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His lips flatten into a straight line as he looks at me skeptically. “Are you sure that’s what it is?”
“Do I look like an idiot to you?” I snap, and he unfurls his arms to run one hand over the scruff across his chin.
“Well, no, but you are new to mountain life.”
“I may be new, but I’m perfectly capable of doing research.” Pulling out my phone, I pull up the picture and hand it over to him so he can see what I saw. He frowns instantly.
“I haven’t seen a bear on the mountain in years,” he mumbles.
“Well, congratulations, your little stunt resurrected them. Into. My. Yard.”
“Interesting,” he says, looking at my phone again. “Do you know what to do if you’re approached by a bear?”
Slowly, I feel all the blood drain from my face. It’s not that I haven’t thought about this particular scenario, but actually being schooled on it like it’s a real possibility scares me.
Seeing my reaction, he reaches for my arm to soothe me, but I snatch it back.
“Goldie.”
“Don’t Goldie me,” I admonish him as I stare up into his stupid gorgeous face. “You created this problem, so you need to fix it. You need to find it and get rid of it.”
“I’ll work on it, but you need to know what to do if approached.”
“If I’m approached, I’m going to tickle its belly.” I smile widely at him. Meanwhile, his mouth turns down at my obvious attempt at humor. “Briggs, if I’m approached by a bear, I’m going to turn and run for my life.”
“Wrong. That is not what you do. Stare it down, yell, and wave your arms. Make yourself loud and big, and if it’s not coming any closer, then you slowly start backing away. Never ever turn and run. It will chase you.”
My heart pounds at the thought of being chased by a bear. All I can envision is what we see in the movies, large, snarling, fiercely growling with its wide mouth open, and the claws swiping my way.
“You realize this is totally your fault.”
Briggs drops his head a little and rolls his lips between his teeth. He at least has the decency to look somewhat guilty.
“Sorry about that,” Juliet says as she stands in front of the table and attempts to jump into our conversation. Only he and I are in another stare down.
I hate that I like his face so much. I also hate that I know exactly how those full lips feel pressed against my skin.
“Are you ready?” she asks me. “Or do you need us to stick around until Cole returns?”
“I’ll be fine,” he tells her, and this time, he beats me to my bags.
“I could have gotten them,” I scold him.
“I know,” he says, again smiling at me. “Thanks for hanging with me for a few minutes.”
Instead of answering, I just nod and take my bags once I’ve moved out from behind the table.
“Text me if the bear comes back.”
“I will,” I tell him, and we turn to walk away. Looking back, I see he’s watching us, or maybe just me, so I leave him saying, “Good luck with the rest of today.”
He smiles, and the moths rejoice.
Juliet hooks her arm through mine. I glance at her and see she’s smiling.
“Stop smiling like that.”
“Smiling like what?” she says as her smile gets bigger. She knows. I’m sure everyone knows at this point. Love and hate. Every day, I teeter more and more on the fence. Not that I’m in love with him, but I think I’m definitely becoming something.
