Page 16 of Squatch Out!

“We didn’t come from anywhere,” I say softly.

“We’ve been here from the beginning. In the early times, it was more accepted that some of us were different .

Now,” I let out a sigh,” it’s much harder.

There are more people. The stories aren’t passed down like they used to be.

Science tries to explain everything and disregards what it can’t as fiction. ”

Silence falls over us again as she considers this.

This time, the quiet that descends around us is filled with the sounds of birds and wildlife and the wind rustling through the trees.

It’s no longer heavy with the worry that I felt a few minutes ago, although I still find myself wondering if she can be trusted.

So far, she hasn’t given me a reason to distrust her, but…

what if she tells someone else, and they go public?

Then there will be a bit of press, and it will eventually go away. Just like it always does.

I want to trust her, but I don’t know her.

A voice in the back of my mind scoffs. Then get to know her!

No doubt Olivia would think I’m crazy if she could hear the way I’m arguing with myself. I start to laugh, and then try to stifle it, which turns into a snort, and she looks at me curiously.

“So, ah, what about you?” I clear my throat, like I meant to make the awkward noise.

“What about me?” She looks completely perplexed. Like she can’t imagine that I would want to get to know her. Fuck, she’s adorable.

“What brings you here, besides bigfoot?”

“Oh, um…” She tucks a strand of her straw-colored hair behind her ear and shrugs. “That’s the reason, mostly.”

I have my doubts, but if she doesn’t want to talk about it, I’m not going to push her. So instead, I ask her about what she wants to talk about. “Then why did bigfoot bring you here?”

She keeps her eyes fixed on the trail we’re following as her cheeks turn pink. “Well, I had a sighting, you know? I’m sure you don’t want to hear about it. It seems kind of silly now, knowing what I know.”

“Actually, I’d like to hear about it,” I admit it honestly. “Tell me about your sighting, Olivia.”

Her name on my tongue feels good, and when she looks up at me, her smile is back, along with the sparkle in her eyes. Sharing this is important to her, and if talking about bigfoot keeps that look on her face, then I’ll listen all day long.

“I was seven when my family visited St. Helens,” she begins.

I watch her intently as she tells me about getting lost in the dense forest. My heart pangs as the memory of her fear flickers across her face.

I’m mesmerized by her excitement when she tells me how the squatch led her back to her family, and my stomach flutters along with her embarrassed flush when she admits that her sighting sparked her obsession and how long she’s been planning to come back here.

“My parents were older when I was born, and I was their only child. I was in college when I lost them, one right after the other.” She lets out a shaky breath and drops her gaze to the path again.

“That was a rough time. They were the only family I had. I know they didn’t mean for it to be like that for me, but taking care of them and school was pretty much my whole life for a really long time.

So, my only friends were the ones I made online. Like Tony.”

Hearing that, I decide that maybe Tony might not be so bad after all.

“Anyway, I was born here. In Washington, I mean, and I’ve always felt like something has been trying to pull me back. I used to think it was bigfoot, but…” She looks up at me and then around the lush forest we’re walking through. “But I think it’s just this place. Being here feels like home.”

Olivia grows quiet again, and this time I let it stretch for a bit while enjoying the comfort of walking beside her, wondering which of my cousins she ran into that fateful day when she was seven.

“You know,” I begin slowly. “Squatch don’t show themselves to just anyone.

They have to have a really good reason, so the fact that one helped you means…

” I look over at her, and my heart kicks in my chest at the way the dappled sunlight is shining across her face.

Our eyes meet, and warmth floods my body at the way the sun turns her eyes from warm brown to blazing amber.

She smiles up at me and— my God, she’s beautiful . For a minute, I worry I’m about to squatch out again, but when nothing happens, I continue.

“It means he saw something special in you. That he could trust you.”

I let what I just said sink into my own thick head, then I add, “I’m sorry about your parents.

” Shoving my hands into my pockets, I let out a long breath.

Losing our parents when we were young is a hell of a thing to have in common.

“I lost mine in an accident. They were driving in bad weather and…” I shrug.

Her fingers squeeze around my arm, and when I look over at her, her eyes have turned shiny with unshed tears.

Her sadness for me and for my loss is unexpected.

My heart swells in my chest, and I realize that if I ever look back on this moment, no matter what happens after today, this is the moment I’ll remember as the first time I started to fall in love.

Our steps slow, and my eyes drop to her lips. I want to kiss her. To find out if she tastes as sweet as she smells.

My feet shuffle to a stop.

My heart jumps as her plush lips part with her next breath and her head tilts back so she’s looking up at me.

Taking another step, I close the distance between us.

Electricity snaps down my spine when our hands brush.

We’re so close that our chests are nearly touching.

I’m looking down at her, while she looks up.

The tip of her small, pink tongue darts out to wet her lips and I swallow down a groan as I lean in to press my lips to hers.

It’s tentative, a feather-soft brush, like a question.

Is this okay?

Fuck yes, she answers when she leans in, pressing her lips firmly to mine.

Her hands glide up my arms to my shoulders, and I curl mine around her back, pulling her against me. She opens for me with a sigh and I sink inside the warmth of her mouth. Moaning at how she’s just as sweet as I imagined. She tastes like coffee with a hint of honey and a flavor that is all her.

I groan, savoring the feel of her soft curves pressed against my hardness. My tongue dips and slides with hers. Her hands roam higher, up to the back of my neck, where she presses, asking for more. And I oblige, pulling her closer, wanting to feel every inch of her against every inch of me.

Our kiss turns hungry. Olivia meets my tongue with brazen flicks, and her blunt nails dig into the back of my neck. Holding her tightly, I grind my aching cock against her soft stomach.

Until the sudden sound of voices breaks me out of my reverie. Olivia tenses against me and reluctantly I pull back. Her eyes are glazed, and her lips are plump from my kisses. Fuck, I want to kiss her again. Actually, I want to do far more than that.

I push aside thoughts of how she’ll look spread out across my bed as I taste every inch of her bare skin. Gathering what’s left of my willpower, I take her hand and twine our fingers together. We walk the rest of the way in silence.

Just ahead is the trailhead where Owen’s old forestry truck is waiting in the parking lot, right where I left it.

It’s about two decades past its prime, but the thing runs like a dream thanks to my brother’s handiwork.

Owen is a genius around a motor. I always told him that he should have gone into some kind of engineering field, but he would just rattle off some bullshit about how his heart is here in the mountains.

After running my hand under the wheel well where he hides the spare key—I know because he’s told me that’s where he hides it a million times—I unlock the passenger side and help Olivia up into the cab.

Then I take my time circling to the other side.

Giving myself a pep-talk about how I am not going to squatch out the moment I’m closed up inside the cab with her.

It’s unneeded though; I seem to have my control back.

I make a mental note to ask Owen about it later. Maybe he can help me figure out what caused me to lose control in the first place.

As I pull out of the lot and onto the narrow trail that will take us up to Windy Ridge, Olivia shrugs out of Owen’s flannel. When it starts to slide off the seat and onto the floor, we both reach for it, but I’m faster. With a growl, I snatch it from her and toss it behind the seat.

“Next time when you’re cold, you can have my shirt.”

She looks at me strangely and then points at the t-shirt I’m wearing. Her lips quirk up at the corners. “Isn’t that Owen’s shirt too?”

Shit. She has a point. “Yeah, but at least it’s covered in my scent.”

“Um, that’s alright.” She presses her lips tightly together, probably to keep from laughing at how ridiculous I’m acting. “Thank you, though.” Then she does something I’m not expecting at all. She reaches over and twines her fingers with mine.

The drive up to the campsite flies by, even though I’m purposely driving slowly.

I tell myself it’s so I don’t jostle her too much over the rough trail, but really I’m just dragging out the time until I have to let her go.

My hand tightens around hers when I roll up next to the SUV.

Before I’ve even come to a full stop, Tony and Brian are rushing at the truck.

My hand tightens around the steering wheel, and I’m seconds away from slamming the truck into gear and driving back down the mountain. But before I can make good on that, the door opens, and Tony pulls Olivia away from me. Her fingers slip from my grip, and then he’s helping her down from the cab.

Her brows are puckered when she pulls away from Tony and turns back to look up into the cab. She smiles at me, “Thanks for the ride.”

Before I can reply, Tony narrows his eyes and slams the door shut. Cutting off my view of her.

It’s probably a good thing the windows are the old-fashioned crank kind, or who knows what stupid shit I would have shouted after him. Instead, I grind my teeth as I watch Brian and him walk Olivia back to the fire.

Slamming the truck into reverse, I try not to spray dirt and gravel as I turn around and head back down the mountain. At least until I’m out of view, then I open up the throttle and use speed to burn off the aggression I’m feeling at leaving her behind.