Later that night when we’ve returned the duvet to the bedroom and snuggled tightly underneath, Cole turns in my arms to face me in the pitch black of night. “Thank you,” she whispers.
“For what?” I ask, curious as to how she’ll answer.
“For never asking me to be anything other than exactly who I am.”
“I like who you are,” I reply. I more than like who she is.
“I know you do.”
A few minutes later, her breathing evens out and I quietly voice the thing I’ve been scared to say for twelve years.
“I love who you are.”
“This hiking trail feels very murdery.”
Keith Morrison’s voice echoes through my head.She lit up every room she walked into!
I always felt like that had to be a lie—there’s no way everyone who had an episode ofDatelinelit up the rooms they walked into. What does that even look like anyway? They smiled at strangers? That seems to be what got them into the whole murder mess in the first place.
Ben’s boisterous laugh draws my eyes to him. I made him walk in front of me, mainly because I like watching his firmass in the short hiking shorts. He’s paired the shorts—which I feel like could be at least two inches shorter—with a Hawthorne hoodie and hiking boots. We left Ernest back at the cabin because I wasn’t sure if he’d be able to handle the hike. Ben is taking lots of pictures to “show him later,” he said before giving Ernest extra belly scratches.
“Don’t you think if I was going to murder you, I would have done it last night? Why wait until today?”
“Hmm… maybe you enjoy the thrill of the chase,” I suggest.
He turns around, quirking his dark eyebrow at me. “Kinky.”
“Whatever, I was always faster than you anyway. I could definitely outrun you if my life depended on it.”
Ben stops dead in his tracks, but I’m so focused on not tripping over a tree root that I charge right into him. When he turns around, his slight elevation on the trail makes him tower over me more than usual. “Want to test this theory?” he smirks.
There must be something seriously wrong with me based on the excited swoop that flies through my stomach. Ben sees it on my face because he leans down to whisper in my ear, “You have until the count of five. Run.”
He doesn’t have to tell me twice. With a squeal, I take off, following the trail we were taking. Ben’s voice grows further away as he slowly counts to five, adding aMississippibetween each number. “Ready or not, here I come!” he yells, spurring me to run faster than I have in a long time.
But Ben apparently spends a lot more time on the treadmill than I do nowadays because it’s not long before I hear his heavy footsteps catching up to me. Hoping he’s not able to see me yet, I dart off the path in hopes of a place to hide.
A tree wide enough to cover me is only about ten feet away, and I try to quietly tiptoe behind it without crunching too many leaves. My heart is pounding and my breathing is heavy, but Ican hear Ben pass my hiding spot before slowing down once he realizes I’m not in front of him anymore.
“Very clever, Red,” he calls out. “You’ve got to be around here somewhere.”
I chance a peek around the tree and see his back toward me, searching the opposite side of the trail. Looking around, I contemplate whether or not I should move to a different tree. When I look back toward Ben, he’s gone.
My brow furrows as I lean further around the tree, straining to listen for his distant footfalls to no avail. “What the fuck,” I mutter before deciding to change locations. Maybe if I get a bit closer to the trail, I’ll be able to hear him. Quietly, I tiptoe back toward the path, cringing when a twig snaps beneath my boot. I make it back to the main opening, but there’s still no sign of Ben. My mind is spiraling with worst case scenarios when a strong set of arms suddenly grabs me around the waist, twirling me not once, but twice.
“Got ya,” says Ben’s smug voice in my ear. I can barely hear him over my own scream. His hand comes over my mouth to muffle my startled screech. “Jesus, Red. You’re going to make people think an actual murder is occuring.”
“Youscaredtheshitoutofme,” I mumble into Ben’s palm.
“Yes, I caught you,” he teases, dropping me back to the ground and crowding me up against the nearest tree. He leans in close, lips grazing mine. “What’s my prize?”
“My undying devotion,” I joke, taking his lips with mine.
“Deal. Sealing it with a kiss.” And he does. A tender, affectionate kiss that communicates so many things that I’m not ready to hear. I think he knows this though, because he laces his hand through mine and wordlessly starts us back on the hiking trail.
A short while later we arrive at our destination. The waterfall we must have been hearing last night at dinner. It falls straightinto a swimming hole that would be perfect for the summertime. Ben opens his backpack and lays out a blanket for us to sit on.
“This place is really nice.” Though we can’t swim, the fall colors are stunning and definitely make the hike up here worth it.
