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At that, I smiled. “I know.” I just couldn’t help being a little anxious. This was so far outside my comfort zone. But then, the past few weeks with Liam had been all about exploring new territory together and doing things because I wanted rather than because they were the so-called “responsible” option. “Should we pack everything?”
“Yes. Just remember what I said.”
“Less squishable things at the bottom,” I chorused, having heard it a dozen times already. “Emergency supplies near the top.”
“Good.” He flashed a grin that made me melt inside. Even after our short time together, I knew Liam was different from any boys I’d dated before. He made me think about things like forever. I loved his family, too. They were warm, welcoming, and slightly chaotic, much like my own.
We finished packing and shouldered our bags. Mine was heavy, but not so much that I couldn’t walk with it. We carried them to his Ute and put them in the back, then I dashed to the cottage to check we hadn’t left anything behind. I locked up and returned.
I had a Subaru now, which was more suited to the roads around here, but we’d decided to take Liam’s vehicle since he knew the way and I still had a hard time driving on the left side of the road if I detoured from my usual routes.
I tuned into a local radio station, and we sang along to Lorde and Six60 as we drove out of town toward a walking trail that led up the Castle River Valley, which was apparently less traveled than the more popular track to Destiny Falls or Destiny Tarn.
Liam turned onto a gravel road and slowed as we bumped over several potholes. We followed the road until it ended at a small grass clearing. A green sign with yellow writing indicated where the trail began. I swallowed, nerves crowding my stomach. Liam had said earlier that I was fit, but I didn’t feel it—especially when I knew we’d be hiking several hundred vertical feet.
Forest surrounded the clearing, but from the photos Liam had shown me, I knew that by the time we reached the hut, we’d be in open tussock land. I hadn’t fully appreciated the amount of effort that might involve until now.
I slid from the car and straightened my back, determined not to be cowed. This was my year of adventure, and it was all about figuring out my limits and where I wanted my life to go. This was an important stepping stone. Besides, I trusted Liam not to drag me into something I wasn’t prepared for. I rounded the front of the car and planted a kiss on his lips.
He chuckled. “What’s that for?”
I shrugged. “Just felt like it.”
He wrapped his arms around me, resting his hands on my lower back, and returned the kiss. My lips parted, and it grew heated. Liam groaned. “None of that, or we’ll never get anywhere.”
I sighed, knowing he was right. Though we hadn’t had sex yet, our make-out sessions were growing hotter and heavier every time. I yearned for him to be inside me, but I worried he’d find me lacking. He’d never said so, but I was ninety percent sure he’d been intimate with his ex. Once again, he had experience I didn’t.
“Fine.” Pouting, I broke away and got my pack from the car. With a grunt of effort, I pulled it on, and then clipped the waistband shut and cinched it tight.
Liam did the same with his, then fussed with my straps, changing the length until they met with his satisfaction. When he was done, he placed his hands on my shoulders and looked into my eyes. “You got this.”
I nodded, the certainty in his deep blue gaze instilling me with a sense of confidence. “Let’s do it.”
He led the way to the trail. It was only wide enough to walk in single file, and he glanced over his shoulder as we entered the shelter of the trees. I shot him a reassuring smile, then looked around, my eyes widening as I noted the way the sun filtered through the forest, casting golden patches of light and shadows. My fingers twitched, itching to get out the camera I’d slotted into the front pocket of my pack. I loved taking photographs, and I’d been capturing them nonstop since I arrived in Destiny Falls. Several of the ones I’d taken from the ski resort had come out so well that I was considering asking Tabitha whether she’d be open to selling them as postcards at the shop in the resort. I hadn’t worked up the courage yet though. I was handy with a camera but hardly a professional.
For the first half hour, the trail wound peacefully through the forest on a reasonably level path, meandering around bends in the river and skirting larger trees. Liam stopped every so often to make sure I was keeping up and enjoying myself. But when the trail sloped upward, I started to struggle. My thighs burned with every step, and my breath came in gasps.
“You okay?” Liam called as he paused at a curve in the trail a few feet above me.
I wiped my sweaty face on my shirt and tromped upward. “I’m.”Pant. “Doing.”Gasp. “Fine.”
His lips twitched, and I glared, silently daring him to comment. “Good news. There’s a lookout up ahead with a bench where we can sit down for a few minutes.”
“Thank God.” I placed a foot on a tree root that formed a makeshift stair and grunted as I pushed up. “Dying.”
He pressed his lips together to hide a smile. “I thought you were fine?”
I scoffed, pausing with a hand to my chest. “I lied.”
I counted another fifty steps before Liam and I arrived at a raised platform that looked out over the surrounding forest. I raised a hand to my eyes to shield them from the sun, which was brighter here, and took in the view. Breathtaking. Thousands of treetops stretched into the horizon, bisected by a narrow blue-green line that must be Castle River. We’d veered away from the water earlier, but Liam said we’d rejoin it.
“Drink?” Liam asked, offering me a bottle.
I grabbed it from him and drank, grateful for the coolness on my parched throat. “Thanks.” I unloaded my back and took my camera from the front pocket, then snapped a few photographs of the view. “I want one of you too,” I told him, gesturing for him to stand in front of the lookout.
He complied with a good-natured smile, having been the subject of many of my pictures since we’d met. I loved capturing the moments in time we shared. Especially ones like this when it was just the two of us with no one else around for miles. He looked so handsome with flushed cheeks and sparkling eyes. The muscles of his arms bulged as he tucked his thumbs beneath the straps of his pack, and I shifted from one leg to the other, warding off a poorly-timed bolt of lust.
“There.” I checked the last picture I’d taken to stop myself from ogling him. “All done.”
