AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He didn’t go on from there. “And…” she prompted.
“And then we broke up. She fell in love with someone else.”
She caught the trace of pain still lingering in his voice, and rubbed her cheek against his shoulder to comfort him. “I’m so sorry.”
“It was a while ago. Over ten years. I was young and dumb. I didn’t know anything about being in a relationship. I thought once we started sleeping together, that was it. Together forever. I don’t know where I got that idea. I was a dumbass.”
She found it sweet that he’d been so naive. “But an idealistic one.”
“Maybe. Or maybe just dumb. The good thing is that we’re still friends. Every once in a while she calls me up and says, ‘I finally found the perfect girl for you.’ She’s always wrong, so maybe she’s just pranking me.”
“Maybe you’ll end up with her after all.”
She didn’t want that to happen. Not at all. So why had she brought it up? You sound jealous, dummy.
“She’s married now. Three kids.”
In the dark, an involuntary smile spread across her face. He guided her around a dip in the trail. Despite the wind, the darkness, the terrain, there was something wild and magical about walking through the night forest like this.
“You like kids, don’t you? I noticed that before.”
“Yeah, what’s not to like?”
He startled as she burst out laughing. “You’re asking an elementary school teacher, you realize that, right? I love kids, every day is another adventure when you have twenty of them in a class. But they’re a lot of work. Sometimes at the end of the day I go home and just lie on the floor like a jellyfish.”
“Jellyfish don’t lie on floors.”
“They do if they’re dead. That’s how I feel at the end of a rough day. Like a dead jellyfish. I even smell bad from anxiety sweat. And every muscle aches.”
“Next time, call me up. I have a salve that Redbull’s aunt makes. We sell it in the office. It’s fricking amazing.”
“I’ll do that.”
“You will?” He sounded almost surprised.
“Maybe. Do you want me to?”
“That’s why I said it.”
She looked up at him, the beam of her headlamp slashing across his face, sending his features into harsh light and shadow. “You don’t play games, do you, Galen?”
He blinked. “I play lots of games. I’m good at chess. Lacrosse, too. Hockey.”
“I mean, emotional games. Like, with people’s feelings.”
When he glanced down at her, he nearly blinded her with his own headlamp. “Never have. Won’t start.”
Well damn, she realized. She really liked him. And now she wanted to kiss him again. For real, this time.
thirteen
It was past midnight by the time Galen located the spot he’d been thinking of, a safe place where they could rest until the morning. It was a cave-like space nestled under a sharply angled overhang, softened by thick moss and lichen.
They still had several hours until they reached the trailhead, and the more tired they got, the more likely they’d take a wrong step and get injured. A rest would do both of them wonders. At dawn, they’d hit the trail again and be back at his truck by breakfast. Maybe brunch.
He checked the cave thoroughly for any sign that a bear had claimed it, but found none. As he explored, he knocked down spiderwebs and disposed of a dead mouse. These things didn’t faze him, but he never knew how a client might react.
Not that Brenda was just any client. He already knew that in future days, he’d look back at this hike and remember it hazed in gold, like an autumn sunrise. Every moment would be gilded by the magic that came from being with her. He’d relive that kiss on the cheek a hundred times, a thousand, maybe wondering why he didn’t try to kiss her back. Instead, he’d interrogated her about it. What was that for?
