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The tour guide stops ahead of me and turns to face us, dragging me from my sorrow and pain.
“As you know, most canyons are formed by water drainage, a very slow process, but not Cottonwood. It was actually carved by an alpine glacier. Geologically the canyon is still young....”
“Are you okay?” Cade asks me, breaking into our tour guide’s spiel.
I look at him, and what the hell did I do that for?
Those narrowed, gorgeous glacial blue eyes, the stubble on his jaw, and that pouty bottom lip makes me want to kiss him again. Only, holy fuck, kissing him is beyond amazing.
“Yeah, I’m okay,” I reply.
“Sure?”
“Yes,” I hiss when I notice Stacey and Lauren watching us. “You’re going to bring attention to us. People are watching.”
“Is that a bad thing?”
I roll my eyes and take a few steps to catch up with the group.
Although he doesn’t utter another word, I feel him behind me. His presence is commanding and all-consuming. It envelops me like a warm, cozy blanket on a winter day. I just can’t afford to acknowledge those feelings or allow myself to become immersed in them. They’re dangerous.
“You know they may already suspect something,” he says as we continue our trek while the tour guide talks about flora and fauna native to the area.
“Maybe they don’t,” I argue.
“Look, we’re adults, and we owe nobody an explanation. Besides, who would blame us for getting together? It only makes sense since the two of us are on this trip. Everyone’s paired up...or in my brother’s case, a trio.”
Someone says something about spotting animal treks, and as I turn around, someone else shouts, “Look! A fox!”
One of the rules given before we started our tour was not to shout as to startle the animals or anyone in the group. Unfortunately, our group consists of four additional people.
It was one of them that shouted. Whatever made the dumb fuck forget the rule made him startle a couple of us and the fox.
I turn around and lose my footing, causing me to slip back down the hill we had just trekked up. I try to regain my footing and slow myself down. Behind me, I hear a mixture of shouts and cries. I’m not sure which are mine and which are everyone else’s. I only know I’m scared, praying I’ll survive this nightmare.
When I stop against the base of a tree, I land with a thud on my ass, and my ankle turns at an odd angle.
Fuck!My pride is hurt because why in the hell did this have to happen in front of everyone, especially Cade? The best thing to do is get up as quickly as possible and pretend it wasn’t as bad as it was.
I try to get up, pressing the heels of my glove-covered hands into the cold snow, but white-hot pain shoots through my ankle and foot, causing me to buckle back to the ground.
Pressing my eyes closed and clenching my teeth together, I try again as Cade shouts, “Stop!”
I open my eyes, and he’s stopping beside me and lowering himself to the ground.
“Let me see that,” he says, gently taking my left foot into his hand, removing the snowshoe and my boot.
“Does this hurt,” he asks in a caring voice, running his hand along the outside of my left ankle before gently applying pressure.
“Shit!” I scream as pain shoots through my ankle and up my leg.
The others come crowding around, shooting off question after question.
“Is it broken?”
“Is it sprained?”
“Is she okay?”
