“How many of youare there?” I cry, using the open back door of Fiona to hoist myself up on top of the van.
I’m on my hands and knees, wheezing. That’s when my phone vibrates in my back pocket.
I nearly cry with relief.
I don’t even see the new message, just open the chat, fingers flying.
Me: HELP!
I string a few emojis together, like a siren and raccoon. Then, I slide away from the back of the van before scrambling to stand, looking over the side.
Boe<3: yeah…I don’t know what that means
If I wasn’t on the cusp of a heart attack at the ripe age of twenty-three, I would probably laugh. But there is a rustling noise down there, and I type half the message without looking.
Me: tacoom jekp
Boe<3: are you…having a stroke, dude?
I groan and punch my thumbs at the keyboard.
Me: There is a raccoon! Please help me.
I look around, considering if Ian would hear me scream for help all the way next door. The cabins aren’t exactly close, but I bet my vocal cords could be easily coaxed into a higher volume with close enough proximity to a furry fiend.
What if it has rabies?
Yeah, Kit, let’s make this worse.
“Why am I like this?” I whisper, crouching down and peeking over the van on the other side. I have no idea where they went.
When my phone vibrates, I anticipate Bowen being like, “Nah.” Not an image file of me on top of Fiona, ass in the air looking over the opposite side, facing away from the cabin fills my screen.
I spin around, getting up quickly. “I think one is under the van.”
Bowen moves down the stairs of the cabin like a man that has a normal nervous system and was blessed with a solid bravery stat. “If they’re under the van, why are you on top of it?”
“Asserting dominance?”
He’s standing by the side now, looking up at me. There is a ghost of a smile on his face.
“The whimpering like a scared kitten really showed them, huh?”
“I was not…whimpering.” Was I? I clear my throat and look around down there. “I bet the one inside found my blueberry tart stash by now.”
Bowen snorts, pocketing his phone before holding his arms out like I’m a toddler. “Come on.”
Suddenly the top of the van doesn’t seem so bad. I can just live up here. Become one with nature.
His open arms are quite possibly all I want in life.
But I can’t.
Some of the fear from the last ten minutes bleeds out, and my heart is thumping for a whole different reason. I move stiffly to sit, legs dangling over the edge. I don’t look at the man but instead the ground. It looks way higher than I thought it was. I try to hop down gracefully, but my ankles saynoas soon as my feet make contact, and strong arms grab onto my sides before I can make an even bigger fool of myself.
I swear everything inside me comes to a screeching halt for the space between blinks.
My heart stops. Blood stops flowing. Breathing hitched to my paused heart, suspended. I look up into pale blue eyes, and they look down at me. For one second.
