She arches her brow.
“I’ve heard about your pranks from Griff and Oliver,” she says, eyes narrowing. “I know you all get involved and there’s an award for the best one at the end of the season.”
“All of that is correct, but it’s between the guys. I promise you’ll be safe from the war.”
Her eyes narrow even more.
“Fine, but if a bear attacks us in those woods…”
“I will gladly throw my body in front of you and let it maul me. I’ll die a happy man if your face is the last thing I see.”
She snorts. “You better be as fast on your feet as you are on skates and haul our asses out of there. Piggyback or bridal style, I have no preference as long aswemake it out alive.”
“Throwing you over my shoulder would be faster.”
“Noted,” she responds, and that one word hits me low.
And now I have to fight off images of Erin draped over me, hot breath on my neck and fingers digging into me. Not because we’re escaping a bear, but because I’m carrying her straight to my bed.
The path narrows, and the forest settles around us. Erin’s shoes crunch over the twigs and dried leaves, and a squirreldarts past us and scurries up a tree. A breeze pushes around, the leaves whispering to one another as we pass them.
When we cross a shallow river, I count down from ten in my head.
Her footsteps slow, and a gasp leaves her. The waterfall pours ahead. I follow her gaze to the blankets spread out near the food basket and the new book she added to her TBR last week.
“Oh, Chase…”
The corners of my mouth lift at the sound of her voice, even before I meet her gaze.
“Is this what you’ve been doing this morning while I was asleep?” she asks, turning to face me.
“I know work’s been intense,” I say, watching her take it in, mesmerized. “I wanted to get you away somewhere where Angela couldn’t reach you. The middle of the woods felt appropriate.”
“I’m sorry I was late to your game yesterday,” she says as she lowers herself onto the blankets. I follow her lead.
“I’m not angry,” I say, brushing a stray lock of hair from her face, my touch lingering for just a moment.
“I thought when nothing really bad happened after Finn showed up, Angela had gotten over it,” Erin explains as she pulls a blanket over her lap. “Maybe this is the delayed reaction I wasn’t expecting. She’s being difficult because my boy—” She stops suddenly. Her eyes go wide, and her cheeks flame a deep crimson color.
I grin and lean closer to her.
“Your what, Bookworm?”
“Uh, because my brand-new department got some money, and she’s just salty,” she blurts out.
Nice save, baby. I’ll be your boyfriend soon enough.
“Hmm. Maybe,” I say, sparing her while opening the basket. “Now, let’s eat.”
I toss the bag of Jelly Tots to her first and then lift out a potato salad, two different flavors of nacho chips, three dips, some grapes, mini slices of cheese, and a bag of M&Ms.
We eat, laugh, and I tell her the crazy things Jack and I got up to when we used to come out here. While she listens to the stories, I can’t shake the thought of how much I could get used to this.
She folds her legs underneath her, and her fingers play with the ends of her sleeves, and I know there’s a thought pressing on her mind.
“I almost told Bella what I saw happen to my dad.”
A pang of empathy strikes through me because I know she’s been trying to pluck up the courage to talk to her sister for a while now. We’ve talked about it over the last few weeks, especially now that Rudy’s back in her life.
