“Yep, only the best when it comes to this guy,” I smile while pulling out a paper sack I’d stashed inside my saddlebags.
“Where ya from?”
Luke answers, “Everywhere.”
“Nice,” the guy nods. They return to cooking a late breakfast on a hot plate.
Luke and I head into the woods. He pulls out his phone to take that picture of me. “What’s in the bag?”
CHAPTER 28
SOFIA SOL
I smirk, “Wouldn’t you like to know,” broken sticks and dried leaves crunching under my feet.
He tries to grab it from me, but I dodge him.
“What is it, tarot cards and candles?”
I laugh, “No!”
“Then what is it?”
“Just take the picture and get it over with!” Setting it down behind a tree I embrace the knotted trunk as Luke frames the shot, holding his phone up.
“Hug it!”
“What do you think I’m doing?”
“Look like you enjoy it!”
Closing my eyes I rest my cheek against the wood and inhale the sweet smell. A couple shutter clicks sound off, heard easily in the quiet out here. When it sounds like there won’t be more, I glance over and see Luke staring at me with a deep frown, camera slowly drifting to his side. My heart quickens and I brush myself off. “Got it?” I ask, bending to pick up the bag and walk to him.
“Yeah,” he nods, voice hoarse. Clearing his throat, we resume the hike. “What’s in the bag?”
My body is awake now, chest tense. I’d love to hold his hand but that’s never going to happen. After a few steps I shrug, “Lunch.”
He ducks under a branch. “You brought yourself lunch?”
I throw it at him and he catches it against his chest. “Open the damn thing, Jeez!”
Peeling the paper back, he peers inside, shoving his hand in so he can dig around the contents. He rolls the bag closed again and side-eyeballs me with appreciation and suspicion. “When did you get these?”
“Don’t worry, they’re still fresh.”
“When?”
“After breakfast.”
“Where?”
Exasperated, I throw my hands up and stop walking. “Is it really that crazy I got us lunch so we don’t starve up here? I didn’t wanna hike all the way up, get hungry, and then have to walk allllllll the way back to eat.”
Luke steps closer, his expression quiet. “Yeah, it really is that crazy.”
His gaze is intimate, unwavering, and it robs me of speech. I want to kiss him so badly. I need to touch him. My entire adult life I’ve never checked that impulse when I was attracted to someone, but this is Luke. He’s not some stranger in a town I’ll never visit again, who I don’t give a shit about.
I like to take control.
This whole not knowing what to do, how to act, with all these feelings I have for him.
It’s…vulnerable.
I don’t know how to be that.
Holding his look I’m silently begging him to take a chance.
I want to touch you. Please make the first move. I’m aching for you.
He frowns and hands me the bag. “Thanks for getting these.”
“No problem,” I mutter on a frown. “Stop giving me grief over it.”
A crooked smile slowly curves his lips. “You got my favorite sandwich, Soph. If I didn’t give you a hard time about that, we wouldn’t be us.” He walks away.
Gripping the bag tightly with my fist, I stay my pace, following him rather than joining him so I can chew my lips to pieces in private. We hike up the mountain, silent for a long time, leaves occasionally rustling as creatures dive into better hiding places. They’re good at it, too. The only wild animals I get to see are birds bouncing from branch to branch, chirping and adding peace to an otherwise shitty situation.
“Wanna climb these boulders, Soph?”
“Hell yes!”
“Here, give me the bag.” I hand it over and he sets it down in a nook of stone. “You first.”
I begin the climb. Keeping my expression blank and focused, I hide that I’m purposefully arching my ass up, stretching in sensual ways in my reaches to the next stone. The boulders are easy to grip onto, like fine sandpaper, and these boots have been resoled recently. The only thing we Ciphers spend money on is tread, our bike tires and the soles of our boots. They must remain thick for our safety.
On the highest rock I wait for him, watching his muscles do the work.
God, he’s so…motherfucking sigh.
“Look at this, huh?” he grins as he stands up, admiring the view with me. “Great idea to hike, I’ll give it to you.”
“This is flat enough that we could eat here.”
He glances to the stone and agrees with me. “I’ll get the food.”
Lowering myself I dig out my phone and cross my legs. “I’m going to call my dad.”
“Okay!”
My parents told me that when they were younger, you wouldn’t be able to get a signal in mountains like this, but the world realized when you’re in the middle of nowhere, you just might need to call for help during an emergency. Satellite towers were installed across our nation, and I can’t believe it took so long.
With my focus split by watching Luke climb, I dial Dad’s phone and wait for the rings to stop. “Sofia, where are you?”
Surprised, I blurt, “Tyler asked me to do a job, I’m with him in Arizona.”
“He did? What job?”
Pausing to think of the imaginary job, I realize I’ll just use Sean as the excuse. “We found a guy who might be good for the club.”
Silence for a beat, then, “Tell me about him.”
“We checked him out. I like him. His mother told us he doesn’t fit in here, the way we don’t fit in anywhere but home.” Luke sits next to me and plants the bag between us. “He’s sharp, street-smart, works out at his house, in shape but not trained for combat. He’s—”
“You interested in this guy, Sofia?”
“Am I interested in him?” I repeat, because it took me off guard. Luke locks onto me and I avoid his eyes, picking at the torn cotton around my bare knee. “No,
