Rescued by Love(35)

She clenched her teeth, wishing he didn’t make sense.

“You’re not giving in by taking care of yourself. Learning from others doesn’t make you weak, Addy. It makes you smart.”

She stared at him for a long moment, battling herself more than him. “I’m not trying to be stubborn, and I appreciate your advice.” She picked up the fork, and as she scooped eggs onto it, she smiled up at him. “I’ll try, but don’t let this be like opening a door to you bossing me around or picking apart my abilities. Just because you make sense once doesn’t mean you’re Superman. Despite that tattoo.”

“Are you going to be this belligerent the whole time we’re packing?”

She shrugged. “I would say no, but we both know it would be a lie.” She ate the eggs, and the mix of spices and vegetables caused an explosion of flavor in her mouth. “Mm. Okay, this is seriously amazing.”

He grinned.

She pointed her fork at him. “I deserved that one, but watch it, buster. Tell me about your Superman status.” As she scooped up more eggs, she added, “But not if it has to do with a girl. No triggers today.”

As he ate, his eyes drifted to her plate, nudging her along to put another mouthful down the hatch, which she did.

“‘No triggers.’ I think I’m going to have that tattooed on your wrist.” He finished his plateful of eggs in a few fast bites and rubbed his hand over his tattoo.

She felt her cheeks heat up, thinking about her earlier mention of toys. Maybe she did need a little reminder to behave after all. “I think I like ‘taken’ better.”

He climbed onto the stool beside her and kissed her. “I’m glad you can finally admit it.” He lifted his shirtsleeve, his muscle flexing beneath the ink. “Do you really think I’d get a Superman tat because I think I deserve Superman status?”

Her eyes slid down his chest. “If I were you I might.”

He leaned forward with a sexy smile and said, “I’m not quite that arrogant.”

She arched a brow, and he laughed.

“Okay, maybe I am, but not in this case.” He pulled his sleeve down over the tattoo, but his hand remained on the cotton as he spoke. “I told you about my college buddy Chris. Well, Superman—Samson—was his older brother.”

Addy placed her hand on his leg, drawn by the emotion in his voice.

“Sammy was like a brother to me. He was funny as hell, and he gave me and Chris shit for being idiots, you know, like most college guys are. But he also took every chance he could to pound responsibility into our heads.”

“What happened to him?”

“We used to take an annual fishing trip up the Aucilla River. We’d camp, go fishing, hiking, and talk about how we’d still be taking the same trip when we were seventy. Sammy was a big guy. He had two inches and a good twenty pounds on me. There was nothing he couldn’t do. Sports, academics, you name it, he nailed it. The girls dug him. He had a clean-cut look. Dark eyes, pitch-black hair, muscles on top of muscles, but a warm, friendly demeanor despite his size. Clark Kent. Superman.” His voice got lower, and he looked away, blinking repeatedly, revealing the sensitive man behind the bravado.

She’d seen glimpses of that side of him, but witnessing him struggling tore at her heart.

Jake cleared his throat and placed his hand over hers. His thick fingers curled around her hand. “It was the summer before our senior year of college. We were fishing from the boat, having a good time, and Samson leaned over the boat to pull up a line of fish.” He swallowed hard, his eyes downcast, and nodded to her food. “Please eat, baby.”

She picked up her toast and absently took a bite, wondering how he could think of her when he was in the middle of talking about something that brought heaviness to the air around them. “Keep going.”

“I can still see him laughing at something Chris said as he leaned over the boat to grab the line. He was smiling so hard. We knew the river. Knew the dangers. We were always careful. But he didn’t look before he reached. A water moccasin got hold of his radial artery. What are the chances? Sammy’s eyes opened so wide, and there were two, maybe three seconds when we didn’t realize anything had happened, and then he let out a wail so loud it echoed against the trees. The goddamn snake had latched on and he was shaking it off.”

His voice cracked, his eyes glazed over, and he shook his arm as if it were Sammy’s, shaking off the snake. “He grabbed it by the back of the neck and tore it off. And we knew. We knew…” His voice trailed off, and he released her hand to rub the tattoo again. “We were too busy talking shit. We never saw it coming.” Unabashedly turning damp eyes to Addy, he said, “It was over fast. When poisonous venom gets in a main blood vessel, there’s no slowing it down. He knew. We knew. The two minutes that followed were the worst of my entire life.”

Addy couldn’t stop her tears from falling, even though she knew she should be strong for Jake. She climbed onto his lap, thinking of the look that had passed between him and his father at breakfast yesterday morning. Goose bumps rose on her arms. He held her in silence, the weight of his confession binding them together.

A minute, or maybe ten, later, he said, “Come on, baby. You need to eat.”

Addy finished most of her breakfast, even though she didn’t have the stomach for it, while Jake busied himself cleaning up the kitchen.

“I’m sorry about your friend,” she finally said, feeling like there were no words that could possibly convey how deeply sorry she truly was.

He nodded, forced a half smile. “Yeah, me too.”

Jake was quiet as he dried the frying pan and put it back where he’d found it. Addy washed her dishes, and they went into the living room. As he looked through her supplies, showing her how to use the compass and leafing through her unread wilderness books, dog-earring pages he insisted she read, she realized everything had changed again. While she was busy demanding to keep her independence the last few days, he was reliving a nightmare in his head. How often did he think of Samson? Superman. Sinking down to the floor beside him, she looked at the pointy design of his tattoo peeking out from beneath his sleeve, and she knew he thought of his friend every single day, whether he wanted to or not.



THREE HOURS LATER Addy stood at the trailhead in her pink hiking boots and cutoff shorts, hands on hips, shaking her beautiful head at Jake and looking cuter than any woman should be allowed to.

“Jake…”

“Don’t look at me like I’m ridiculous, Addy.” After he told her about losing Samson, she’d eased up on her insistence about doing this whole camping thing on her own. She’d allowed him to teach her the basics about camping, hiking, and first aid, but she’d shut him down when he wanted to go over her meal plans and go through the food she’d packed. There was nowhere near enough time to cover everything he wanted to, and he’d given in, because fighting with Addy wouldn’t make saying goodbye any easier. But on the drive to the mountains, with the loss of his friend fresh on his mind, the realization of what she was taking on hit him head-on. He hadn’t expected to feel the need to push his way into her trip, but the idea of her walking up that trail without him went against everything he felt.

“Anything can happen to you out here,” he insisted.

She stepped forward, her smile reaching her eyes as she took his hand. “I know you have all sorts of scary thoughts going through your head about what’s going to happen to me. And after what you told me about Samson, I have to admit, I’m a little more nervous about doing this, too.”

“Then let me go with you. At least for the first day.”

She shook her head, and Jake’s stomach plummeted.

“I don’t blame you for being mad, especially since things have changed so much between us. I honestly have no idea how I’ll make it through the next ten days without arguing with you.” She smiled and touched his cheek. She was his kryptonite. “Or kissing you, or being in your arms. But even with all those wonderful new feelings, nothing has changed with regard to my trip. I’m sure it sounds selfish, and I don’t mean to make you worry, but I need to do this alone. I have a plan. A goal. And I have been up front and honest about it the whole time. I need to follow through with my plans or I’ll never forgive myself, and I’ll probably blame you for it.”

Clenching his jaw, he pulled her against him. “You are a roaring pain in the ass.”

She laughed. “We’ve already established that. What else ya got? And don’t even think about going all Neanderthal on my ass and traipsing after me, because that’s one sure way to piss me off.”

He glared at her.

She pressed her lips to the center of his chest, palms flat against his pecs. Those delicate hands belonged there. He was going to miss her touch, her voice, her sassy backtalk. When she lifted her eyes again they were suspiciously glassy, and hell if his gut didn’t wrench again.

“I’ll tell you what,” she said. “I’ll text you tonight and let you know I found a safe spot to camp.”

He nodded, knowing he had to take whatever she’d give, even if it was nowhere near enough.