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KINSLEY: I know, but I can’t be bothered to drive to one of the other trails.
ME: Want me to bring lunch?
KINSLEY: Food, a book, and I can judge you? Best Saturday EVER
ME: See you in 30.
I was already regretting that little decision, I thought as I put my phone into my shorts pocket. It sucked that she was the only person around to hike with because I knew she’d eventually question every single little thing about Tori.
I hoped she’d listen when I said I didn’t want to talk about it. The point of this hike was to clear my mind, not clog it up with someone else’s opinions.
By the time I’d fixed lunch and put it in my backpack, it was time to get in the car and head to the trail.
I arrived before Kinsley, but not much earlier. I was just tightening the laces on my boots when she pulled up next to me and bounced out with her earbuds already hanging around her neck.
“I can’t remember the last time we hiked together!” She hugged me quickly. “Did you bring food?”
I raised the backpack in answer and shrugged it on. “Shall we go?”
“Yes, let’s!” She locked her car and adjusted her earbuds. “I assume you don’t want to talk? At all?”
“I’d prefer not to right now.”
“Noted.” She put both earbuds in place and made a show of hitting play on her phone. The light rumble of an audiobook in a distinctly droll tone escaped from the earbuds, and I almost rolled my eyes as I heard the word ‘cock’ when she passed me.
My sister was listening to sexy romance while we hiked.
That was about right.
I knew better than to call it literary porn or some other derogatory term. I’d had that rant from our mother when I’d caught Kins reading it in the bathroom with a book she’d stolen from our grandmother.
Me being an asshole teenager thought I was being a good kid by telling our parents what she was doing.
Mom had grabbed her own copy, sat next to her on the floor, and said she’d talk to me later.
She, in fact, had not, but I knew enough to know that you never insulted a person’s reading material.
The rant had come later after she’d collected facts about how booming the romance book industry is.
That’d shut me up.
I lead the way. Kinsley was always a step behind me, even when I reached back to pass her a water bottle. It was warm but not too hot thanks to the shade provided by the trees that stretched up endlessly into the air. We passed tracks from various animals, everything from raccoons to deer to bears, and Kins squealed when she thought she saw a mouse that was actually a squirrel.
I chuckled but kept on going. The fresh air was doing me some real good, and by the time we got to the clearing I’d earmarked for lunch, I felt a million times better than I had when we’d set off.
“Are we stopping?” Kins pulled an earbud out and looked around. “Gosh, I haven’t been up here for ages.”
I smiled at her. “Me either. This was our favorite spot as kids.”
“I’m pretty sure I used to study up here.”
We found a spot away from the tourists who were taking photos of the view and laid out the blanket. Don’t get me wrong—it was beautiful, and you could see the mountain peaks on a clear day like today, but it was the clean, fresh air that was my reason for coming up here today.
Having my sister for company wasn’t that bad, either.
She drove me insane, even at our age, but she was the closest person to me.
“You made potato salad!” She grabbed the Tupperware tub and pulled the lid off.
“No, I bought potato salad.” I put two paper plates out and retrieved the flask of coffee. “Coffee?”
“Always.” She served us up the salad and swiftly made her way through the rest of the food, giving herself a plate almost as big as mine, while I poured the coffee.
We ate in relative silence, only briefly commenting on the birds or the good food.
It was normal.
It was what I needed.
I wanted it to last for the rest of the hike, but unfortunately, I knew my sister far too well to expect that to happen.
“So it didn’t work out with Cora.”
I side-eyed her. “No. It didn’t.”
“Tori wouldn’t have anything to do with that, would she?”
“Kinsley, I told you I didn’t want to talk about her.”
“I know, but I think you need to.” She wiped her mouth with a napkin and set it down. “You rarely hike, Colt. If you’re up here, it’s because you’ve got a lot on your mind, and I know it’s Tori.”
I rubbed my hand down my face, then leaned back with a sigh. “I’m sure Josh filled you in. I don’t know that there’s anything to say. She called it quits, so that’s that.”
