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“David,” I whisper-yell.
He stirs again, his eyelids opening slowly then blinking a few times. He looks directly at the llama, and squints.
Right when I think he’s going to freak out about the llama he’s cuddled up with, he rubs his eyes with his fists and then leans onto his side, supporting his body weight with one elbow as he reaches for his glasses and slides them on.
His eyes widen and he just stares at the llama for a few seconds before squinting again. “Isabella?”
“This isn’t The Emperor's New Groove, and I did not turn into a freaking llama!” I whisper-yell again and he finally notices me on the other side of the furry beast.
“So I’m assuming you weren’t the one licking my face last night?”
I purse my lips and shoot him an exasperated look. “Nope. But you sure were enjoying your makeout sesh with your new llama-lover.”
He furrows his eyebrows in a glare. “Don’t even say that, it sounds weird.” Apparently we’re back to the grumpy persona again.
I roll my eyes. “How do we get her out of here?”
“How should I know?” he says through gritted teeth.
“You were the one moaning while she nibbled your earlobe. Figure it out!”
His jaw drops like he’s offended. “I was not moaning!”
Our yelling spooks the llama in question and it stands up. The llama is much larger than I originally thought, and its head hits the top of the tent. The creature startles from the impact and spins in a circle. David gets on his feet, crouching down with his hands in front of him. It reminds me of Owen from Jurassic World working with the velociraptors. I’d laugh if I wasn't so terrified of getting trampled by the poor llama.
David glares at me from the opposite side of the tent. Crap… I think I said that Jurassic World thing out loud.
The llama attempts to run, looking for the exit, but not finding one. I shriek and cower into a corner of the tent, squeezing my eyes shut for a moment like that’s going to make the llama disappear. When I open my eyes again, the tent is calm and the llama is nowhere in sight. David is standing by the entrance holding the tent flap open and looking very relieved. I’m still breathing heavily, traumatized by the whole thing and half expecting the fur ball to run back inside the tent.
David looks at me with concern. His blue eyes are soft and caring; possibly the first time I’ve seen them this way. He scoots toward me, letting the tent flap close behind him, then kneels in front of me.
“Are you okay?” he asks in a soothing voice. Then he places his hand on my arm, using his thumb to rub circles against my skin with a gentleness I never would have guessed he even possessed.
No, I’m not okay. Not when you’re looking at me like that and wearing nothing but navy blue athletic shorts. “Yeah, I’m alright.”
Rocco scares the bejeezus out of us both when he pops his head into our tent. “You guys okay in here? I heard screaming and then saw Lizzy fly out of here.”
“Lizzy?” David asks dryly, obviously unamused by her name.
“Yeah, she’s harmless, but she’s a lot friendlier than the other llamas.” He smirks. “Did you guys not zip your tent?”
David’s head slowly turns to me and he has a murderous look in his eyes. So much for the soft gaze I got a few moments ago. Sigh.
“You were the last one in last night, Isa. Did you zip it?”
I grimace. “I can’t remember.”
He rubs his temples with his thumb and forefinger.
Rocco chuckles and informs us breakfast is ready.
Once he leaves, I try to smooth things over with David. “Listen, I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”
He pulls on a t-shirt and socks. Which is unfortunate, because he has a great body. He’s obviously not a meat head who spends hours at the gym, but there’s something incredibly graceful about his lean physique and long limbs. He has that tall, slender build that wealthy families always seem to be blessed with. How do some people get all the good genetics?
“It’s fine,” he says. “Come on, we need coffee.” He holds the tent flap open for me to walk through and then follows.
Throughout the day’s hike, I stay toward the front of the pack with Anthony, Hannah, and Chris and his buddies, as usual. But I’m beginning to get a crick in my neck from looking back to see where David is at and who he’s with.
