Page 5 of Wrong Turn, Right Bear (Beartastic Summer of Love)

FIVE

THEO

I put my head in my hands, cursing past Theo for not wearing in the damned hiking boots.

This afternoon should have been a pleasant hike with a friendly group, led by the guy I was lusting over.

While I wouldn’t have had Ash to myself as I did this morning, it would have been kinda nice to observe the man while he wasn’t looking at me.

During the short fifteen minutes we’d been hiking—though I was reduced to hobbling very quickly—I’d snuck glances at him as he pointed to a majestic bird taking off from a treetop or while telling his clients not to pick the mushrooms that lined the path.

Tomorrow I was supposed to be zip lining, and I doubted I could do that with bare feet. But as I observed one foot and then the other, I concluded that Ash’s grandma was a miracle worker ‘cause they were much better. Not great, but improved.

I felt bad having Chuck come to take me home like I was a naughty boy whose dad had to collect him from school.

I was disrupting his day because I couldn’t be assed to do what I was supposed to.

Yeah, when I’d signed up on Ash’s website, one instruction was: if you buy new boots, wear them in before you come.

“How are those feet?” Chuck interrupted my thoughts.

“Wearing flip-flops, they don’t really bother me though my feet are sweaty and slippery.” I sat on a rock and inspected them again.

Chuck suggested we take a roundabout route back to the hotel, as there was another lookout every visitor should see once during their trip.

There was a rustle in the bushes and I froze and goosebumps crawled over my skin. Sweat trickled into my briefs. If a wild animal attacked us and we died, they’d find me with stains on my pants and think I peed myself. Or that I’d been jerking off multiple times.

Fuck, I was about to die and my mind was on whether as they transported my body to the local mortuary, they thought I peed myself from fright.

Chuck didn’t freak out like me, but sniffed the air. He was supposed to tell me there was nothing to worry about. But his face creased and he muttered something that sounded like, “That boy!”

Boy? If this was a kid playing tricks, I wanted to kick his ass.

A branch broke nearby. That had to be Ash and the others returning. They’d save us. But no one else appeared in either direction until suddenly, there was a pair of dark eyes staring at me through the bushes.

Cloaked in shadows, the eyes glinted and glittered because that wild beast was getting ready to eat me. Or perhaps just tear off a limb and gnaw on it. I was kinda fond of both arms and legs and didn’t want to lose one.

“Do… do you see that?”

“Back off,” Chuck bellowed, and I squealed and I did almost pee myself.

I leaped behind him, and a pounding echoed in my head. Damn, it was my heart and it was galloping.

The eyes were still fixed on me, but the animal made no move to show itself.

I grabbed Chuck’s arm. He lived here and should know the drill.

Should we stay where we were and wait for it to attack or get bored?

Or slowly try to make it back to the hotel?

My phone was in the room so I couldn’t research, though my shaking hands wouldn’t have been able to hold the device, let alone tap out a question.

“Stay here. ”

“What? No!” Damn, that was too loud. I forgot a loud noise might spook the animal.

“I’ll be back in a few minutes. I have to teach someone a lesson.”

He spoke in sentences, but none of the words made sense. A wild animal was eyeing us up for his dinner and Chuck had to teach a class and leave me here? No, no, no. I gripped his shirt and tore off a button.

But he told me nothing bad would happen, and he traipsed into the bushes.

Fuck, I was alone and I could no longer hear Chuck’s footsteps. My body was ice cold and if I moved, tiny pieces would chip off.

The eyes! They’d vanished along with Chuck. Now what?

My stinky sweat was competing with the scents of the forest and I was sitting in a puddle of more perspiration. I had no memory of sliding onto the forest floor and I slowly pushed myself up, my wrists straining under my weight as I paused mid-air, half expecting the beast to reappear.

But there was silence except for the erratic beating of my heart.

The soles of my feet were slippery, and I shuffled one foot after another along the path, keeping an eye over my shoulder. If I was going to be attacked, I wanted a few second’s warning .

But nothing happened. No wolf or bear rose up out of the vegetation and I picked up the pace, still worried the animal would tear after me. I counted the minutes in my head because I wasn’t wearing a watch. Time had stood still while I sat terrified of being mauled.

How long was I there? Five minutes? Ten?

An hour? Whatever it was, I should have met Chuck by now.

But he told me to stay where I was and I didn’t.

Worried the wild beast still had me in its sights, I didn’t want to call out his name in case that drew attention to me.

What if there were other wild animals lurking in the undergrowth?

I was panting as I trudged through the forest, searching for the hotel, towering above the trees. But it was as if I was the only person on the planet.

Now I was running. Difficult to do in flip flops. Chuck had to be here, or I was close to the hotel. But with my mind occupied with wild beasts, I tripped over a rock and faceplanted on the path.

Dirt coated my tongue and now my knees ached from where they hit the hard ground. Tears spilled over my cheeks as I hugged the path. If the wild animal was following me, if he expected this to be a game of cat and mouse, he might give up because I was no fun.

But as I lay there, it occurred to me no one knew where I was. I may have taken a wrong turn and unless I got myself out of this, I’d be here alone all night. If the forest was forbidding now, it would be the stuff of nightmares when the sun set.

Heaving myself up, I ignored the pain in both knees and the bloody grazes on one hand. With my back to the river, I retraced my steps, searching for another path. Each crackle of a dead leaf, or a flapping of a bird’s wings had me hugging my pack to my chest.

I came to a fork in the path, but which one to take? I chose the one I thought led to the hotel. The sun was getting lower, and I had to take a chance that shouting for help wouldn’t entice a parade of wildlife, curious about the human creating a racket.

“Ash!” My croaky voice wouldn’t be heard above the woodland noises, so I gathered my strength and yelled. “Ash-by.” Two syllables were easier to scream than one.

“Theo. I’m coming.”

Oh, my gods. I wasn’t alone. With both hands at my mouth, I blubbered, “I’m safe. Safe.” But how did Ash know where I was? I hadn’t dropped a trail of breadcrumbs and he wasn’t a wild beast, picking up my scent and following it.

But he called again and his voice was closer. Unless that was my mind playing tricks. Anything was possible.

Not wanting to appear desperate and as if I’d been in a battle, I brushed the dirt off my clothes and wiped away the tears. I stuck my grazed hand in a pocket and stayed where I was in case I swerved into the wrong path and missed Ash.

But he appeared as if out of nowhere, his brow creased in furrows, and he was barefoot. I waved with my uninjured hand and he tore up to me, mumbling, “Thank gods you’re okay. I would never have forgiven myself if something had happened to you.”

Right. A tour group leader who lost a client wasn’t a great advertisement for this business.

“I took a wrong turn. I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t be. Chuck should have stayed with you.” He hugged me and being in his arms was almost worth getting lost. “You did good, and I would have found you no matter how many wrong turns you took. You’re very brave. Most people in your situation are terrified.”

“There were others?” Wow, he really had a knack for losing people.

“No, I’m talking about people in general who go hiking for days or weeks.”

He rubbed my arm, and that was when I fell apart. “A wild animal almost ate me.”

“What?” He swirled around and sniffed the air, which was a little strange. “A wolf?”

Part of my brain expected him to reassure me there were no wild animals in the vicinity and I must have been imagining it .

Ash’s lips were set in a hard line. “I’ll take care of it.”

Yikes. Was he going to find the culprit and give it a talking to?

“Let’s get you back to the hotel.” He offered his hand, and I took it but he studied my grazed palm. “You’re hurt.”

“It’s nothing.” I pretended it didn’t bother me, but when he wrapped his fingers around it, the pain vanished. Or perhaps it was just the warmth of his skin that numbed it. “Maybe you can put more of your grandmother’s ointment on it.”

He glanced up and our gazes locked. His eyes were darker again.

“I can do that.” He looked down at my feet, now filthy. The poor flip flops were just hanging on to life. “I can carry you.”

“No, I’m fine,” I protested. But my brain was saying “Yes. And take me to bed.” I paid no attention to our surroundings and relished being skin to skin with Ash as he scooped me up.

Outside the hotel entrance, he suggested I take it easy the following day. “We can do zip lining later in the week.”

“Oh, I’ll be fine. It’s just a scratch.”

I didn’t want to wait a day before I saw him again.