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I suppose it’s my fault. When you give a goat the right to lead the way, you get what you get.
We make it about three yards away from the yurt before I have to pick my way around a very spiky-looking spread of paddle-shaped cactus. “You sure about this route, little guy?” I murmur. “Tough going, out here.”
Blue bleats.
Then I hear footsteps behind us.
“Olivia… wait up.”
I whip around and see Cole, hands still in his pockets, walking our way. His black t-shirt pulls tight over his muscles and that silver medallion he always wears swings against his pecs, shimmering in the afternoon sunlight.
What now? I’m confused enough about Cole as it is. We kissed this morning and talked more than we’ve ever talked this afternoon.
I learned that he still holds some kind of grudge against me.
That he still thinks about that day he asked me out.
And that he’s up for the “challenge” of kissing me again.
I need to try to process what’s happening with him. Not watch his tall, lean, hard body draw closer to me in the wavering rays of sunlight. But here he is.
Now he’s only a couple of feet away. He left his hat back in the yurt, so I can see his eyes clearly for once. They’re incredibly dark, like mahogany or dark chocolate. His biceps bunch as he sticks his hands in his pockets. “Let me walk with you.”
“Why?”
“Because now I feel like I got all this stuff hanging out in the breeze, and I don’t like it. And maybe I came off sort of harsh back there at the pavilion, too. Sorry. It’s like I think one thing, then say something totally different.”
I laugh, gently. “Yeah, it’s called being human, Cole. I feel like that a lot. Hey, at least you stepped out of your comfort zone.”
He looks off into the distance. “Yeah, well, it sucks. Make me feel comfortable again.” Blue tugs me forward. I have to jump to the side, so I don’t get speared by the prickly ends of a yucca plant.
“What do you want me to do, make up some long story about catching a rainbow trout?”
“That’d help.” He chuckles. “Make it good, too. Like he was hiding out in a deep pool, where the river eddies out near some rocks. You stalked him all morning, and finally lured him out with a nice muddler minnow fly.”
“Sounds like you just told the story yourself.”
“Yeah, and I’m starting to feel better already.”
We walk for a few minutes without talking. Up ahead, Blue’s making his way toward the tallest Juniper tree around. There’s a circle of shade around it, plus lots of pale blue berries clustered on the branches.
“How about that lion run-in you had?” Cole says.
“What about it?”
“Maybe tell me about that. You said they were out hunting… something about a safari guide.”
I get what he’s doing.
He’s trying to steer us back to solid ground. We’re both feeling shaky, thanks to how things are changing between us.
“This was about three years ago.” I tug Blue’s leash, to guide him around a sage bush. “I got offered an all-expenses-paid, eight-day vacation in Africa.”
“Holy smokes. That’s a far way off.”
“You’re telling me. The flight was crazy. I had a layover at London Heathrow for hours. Usually, I love it there, but this time they were in the middle of all this construction, and it was super hectic. I barely even bought a water bottle before I was whisked away to Cairo.”
“Dang.”
