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“Why did you come with me today, Nicky?”
“Because you asked me to.”
I shook my head. “Why did you come?”
Nicky fidgeted with the grass, plucking blades and rolling them between her fingertips. “Because I want you to like me.”
There we go.
“I never said I didn’t.”
“Yeah, but you never said youdideither. I’m erring on the side of caution.”
It is difficult to fault her for that logic. “To be fair, I hadn’t decided either way yet. I’m leaning toward liking you, now. Not just because you’re out here with me though.”
She rolled on her side and looked up at me. “What did I do?”
“The most important part is that the rest of the pack likes you and I’m pretty into trusting their judgement. I like your grit.” I pulled off her socks and shoes, and, while she looked startled, she didn’t stop me. I checked her over for blisters and found a couple of angry red marks. There was always a little first aid kit in my pack when I went anywhere, so I cleaned the area and applied a couple of bandages so that the blisters wouldn’t get worse. She didn’t say a word when I set her foot in my lap and dug my fingers into her shin, though she did make a lovely groan.
“Magic fingers.”
She slumped back onto the grass, and I worked her through the worst of the pain.
“We’re about fifteen minutes from the top. You can either walk yourself or you can contribute to a hard-core workout for me.”
She lifted one eyebrow in question.
“I can piggyback you the rest of the way.”
“Oh god. My brain says no, but my body says ‘yes please’.”
I laughed and patted her leg, scooping the other one into my lap to tend to her protesting muscles there.
“Well, listen to your body for now. I brought some snacks for us to eat at the top before we go back down.”
Once I was a little more satisfied with the tension in her legs, she put her socks and shoes back on. I passed her the water pack to sling over her shoulders and dropped into a squat.
“You’re really really sure about this?” she asked.
“Would I be down here like this if I wasn’t?”
Nicky huffed and climbed on. I stood sharply, and she clung to me, arms over my shoulders and her legs locked around my waist. I adjusted a little, keeping my hand over her crossed wrists so she didn’t slide back and choke me, and then we set off.
Now I wasactuallysweating. Between Nicky's added weight and the incline, I had to put in some effort. She was squirmy, and still breathing hard in my ear as we walked. Her scent had picked back up, adding to the fragrance of the forest around us.
As we crested the top, the trees parted, revealing a huge viewing platform. We were the only ones there, and I sat Nicky down in the shade on one of the benches.
She was looking at me with a particular sparkle in her eyes.
“What?”
“Nothing. It's just…”
I bent down, leaning into her personal space. “Hmm?”
“I don’t get carried that often. It’s always a little hotter than anticipated.”
The statement caught me off guard, and I released a full belly laugh that had Nicky blushing from her hairline and down her chest where it disappeared beneath her tank top.
