Page 18 of Squatch Out!

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

SEAN

B y the time I make it back up the ridge from town, the sun is low over the horizon, and I’ve had ample time to think about Olivia.

In fact, I can’t seem to stop thinking about her.

I’ve replayed every moment with her in my mind.

Dwelled on the soft sound of her voice and the even softer press of her lips.

I’ve puzzled over what it is about her sweet scent that makes my squatch lose control. Why I’m so drawn to her.

And I can’t come up with a single answer.

I finish unloading all the supplies—including a new door, lock, and two bags of new clothes—before jumping right back in Owen’s truck to head back to the campsite.

I need to see her again. I want to talk to her and get to know more about her.

The first stars are dotting the dark blue sky when I pull up to their campfire in a cloud of dust. It’s just Brian and Tony sitting by the fire. There is no sign of Olivia.

I greet them with a wave as I come around the front of my truck. “I came to talk with Olivia.” I’m scanning the campsite as I ask, but there is something missing. Something I can’t quite put my finger on.

“She left,” the bearded one, Tony, says from one of the camp chairs. His voice is flat, and he narrows his eyes at me. Accusingly.

My attention recoils like a over stretched rubber band and snaps to him. “What?” Then I realize what’s missing. It’s her tent. “When? Why?”

Next to Tony, Brian unfolds his long frame from his camp chair and crosses his arms over his chest. “Well, I think we’re actually hoping you might be able to tell us.”

Oh, great. These guys think I had something to do with her leaving.

And they’d be right, asshole. Leaving without even saying goodbye, especially after the way you kissed her was a dick move .

“Are you the guy?” Tony asks as he stands up beside Brian. I don’t miss how his fists are clenched, and he’s practically vibrating with anger. “Did you dress up in a suit and carry her off?”

Dress up? For a second, I’m confused as hell at what he’s talking about. Then it hits me. Shit…Olivia must have given them a story to explain what happened.

“Er, yeah. I came to apologize. It was… a shitty thing to do.”

“Damn right it was!” Brian shouts at me. “Stupid and dangerous! I have half a mind to report you!”

My knee-jerk reaction is to snort at his threat.

Even if he did, which I’m a little surprised he hasn’t already, the report would go to Owen, and he’d just give me his signature look of disappointment.

I hold my hands up, “I know, I know. Look, you have every right to report me, but I really am sorry. I came back to talk to Olivia, to try to make things right. Can you tell me where she went?”

Both men are tight-lipped, and I realize they aren’t going to tell me.

“She went back to town. Pretty sure she’s staying at the lodge,” Darren speaks up from where he suddenly appears on the other side of the fire.

“Darren, shut the fuck up!” Brian hisses at him.

But that’s all I need. “Thank you,” I holler as I jump back in the truck before any of them can come after me. Then I head back down the mountain, for the second time that day.

I managed to cut the two-ish hour drive back to town down to just over one, and its full dark by the time I pull into the parking lot. I slam Owen’s truck into park, not caring that I’m taking up more than one spot.

Rushing into the lobby, I startle the reception girl when I slap my hands on the desk right in front of her. “I need to find out which room a guest is in.”

Her eyes spring wide and then they narrow at me. “Really, Sean? You know I can’t give out that information.”

She’s familiar, and I know I’ve seen her around town. Or maybe we went to school together. My mind spins, trying to remember her name. It’s… Sally? No. Sarah? Samantha? Sssss– Susie! “Come on, Susie. You know me.”

Susie folds her arms across her polo shirt. “And? Are you trying to get me fired?” I give her a pleading look, and she rolls her eyes, “Does she have you listed as an approved contact?”

Shit. “Er, no—how do you know it’s a she ?”

“Because I know your reputation, Sean Ferrel .” She glares at me. Suddenly, I remember her older sister and I had a thing that ended badly in high school. Double shit.

“Look, it’s an emergency.”

I’m pretty sure she doesn’t believe a word I’m saying and narrows her eyes even more.

“Please?” I beg.

She lets out an annoyed sigh, probably realizing I’m not going away until I get this information. “What’s her name? I’ll ring her room and let her know that you’re here to see her.”

Relief hits me, and my legs sag. “Thank you! It’s Olivia.”

She pauses typing and looks up at me. “And her last name?”

Uhhhh . Damnit, I have no idea. “Can’t you just use her first name?”

Stepping back from the computer, she reaches over and picks up the phone. Her finger hovers over the number nine. “I think you need to go, or I’m going to call the authorities to make you leave.”

Well, I’m just fucking everything up today, aren’t I? Stepping back, I hold my hands up. “I’m sorry, Susie. I’ll leave. I’m not trying to cause trouble.”

She gives me a look that says, Sure, you’re not. But true to my word, I turn around and leave.

I’m shuffling back to my truck, racking my brain for a way to get in touch with Olivia, when I just happen to look out at the lake and notice a shadow sitting on a park bench.

Honestly, if it wasn’t for my preternatural eyesight, I never would have noticed them in the first place.

Whoever is sitting there could be anyone, but the way my heart picks up in my chest…

I have a feeling that maybe… maybe it’s her.

Changing course, I jog across the parking lot and then across the grass that’s wet with dew and in need of a cut.

The closer I get, the more the shape of the shadow starts to resemble Olivia.

The way her head is tilted. The color of her hair and how it falls just below her shoulders in a blunt cut.

Hope gathers under my ribs just as a gust of wind hits me, and I almost fall to my knees because I’d know that wildflower scent anywhere.

I don’t remember the last few steps that take me to her side, but I’ll never forget the sadness in her eyes when she looks up at me. My heart twists painfully in my chest. Did I put that there?

My legs give out and I drop to my knees in front of her. “Hey, what’s wrong?” I want badly to touch her, but I hold back. For now. It’s dark, and I’m not sure if she can see who I am. Or if she wants a man she only met this morning mauling her.

Panic flickers across her face, and she jumps back from me. But then she stops and leans in. “Sean? What are you doing here?”

“I came to apologize,” I say before she has a chance to run. “Again.”

She stills and cants her head to the side. “Again? For what?” She looks around, squinting into the darkness like she expects someone else. Maybe the guys? But it’s just her and me right now.

“For everything,” I say, gently resting my hand on the armrest of the bench. The cold dew from the grass is soaking through my pants and into my knees as I gaze up at her. “I’m sorry for carrying you off like I did and then leaving you for my brother to rescue.”

“Why did you do that?” she asks softly. “Why did you always leave me?”

My shame leaves a bitter taste in my mouth as I admit, “I couldn’t control my squatch, and… I couldn’t let you see me in both my forms.”

She nods and then turns thoughtful. “And what’s different now?”

I stare up at her as I consider her question. “I don’t know. It feels right that you know my secret, though.”

The corners of her plump lips twitch, but she holds back her smile. “Why didn’t you say goodbye when you left me at the campsite this morning?”

I clench my teeth. Do I tell her the truth?

Admit that I wanted to snatch her away from her friends and take her back to my cabin to finish what we started at the trailhead?

That seeing her with those men nearly sent me into a jealous rage?

How can I be honest with her without sounding like a stalker?

In the end, I only shake my head. “I should have; I’ve felt guilty about it all damn day. You’ve been all I’ve thought about since then.”

“Well, I didn’t say goodbye either,” she says with a soft sigh. “So I guess we’re even.”

It doesn’t feel like we’re even though. “I stopped by your campsite, and they told me you left. Did I–did you leave because of what I did?”

She does a rapid-fire blink and then shakes her head. “No. Yes . It’s… complicated.”

I lean in, so we’re eye to eye. “I’m not usually a complicated guy. Is there a way I can make this right with us?”

“With… us ?” her voice goes high-pitched and squeaky at the end. It’s adorable, and I can’t hold back my smile.

“Yeah. I feel like after what happened this morning, we have some unfinished business.” I move my hand so it’s resting on her thigh.

When she doesn’t pull away, my next breath comes a little easier.

“You left your camping trip early because of me. Right now, you're sad because of me. Telling you ‘I’m sorry’ seems woefully inadequate. I want to fix this—whatever this thing is between us.”

A heavy silence stretches as she stares at me. Her brown eyes search mine as she takes in everything I just said. I’m starting to worry that she won’t respond at all, when the corner of her mouth turns up into a lopsided smile.

“You certainly have a high opinion of yourself if you think all of this is because of you.” When the tip of her little pink tongue darts out to wet her bottom lip, I imagine dipping down and capturing it with my lips, before sucking it into my mouth.

I grit my teeth and swallow down a moan when she teases, “And what thing do you think there is between us?”

Relief drains out of me like sand through a sieve, and I stand up. Leaning over her, I brace one hand behind her on the back of the bench.