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“Everyone in favor of that plan,” Leah said, raising her hand, “sayaye.”
A bunch ofayessounded and Dakota clapped as he took the guidebook from Luke and dropped it back in his pack. Hefting the pack to his shoulders, he squinted at the trail head.
“You all set there, Julia?” he asked.
“Uh-huh.” The girl held up the sketchbook for inspection.
“Excellent. Can you hold onto that for me in case we need more records of what we find?”
Julia hugged the sketchbook to her chest and slid the pencil behind her ear. “Sure!”
“Great.” Dakota arrowed his hand to the path. “Onward, trolls.”
The students buddied up and continued their trek as Leah sidled up next to him.
“You made those tracks, didn’t you?” she whispered.
Dakota took in a deep inhale. Leah was close enough that her lavender scent filled his nose and damn, it completely intoxicated him. “A person doesn’t fake unicorn tracks, Miss Greenstead. There be magic in these woods.”
Magic that hopefully would make Leah see that getting to know him better was the greatest idea ever.
After another forty-five minutes of hiking, plant identifying, boulder-climbing, and tracking, the students had found six more sets of tracks, all the same, all convincing them that unicorns were indeed afoot… or ahoof as the case may be. They stopped to have their picnic lunch when they found the bear-proof cooler Krista had left for them.
Dakota passed out big blankets and Leah organized the students into groups to sit together to eat. When they were settled and chowing down, he called Leah over to the blanket he’d set up for them. She stopped in front of it, her hands on her hips as she browsed the selection of pizza slices, potato chips, and fresh fruit he had spread out.
“Don’t worry,” he said. “I did not make the pizza.”
Kneeling across from him, she said, “I know. That’s Kyle’s work, isn’t it?”
“Yeah. Mountain View Pizza is where a person goes to get pizza that will impress a lady. Have you had it?”
“I have. And I got it right from Kyle’s home brick oven.” She sat with her legs crossed and snagged a slice of spinach-topped pizza. “I’ve been to Heidi’s and Kyle’s house for dinner.”
“Oh, so you do go out socially then?” He raised an eyebrow at her and loved how her eyes squinted at him as she chewed her pizza.
After wiping that mouth—one that promised to be luscious—with a napkin, she said, “I am selective about who I see socially.” She took another bite of her pizza and licked sauce off her lower lip.
God help me.
“And Heidi and Kyle made the cut?” He took a bite of his own pizza slice, and while it was fantastic in classic Kyle fashion, he’d rather have a bite of Leah. He had a feeling she’d be addictive.
“They are exceptional people,” she said.
“Agreed.”
She stared at him for a moment then finished her pizza slice. After taking a drink from the water bottle he offered her, she leaned back on her arm. “You might…mightbe exceptional too.”
He pressed his palms together and threw a glance heavenward. “I’m trying.”
The smile that turned her lips up zinged him right in the chest. Shy. That was it. She was shy, and he was trying to move too fast. He didn’t have a good reason for pursuing her with such gusto. She brought out this mysterious drive in him that he’d never experienced before. He didn’t know what to do with how much he wanted her to like him. He was in new territory here.
But he was willing to explore just as he always was.
A shadow fell over their blanket and Dakota looked up to see Luke standing there. “Is it time for the obstacle course now, Dakota?”
“Did you finish your lunch?” Leah asked.
“Yup. Most of us are all done and Avery collected the trash.”
