Page 26 of Wild for the Knight

“No, I wanted to do outdoorsy stuff, right? What better way to do just that than to look for freaking Bigfoot with a bunch of professional athletes.” She chuckles. “Most of whom are already superstitious. Can you imagine if we actually saw a sasquatch?”

My chewing slows as a smile that channels my inner villain spreads across my face. I forgot about their superstitions. Oh my God. This is going to be gold.

After lunch, we start our descent down the mountain. I find myself in the middle of a protection square. Tatum to my right, Reed to my left, Andrews in front of me, as Wilson heads up the back of the pack.

Kerry launches into a detailed rundown of Bigfoot sightings. “People who claim to have seen him usually report strange noises–howl-like sounds, screams, grunts–” A few of the guys scoff, Reed straight up rolls his eyes. Then a branch snaps to the right of us.

Hannah’s head whips between the trees and our group, whisper-shouting, “Do you think it's a bear?” Her eyes widen. “Kerry, there are bears here, right?”

Snap.

We all whirl around because that came from the opposite side than the noise a few seconds ago did. Tatum steps in closer, putting himself between me and the sound closest to us. My hands instinctively find his lower back as I push up on my toes to look over his shoulder. His body tenses under my touch, my hand that’s still tender from the burn, feels cool against the warmth of him.

The ear-piercing squeal that leaves whatever is in the forest makes all of us, Monroe included, jump. “Is that a boar?!” Tate asks, voice coming out higher and slightly panicked. Kerry’s wide-eyed look tells me everything I need to know. This is not our pretend sasquatch. I glance at Monroe, whose chest is rising and falling a little too fast. His eyes locked on the tree line, knots tying and double knotting in my stomach as I realize I no longer have control of the situation.

Then, the trees rustle. Sticks snap. Multiple things start moving. My pulse skyrockets, I feel like I could puke any second. If this ends up on one of those “pranks gone wrong” YouTube videos, someone donate its royalties to the animal shelter.

And then, like something straight out of a comedy movie, our pretend Bigfoot bursts through the trees, screaming behind the furry mask, followed by a baby boar. Where there’s a baby, there’s usually a mama.

I’m too stunned to do anything except watch as the poor kid flails his arms above his head, the muffled sound of his panicked screams barely audible through the rubber still covering his face.

“Aren’t you supposed to move slowly away from those?” I whisper out of the corner of my mouth.

Kerry nods. “We need to move, preferably as a unit.”

Tatum tenses even more against my palms. Then, he takes a step back closer to me. Leaning into him, I whisper, “This is the bat signal.”

He turns his head slightly, looking over his shoulder, his eyes search my face for any sign of a freakout. I’m not quite there yet, but I feel it coming. He simply nods. No teasing. No cocky remarks. Just a silent acknowledgement, his left arm slowly moves behind his back, his hand wrapping around my own. Our fingers lace together as he gives them a soft squeeze. I don’t even care that the rest of the group can see our little interaction; he’s the only one who knows the full extent of the storm brewing inside me at the moment. This was supposed to be a fun prank, but instead it pushed me a little closer to the edge.

Suddenly, there’s a squeal from the other direction, and out comes Mama. We all freeze, trying not to call attention to ourselves. She heads in our direction, then pauses briefly, lifting her nose to the sky to smell the air before taking off in the direction of her baby's softer sounds. We watch as the poor kid climbs up a tree, sitting on a thick branch with his legs pulled into his chest. From where we’re standing, you can tell it’s a costume. Poor guy. Well, that was a fail.

Once we’re a safe distance from where we saw the wild animals that could have impaled us on their tusks, Kerry gives us the okay to walk normally. But let's be real, we all walked pretty quickly the rest of the way. Much to Hannah’s dismay, there’s been no further sighting of our furry friend or any other animals other than birds and butterflies. Monroe throws his arms in the air, letting them bounce off his thighs with a loud smack as we get back to where we started our hike. “Is no one going to bring up the fact that a boar was chasing Bigfoot? Did anyone get that on video?!”

Zeke grins as he holds up his phone and gives it a shake. “I did.” Monroe takes off, giving us a heel kick and an air punch at the same time. I swear the man is from Neverland, he’ll never grow up. But that’s one of the things I love the most about him.

Tatum lets out a labored breath, scrubbing a hand over his face. I nudge him in the ribs with my elbow. “You alright over there, Sunshine?”

His glare is half-hearted at best. “Shut it, Tink.”

If my heart could smile, it would at this moment. “It’s okay, big guy. We all saw you jump, for the second time today.”

“I was protecting you,” he grumbles under his breath.

“Mhm,” I say as I cross my arms over my chest.

“I was assessing the threat level.”

“You were assessing if you could outrun the rest of the group.” His lips press together, his jaw tight, but I catch the way one side of his mouth twitches. He wants to laugh, but he’s fighting it. Which only makes my smile bigger.

“You okay?” He whispers. I give him a slight nod, maybe it’s the adrenaline talking, but what I wouldn’t give to wrap my arms around his waist right now.

By the time we get back to the cabin, it’s almost four in the afternoon. The guys brought their video game console, so they’re busy doing that. Hannah and Grey are taking a nap, and me? I’m pacing the kitchen as I twirl the end of one braid.

At least I am until a hand on my shoulder brings me out of my thoughts. “Go take a shower, do whatever you need to do to feel like you’re back on track. I’ll make you a snack.” His voice is low and steady. I don’t trust myself to speak, so I give him a tight smile before turning on my heel and doing exactly what he said.

I didn’t know how badly I needed someone to tell me what to do. How badly I needed to be given a plan and tangible action steps. Put on the track and hear the words “go.” But clearly, the mental load of trying to pull myself out of the mess in my head met its breaking point when our little expedition turned into something that could have put my friends in danger.

I played a part in that. Was it unintentional? Yeah, but I still knew it was happening. Guilt by association. Is it a big deal? To anyone else, probably not. To me? Yes. It’s literally my job to help people heal. Playing a hand in someone getting injured goes against everything I stand for.