“What’s that?”
“Mike showed up.”
“He did?” I ask with my brow drawn together as I try to recall seeing him. “I don’t remember that part.”
“You were already in bed asleep,” Xavier explains. “I refused him entry.”
“Why?” I ask in confusion. “He comes over late some nights. It’s not a big deal.”
Hold on. Is Xavier jealous? No, that’s just crazy.
“You were drunk, Cass! I wasn’t going to send a guy up to your room when you couldn’t keep your eyes open.”
“Oh,” I say in understanding. He was being a good friend, acting like a protective older brother. I shouldn’t have gotten my hopes up that it was more than that. “Well, thanks, but again, I don’t need you to make decisions for me.”
“Right, I know that,” Xavier replies. “And, ah, Mike said to tell you he stopped by and would call you today or something.”
“Good. Guess I should buy another phone.”
“After we get back tomorrow,” he suggests. “It’s not like we’re going to have any cell reception, and we want to make camp before sunset.”
“True,” I say. “The phone can wait.”
“Is it just me or does that Mike dickhead sort of look like me?” Xavier asks.
“Hmm, I don’t know. Never really thought about it,” I respond in a rush. “Let’s get moving. Time’s a wasting, right?”
“Lead the way,” Xavier says. “I take it you’ve already pre-packed our gear?”
“Yep.”
“Always prepared like a good little girl scout,” he says with a smile.
“Someone has to be prepared,” I say when I go up to him and poke his hard chest. I swear the damn thing could withstand a bullet. “If I left it up to you, we would go up with nothing but whatever supplies are in our pockets.”
“Tents and sleeping bags are for pussies,” Xavier says, and my eyes are drawn to his full lips and the way they move when saying pussies.
“Fine, then I’ll set mine up and you can sleep out on the hard ground tonight,” I tell him.
Before I can blink, he reaches out and pulls off my shades, causing the bright kitchen light to temporarily blind me or give me an aneurism, maybe both.
“Hey!” I exclaim while slapping my hands over my eyes.
“That’s what I thought,” he says. “You’re not up for this, Bambi.”
“Give me back my sunglasses or I will knee you in the nads,” I warn him. Thankfully, he puts the shades back over my eyes. “Now, let’s go!”
Xavier
“Oh, holy mother of mercy,” Cass says after she kneels in the leaves to throw up on the trail for the third time.
“We’re turning around,” I tell her because I hate seeing her so miserable. And despite what she says, she was really fucking drunk if she doesn’t remember kissing me. I would think she’s lying except I know Cass; and if she had remembered, her cheeks would’ve turned tomato red.
“Nope. That was definitely the last time I’m going to get sick,” she says when she grabs my arm to pull herself up straight again.
“That’s what you said the last two times,” I point out.
“I’m almost sure of it this time,” Cass replies. “And we’re almost to the camp site.”
“Thank god,” I mutter. While I may get in at least half an hour a day of cardio in the gym, it’s nowhere near as strenuous as the up-hill hike on a steep mountainside. Not that I would admit it to Cass, but I’ve almost tossed my own cookies once or twice.
The terrain finally flattens out. And then, with a few hours to spare before sunset, we come to a stop in the clearing. Cassidy has our tent set up in record-breaking time while I start a fire to heat up whatever food she brought us for dinner.
Since there aren’t any tree stumps or logs to sit on, I walk around until I find us one. Picking up the six-foot log, I hoist it over my shoulder and carry it back to camp.
Cass comes out of the tent and does a double take before I toss the log down. “Go easy there, Paul Bunyan,” she says. “I could’ve helped you carry it over.”
“I had it,” I say when I take a seat on one end.
“You had it, sure, but you could’ve thrown your back out.”
“Are you calling me old and out of shape?” I ask when she sits down next to me.
“No, I’m saying there’s no good reason to go around carrying your body weight.”
“The log weighs less than you,” I tell her. Pinching my finger and thumb together, I say, “You came this close to me carrying you the rest of the way up here like I had to carry you to bed.”
“I’m perfectly fine.”
Getting up, I go over to her pack that’s next to the tent to find her canteen to take it back over to her. “Drink up or you’re gonna get dehydrated.”
She accepts it and removes the lid to guzzle it down. “Thanks.” Once she’s done, she sits the container on the ground by her feet and then tips her head back to inhale the fresh air. Rays of sunlight that break through the trees hit her smiling face and make her hair glow like some kind of unearthly fairy. “It was worth the hike, right?” she asks.
“Yeah,” I agree, drinking her in while she’s not paying attention. Climbing mountains to make her happy is nothing. I would try to move them for Cass if she asked me to, because I know she would do the same for me.
“So,” she starts before she glances over at me. “Did you talk to the coach yesterday at Havoc or chicken out since I wasn’t there to strong-arm you into it?”
“First of all, you can’t strong-arm me into anything,” I reply. “And secondly, yes, I did talk to Coach Briggs, thank you very much.”
“You did?” she asks, green eyes brightening. “What did he say? Did he think you still have time?”
Swiping my sweaty palms down the thighs of my cargo
