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Why couldn’t she hear me? I didn’t even know if it was her.

Now that I was past the clearing, I couldn’t see shit. The leaves had fallen from the trees but they were still too close together for me to see anything other than tree trunks unless I was a few feet away.

The next time the footsteps stopped, I moved in that direction in a light jog.

Finally, I saw a flash of red hair and relief flooded me. Until she started running away from me.

What the fuck? I knew damn well she didn’t know these woods well enough to be running through them.

“True!”

Notebook hanging loosely from her fingers, True broke out in a sprint.

No matter how many times I called her name, she wouldn’t turn around. She ran like she was being chased and my heart drummed in my chest while I tried to catch up with her.

“I have bear spray!” she screamed over her shoulder, refusing to look back and see that it was me and she wasn’t in danger.

When I got close enough, I slowed my steps and threw my arms around her shoulders from behind, careful not to tackle her to the ground.

But she panicked when she felt the weight of my arms on her and tried to wrestle free from my hold until we were both on the ground, panting.

“What the hell, True?” I groaned, rolling away from her.

“Ohmygod, Grey! You scared the shit out of me. I thought you were a coyote or something chasing me.”

Dusting the debris from the ground off my suit, I stretched my neck and stood up, extending my hand to help her.

True’s fingers gripped mine and she let me pull her up. Then she reached up and tapped something near her ear.

Fucking headphones.

She started rambling. “Sorry, I was doing a writing exercise and listening to music. I didn’t realize the person calling my name was the same one behind me. I thought it was a wild animal and one of y’all was trying to warn me to get out the woods.”

“You were running in the wrong direction.”

I tried to keep the irritation out of my voice, but she could have gotten hurt. If it hadn’t been me…

True gulped. “I know that now.”

I snatched my glasses off my face and pinched the bridge of my nose. Then I used my handkerchief to clean them and pushed them back in place.

“What kind of writing exercise, True?” I asked, trying to lighten the mood.

“I found it in one of my craft books. It said to walk outside and write down everything you saw. Start with the smallest thing and make it big by describing every detail about it. I needed a break from my desk and I was…” she trailed, rubbing ather forehead in embarrassment. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have been listening to my music so loud.”

“It’s ok. I’m happy you’re okay.” I pulled her into me, kissing the side of her head. Then I stepped back and looked her over from head to toe.

Her pupils were blown and her lips were a breath apart, letting out startled puffs of air as she looked at me.

Her chest heaved and she kept dropping her gaze to my hands.

“What?” I tilted my head to look at her.

“Nothing. You scared me, that’s all.” She swallowed again, averting her eyes but they went straight to my hands. I smirked.

“If you’re scared, why are you looking at me like that?”

“Because I’m glad it was you.”