Page 17 of Mountain Grump Protector

I keep moving.

“Willow!” He calls, his voice is a combination of frustration and the slightest trace of humor.

This time I pause, and when I do, I hear the rumble of an engine.

Cal’s truck is off. It’s not his.

Which means…

I freeze.

Maybe Cal was exaggerating about the risk of bears and wolves, but Ronnie Hatch and his friends? That danger is real.

“Willow.” He doesn’t call out this time, and something in his voice makes every nerve in my body go tight.

The other engine gets louder, and I finally turn around, catching the flash of a red truck through the trees in the distance.

Ronnie’s truck.

For one horrible second, I can’t move. Fear has me locked in place.

Cal reaches me a heartbeat later. One arm wraps around my waist while his other hand grips the back of my neck, and suddenly I’m being hauled backwards into the trees with my body pressed tight against his hard wall of muscle.

“Get down.”

A gasp slips from my throat, that I only barely manage to stifle as we stumble through the brush before he crouches behind a thick cluster of pines, pulling me down with him.

“Can they see us?” I whisper even though there’s no way they can hear us.

“I don’t know.” His jaw tightens.

Out on the main road, the truck slows, idling way too close to the turnoff of the road we’re hiding in.

My pulse pounds so hard I can barely hear anything else. I feel like I must stop breathing entirely for a second.

Cal keeps one arm locked around my waist, holding me tight while he keeps watch. His presence soothes me, making me feel safe in the most unexpected way. Mostly because I can’t remember the last time I ever felt calmed by the presence of another person.

I can feel every inch of him pressed against me. The solid wall of his chest, the heat of his body, the rough scrape of denim beneath my fingers where I’ve instinctively grabbed hold of his leg.

After a moment, the truck’s engine revs and pulls away up the road.

Relief crashes through me so fast it leaves me shaky. But I also know it’ll be short-lived.

If Ronnie is on the mountain, it means exactly what I’ve been afraid of. He’s not done with me yet.

Going home isn’t safe.

The realization hits me hard.

I’m not safe.

Cal exhales slowly, but doesn’t release me, and suddenly I’m painfully aware of how close we are and why. If it weren’t for Cal coming after me. Grabbing me and pulling me into the trees. Ronnie would have seen me.

I’m safe with Cal.

The scent of cedar, soap, and motor oil clings to him. One of his huge hands is spread across my waist, his thumb pressing lightly into my bare skin where my tank top rode up a bit during our scramble.

My heart is still pounding hard. Only now it has nothing to do with the risk of being seen.