it, you know.”
“I’m sure,” he nods. “In time.”
“He uhm… he was too far away for me to use it,” I pout.
He tilts his head at me, as if all of this is beyond amusing to him. “You could just say thank you, you know.”
At that moment, there is a noise from behind him and we both turn in that direction. Another man jumps out, much different than this one, but equally attractive. The play of shadows on his face highlights his chiseled features, adding anair of rugged allure, with his unshaven beard and dark curls. His eyes, deep pools of pitch black, hold a magnetic intensity as he approaches us. But it is his smile that sets the whole scene ablaze, almost as if he has just ended one adventure and is more than ready to dive right into the next one, taking us all with him. I don’t know why that idea tickles me immediately.
“Did I miss anything?” he asks, as if we’re all friends who happened to stumble onto each other by accident.
“Some,” the first guy replies.
“Your friend just saved me from a bear,” I blurt out. While the first guy annoyed me, this one made me want to tell him everything.
“A bear?” he replies, lifting an eyebrow, then he nods. “These woods are infested with them.”
“I know, that’s why I’m here,” I explain again, gesturing at my tent and everything around it.
He approaches and stands by the other guy, as they both keep their eyes on me.
“A photographer?” the second guy asks.
“Mhm,” I nod.
“You could take a photo of me,” he adds mischievously, and becomes equally annoying as the first one, as he playfully shows me his muscles, which bulge through the short sleeves of his t-shirt.
“Only if you’re an animal,” I reply.
“I could be,” he says, winking at me. “Under the right circumstances, in the dark…”
“Cal,” the first one addresses him.
“What?” Cal shrugs, still with that annoying smirk. “I’m just teasing.”
“You should really head back to Pinehaven,” the first one advises me. Suddenly, the whole atmosphere has taken a turn for the serious. “It is not safe to be here alone.”
I frown at him. I’m not sure if he is trying to help me or get rid of me. “I’ll be fine, thank you.”
“Somehow, I doubt that,” he replies.
“You know, I didn’t ask you to save me,” I snap back. I’m not usually this forward, but these guys are strangers. I have to show them that I’m not afraid. “You came out of nowhere, while I was perfectly fine by myself, thank you very much.”
“Alright,” he says, lifting his hands in the air in a defeated manner.
I don’t know what I found more annoying, the fact that he was talking to me like that; or that I couldn’t stop thinking about the sound of his voice in my ear and how he smelled so earthy and masculine. And that friend of his…
Focus, Elena, I tell myself. You know why you’re here.
I inhale deeply, trying to smile. “Thank you for your help. But really… I’ll be fine.”
“Rock,” he says.
“Rock?” I lift an eyebrow. “What about it?”
Cal chuckles. The first guy doesn’t.
