Ike’s chuckling finds me next.
What are they laughing about? I was being abducted by a naked pervert, and my friends find that funny? I spin on my hiking boot, ready to spit fire at them.
They aren’t far behind me on the trail. All four of my friends have caught up—August, Marlow, Diana, and Ike are all here. But there’s a fifth person. The naked kidnapper. Except he’s not a kidnapper, and he’s only naked from the waist up.
Wait. I know this guy.
“Shirtless Adam?” I accuse, my voice full of horror.
He coughs, clutching his bare abdomen like he’s still recovering from my hiking boot. “Just Adam,” he says quietly with a small wave.
Oh, man. I kicked a unicorn. Shirtless Adam is practically mythical in Cape Georgeana. The guy moved to town a few years ago—no one knows for sure when, only that he started showing up on the side of the road in the trees with his bare, rigid torso on display. The women of Cape Georgeana were enamored. Stories spread, and he earned his nickname quickly.
But just like a unicorn, Shirtless Adam sightings are few and far between. We hear occasional reports of sightings of his white truck with the thick black bars covering the grill. I’ve been told he picks up groceries at the market in town, but I’ve never seen him there. And now I have the ultimate Shirtless Adam story. I kicked him. I punted Shirtless Adam right in the—oh, no.
“I’m so sorry.” I really am. I hope I haven’t ruined his chances at having little Shirtless Babies. It would be tragic not to pass on those genes.
Marlow snickers.
Adam shakes his head. “It’s okay.”
My friends and Adam have caught up to me now, their faces full of concern in the moonlight.
“Adam says you hit your head on a boulder.” August steps closer. “You blacked out. You need to let me check you out.”
Of course, now that he says the words, and the adrenaline is wearing off, my skull feels like it’s being split open like a clam. I’m woozy.
“Sure.” I nod, but that hurts, too.
“Can you walk to the car?” August asks, ever the caring doctor.
“Of course I can.”
How soft does he think I am? I take a few steps toward the parking area, but my feet carry me in a diagonal line toward the trees instead. Then the world tips sideways, and the ground rushes toward me. Before I land on another rock, someone catches me. Strong arms wrap around me, softening my landing and lowering me to the ground.
The world is still spinning, but I’m fully conscious. I’m getting the full Shirtless Adam experience this time around. I take mental notes: he smells like cedarwood, he’s warm like a heated blanket, he’s unusually tall, and he’s still not wearing a shirt. I blink up at him in the moonlight. Has he always had those huge dark eyes? I also don’t remember the short-cropped beard, and his hair got long. His dark hair rests in perfect waves over his forehead and past his ears. It suits him and his whole mysterious-woodsman vibe; I just don’t recall seeing it like this before. Of course, it’s hard to see anything beyond the generallack of shirt. But now that I’m noticing the short beard and the luxuriously thick hair, I fully approve.
I can’t wait to tell everyone I know about this legendary night and both of my mythical creature sightings: Sasquatch and Shirtless Adam. I should start a podcast.
Someone clears their throat. That sounded like Diana.
“Could you help her to the car please, Adam?” she asks, sounding way too innocent with her perfect manners. We all know what Diana is doing. “We don’t want Stevie to fall again.”
He clears his throat. “Stevie?” he asks softly, just for me.
I nod just for him.
He frowns in the moonlight, clearing his throat again and taking my hand to pull me to my feet. “Yes. Of course.”
Chapter 3
Adam
Ican’t believe I’m carrying Carrot Cake through the trees. Well, I was carrying her. Now she’s walking beside me, clinging to my arm while intoxicating wafts of something fruity and sweet surround us.
Apples.
The woman I've privately nicknamed Carrot Cake smells like apples, and she kicked me in the nuts.
