“Choking is the Heimlich. Where you grab the person and squeeze.”
“Well, I’d rather choke than let you grab me or squeeze me.” I thrashed back and forth, trying to reach the spot on my back where it felt like my skin caught on fire.“Something’s biting me!” I ripped my shirt off over my head, then used it to flay myself.
Thwack … Thwack
“For Christ’s sake. Here, let me see.”
Noah grabbed my shoulders and spun me around. I was sofreaked out by whatever was burrowing into my flesh, probably to lay its larvae or something, the fact that he now had a close-up view of my purple sports bra didn’t even bother me.
“Oh, oh.” His hands dropped from my shoulders.
“Oh, oh? Oh, oh what? What is it? What do you see?” I twisted around but couldn’t see anything.
“It’s fine. I just need you to stay calm and stay still.” I heard him unzip his backpack.
“Wait. What is it? What’s back there?”
“Like I said, just stay calm.”
“Don’t you know if you want somebody to stay calm, the last thing you say to them is ‘stay calm?’”
Noah pulled out a knife. It was one of those big knives, with one side that looked like shark teeth. I yelped, taking a step backward and holding my hands up in surrender.
“If I wanted to stab you, I would have done it by now. Hold still.”
Before I could even protest, Noah turned me back around and pressed the blunt edge of the blade against my back. He scraped along my skin.
“There.”
The burning spot didn’t burn as much. “You got it? What was it?”
“Nothing to worry about. Probably.”
“Again, if you don’t want someone to worry, don’t tell them ‘nothing to worry about.’” I whipped back around. “Show it to me.”
Noah held up the blade of the knife. “Rocky Mountain wood tick. See?” It looked like a small, reddish-brown speck. “Hey maybe you should name it?” At least he was grinning again.
“How about Noah? Since it’s so irritating and obnoxious.”
“Don’t forget blood sucking.”
“Oh, he definitely sucks.”
Noah’s grin got a little wider. “Okay. I guess I deserved that one. Turn back around and I’ll patch you up.”
I did, and he did, pulling the first aid kit out of his backpack.
“Bet you’re glad we brought our emergency supplies now.” His touch was gentle as he dabbed a bead of salve on the itchy spot, then placed a bandage over the bite. As his fingers traced over the surface of my skin, the electric jolts zapping through my nerves made me forget all about the tick attack. “Better?”
“Better.” When I turned around, we were standing face to face. His lips were inches from mine.
Those lake-blue eyes flicked downward, toward the place where my sports bra hugged my breasts, sweat slick on my skin. The look was so quick it was almost as if it didn’t happen. But it did.
Noah’s teeth dug into his bottom lip. “You should probably put your shirt back on.”
“Probably.”
Neither of us moved.
