On our left, the river takes another turn after the main loop, which makes me feel more isolated from the world than I ever have been. All I can see are endless canyon walls and greenish-brown water, and I couldn’t point to my location on a map even if I tried. This should scare me. My logical brain is trying to tell me that I’m lost and need to find my way back to civilization immediately.
But my fans can’t reach me here.No onecan reach me. There’s no sneaking around, no security teams beyond a man I consider more of a friend than a bodyguard, no tabloid trying to get me to question everything about the good things in my life.
I can breathe out here.
“Isn’t it great?” Farah asks as the rest of the hikers find their way to the top with us. We spread out to take in the scene. “I never get tired of this view.”
“This is amazing!” Zahra agrees next to me, fully focused on the stretch of wilderness around us.
“I’ve never seen anything like this before,” Morgan says at her side. For once, she’s calm and quiet as she soaks up the moment.
“It looks the same as the rest of the river,” Brody grumbles, apparently unimpressed by the vista. He tosses a pebble down the slope, watching it bounce and knock other rocks loose. “I might as well have stayed on the boat to shoot my shot with Donovan while I had the chance.”
“Didn’t she already turn you down?” I growl before I can think better of it.
Brody’s gaze turns cold as he kicks another rock down. “What do you know about it, Riley?”
I should have kept my mouth shut. Let him be a tool and keep my focus on the incredible view. But since I’m in it now, I fold my arms and face the guy who has managed to get on my nerves far more easily than I’d like. “Nothing,” I say calmly. “I just know she has too much self-respect to settle for someone who doesn’t deserve her.”
He scoffs and matches my stance. Unfortunately for him, he’s a good two inches shorter than me and fifty pounds of muscle lighter. “And what?Youdeserve her? She only likes you because you’re famous.”
“She doesn’t like me,” I argue. “And she’s not going to change her mind about you just because you want her to, so give up before you—”
“Right,” he drawls, rolling his eyes. “You already gave her what she wants, so you think she won’t come looking for more? You can’t have beenthatgood.”
As my body stiffens and my jaw grows tight, I stare at him and try to understand why he’s insinuating what he is. “What?”
“I saw the two of you come out of the trees all hot and bothered yesterday, so I know she’s not like the rest of the self-righteous try-hards on this trip who won’t put out.” He gestures to Zahra and Morgan with a sneer, and something in me burns hot, muffling his words as it blazes in my ears. “Though I’m sure they’d crawl intoyourtent if you asked. Why don’t you do us all a favor and save a piece of the pie for the rest of us, eh, Riley? You’re not as special as you think you are.”
My feet carry me forward before I can stop myself, bringing me only inches from him as I crowd his space and loom over him. I’ve never been a violent person, but the idea of “accidentally” knocking Brody off the edge of the cliff is alarmingly tempting right now. Suddenly I understand the way Cole reacts whenever someone gets too close to Carissa. Theway Elliot sees everyone as his enemy if they speak even a little bit poorly about Freya.
I’ve always been protective of my friends, but this feels different.
It would be one thing if he only talked bad about Donovan; she can take care of herself. But he brought the other women into this, and I won’t tolerate it.
“A word of advice,” I say in a low voice, channeling an old character of mine. Someone who stood his ground with confidence. “The next time you talk about a woman like something to be consumed, think about how attached you are to certain appendages. One of these days, someone might consider relieving you of one of them if you insist on being a…” What I want to call him sits on the tip of my tongue, but I don’t want to be vulgar like him. I swallow the word and hope he sees it in my eyes. He knows what he is.
Brody was already red from the exertion of the hike, but now he’s nearly purple, staring up at me with an equal measure of fear and fury. His response might be any number of things, and I can only hope he’s smart enough to keep his hands to himself.
He’s not.
His elbow cocks back, fist at the ready, and I don’t doubt he has a decent arm. But he forgot one crucial piece of information. Halfway through his punch, his fists lands into Hunter’s large hand at the same time Hunter shoves him backward. Zahra and Morgan both scream while a couple of the college guys shout and rush forward, but the whole thing is over before it even begins.
“Think again,” Hunter snaps at Brody, who manages to stay on his feet despite the force of Hunter’s shove. Pretty sure my bodyguard went easy on him because we’re on top of a cliff.
Which is a good thing, I remind myself, if disappointing. I’ve seen Hunter perform a lot of impressive stunts keeping overeager people away from me, but something like this isn’t worth facing murder charges.
Farah, who looks between Brody and me with uncertainty in her eyes, clears her throat before saying something about following her down the other side and staying close because the trail can be easy to miss.
Brody snarls as he passes. He’s the first one to follow Farah, but not without spitting a colorful curse at me that’s full of words I would have liked to use for him.
The next few days could get interesting, but I won’t regret what I said.
After a moment, it’s only me, Hunter, and the three WanderLove guests left at the top, and only then do I let myself take a full breath and relax. That went better than it could have, but I’m not sure I can say it was great.
“Dude,” Maverick says, as if my inhale was the signal to break the tension. “You didn’t even flinch.”
“I think you’re my hero, Derek Riley,” Morgan says, batting her eyelashes at me.
