‘You missed the most amazing hike,’ Ren said, draping an easy arm around her shoulders as we continued on to the car park, the creek trickling alongside us, trees fluttering above. ‘There was no one down at the waterfall, we even took a dip.’
She wrinkled her pretty nose and pulled away from him. ‘You swam in that filthy pond? Ew. I hope you checked for leeches?’
‘Leeches?’ I repeated. ‘There were leeches in there?’
‘There are no leeches in that pool,’ Ren promised as I spun around and around like a dog trying to chase its own tail. ‘You’re good.’
‘You know you have to burn them off,’ I rambled, patting myself down. ‘You can’t pull them or they leave their rank little teeth in you. Are you sure there aren’t any? I feel like I can feel them?’
‘No leeches I can see, but you are pretty gross.’ Bel gave us both a cursory sniff before hopping backwards. ‘You need to shower. Right now.’
Ren laughed at the look of disgust on her face but I knew she wasn’t joking. Mostly because I could smell myself.
‘I don’t know about you two, but I’m starving,’ he said. ‘We should get something to eat before we head back. There’s a really great barbecue place out in La Cañada; they do the best pulled pork I’ve had on the West Coast.’
My stomach didn’t so much growl as roar. ‘The vegan thing really is optional for you, isn’t it?’ I commented.‘Not that I’m judging, I would very much like to eat the pork.’
‘No, sorry, I’m not going anywhere with the two of you looking like that.’ Bel crossed her arms as Ren pulled a bungee cord out of his backpack, the keys to his truck fastened safely onto the other end. ‘You need to shower, I need to charge my phone and I’m being eaten alive by the mosquitoes out here. We did the nature thing, now it’s time to go back to civilization.’
Ren’s expression shifted very slightly. It was only because I’d studied it so closely over the last week that I noticed the muscles in his jaw tighten, his easy smile tensing up fraction by fraction.
‘Phoebe,’ he said, his tone perfectly neutral. ‘Looks like you have the deciding vote.’
‘Oh my God,’ Bel groaned. ‘Sometimes I hate democracy.’
‘Maybe it would be more fun to go out after we’ve showered,’ I replied, even as my stomach screamed like a banshee at the thought of passing up lashings of delicious pig. ‘Bel’s right, I do smell a bit ripe. Maybe heading home first is a better idea?’
‘Thebestidea.’ She hopped into the front seat of the truck the moment Ren unlocked the door. ‘We’re going to have to wind down all the windows so I don’t have to smell you guys.’
I followed Ren around to the back of the truck, heaving my rucksack in beside his, watching as he fastened them down with bungee cords.
‘All good?’ I asked.
‘All great.’
But he didn’t look as though he meant it.
‘Let’s head home,’ he said. ‘Apparently I need a shower.’
‘Apparently we both do,’ I replied, reciprocating in kind. ‘Thank you for today, I never would have come here if it wasn’t for you.’
He didn’t respond. Instead he pulled on the bungee cord to test its grip, his features weighed down with something heavy, like he was trying to crack a puzzle but didn’t like the solution he’d come up with.
‘I think today was something I’ll remember forever,’ I added. ‘For the rest of my life.’
‘Me too,’ he replied. ‘Today was special.’
His voice was strained, almost as though it hurt to say it, and I felt something begin to crystallize in the air between us until a loud, sharp car horn sliced through the forest.
‘Hey, you guys?’ Bel called from the front passenger seat, her hand pressing down on the centre of the steering wheel. ‘I need to pee so bad and the bathrooms here are not an option. Can we please leave already?’
‘She’s not wrong about those toilets, better not keep her waiting,’ I said, sidestepping Ren to climb into the back seat, an unsettling feeling buzzing in the tips of my frozen fingers and toes while Bel played with the stereo.
I fastened my seatbelt as he gunned the engine and slowly backed the truck out of the car park, leaving the hiking trail, our waterfall and everything that had and hadn’t happened far, far behind.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
‘Thanks again for today,’ I said loudly as we pulled up in front of Suzanne’s house half an hour later. It had been one of the longest half hours of my life, no one but Bel uttering a single word, all the way home. ‘I’m going home for a long, hot shower.’ I scurried out from the back seat and retrieved my backpack, holding it in front of me like a shield.
