It was warm out considering their elevation, so Rebecca had shed her jacket and wore nothing but her tank top. The edge of her bra was visible, and he had to glance away to breathe.
“I’m surprised we’ve seen so few people on this trail.” Rebecca stood, now holding a small camera. “Where did everyone from the campsite go?”
Griffen took the camera from her and stepped back to take her picture with the view in the background. “There are dozens of possible choices from that campsite. This particular peak is too strenuous for most. And then there’s the fact that you have to be able to make it up to the top and back before dark.”
“Makes sense.” She set her hands on her hips and took a deep cleansing breath as Griffen stepped closer and handed her the camera. “How much time do we have before we need to head back?”
He glanced at his watch. “About an hour. We’ll be fine as long as we’re back on the path by midafternoon. It’s faster returning, but still hard on the knees in the steeper sections.” Griffen leaned down to pick up her backpack. “Hungry?”
She followed him back to the others. “You don’t have to carry my bag.”
“I know.” He smiled over his shoulder. I want to.
Trace was already passing out sandwiches when Griffen and Rebecca crouched down to sit.
God, he wanted to touch her. He wanted to tuck the loose lock of hair behind her ear. He wanted to hold her hand. Anything.
Instead, he forced himself to swallow his lunch and then excused himself when his bladder demanded release. “I’ll be right back.” He worked his way through the branches and rocky patches off the trail until he was out of sight.
When he was finished and turned back around to make his way toward the group, he was stunned to find the sun suddenly blocked. Or maybe it wasn’t the sun. He wasn’t sure, but an ominous dark presence forced him to step backward.
It happened so fast, he wasn’t sure what he’d seen before he lost his footing and fell several feet off the slight ledge at his back. “Fuck.” He knew he nearly yelled the word. But son of a bitch. He lay sprawled on the ground, and something was causing a searing pain in his thigh.
When he lifted his head to see what he’d landed on, he groaned. Goddammit. He was stuck. He’d landed on a pile of loose twigs, and a good-sized stick had impaled his leg, running clean through and out the other side, ripping his lightweight pants in both places.
“Griffen?”
He could hear Trace’s voice, but he couldn’t quite muster the energy to respond. And what the hell had he seen? There was no dark anything in front of him now.
“Over here,” he finally managed.
“You good?”
“Nope.” That was an understatement.
Trace trod through the foliage until his shadow covered Griffen. “You fell?” He had a grin on his face that slowly disappeared as his gaze landed on Griffen’s leg. “Oh damn.”
“Yes. Damn.” Griffen tried to lift his body, but only managed to wince and lay back. “Shit. Fuck.”
“Hang tight. Stop moving so much.” Trace reached down and brushed around the ground until he at least had Griffen dislodged. The stick extended all the way through his leg as though he’d been shot with an arrow.
Zachary had arrived by then. “Jesus. How the hell did you manage that?”
Griffen shot him a glare. “Not intentionally.”
The two men came around either side of Griffen and lifted him by the shoulders.
The pain was intense. “Son of a mother fucking…” he mumbled as they righted him and made their way back toward the main path and the others.
“What happened?” Rebecca jumped up and ran toward them as they came into view.
Trace answered her. “Clumsy here fell on a stick.”
“I see that. Get him over here where I can take a closer look.”
Griffen grimaced. He didn’t think a closer look was necessary. He could assure her it was bad. The pain alone was making him nauseous, and he wasn’t normally a wuss when it came to pain.
Trace and Zachary angled him onto a large flat rock on his side while Rebecca unzipped her pack and rummaged around.
Sharon leaned over to help ease Griffen onto the rock. “See. Good thing I brought a nurse.” Her tone was almost a tease, but she was smart enough to realize this was not a laughing matter.
There was no way in hell he could walk off this mountain on his own two legs. And it was growing late.
In fact, as Rebecca rubbed antibacterial gel on her hands and squatted next to him, he realized he had a bigger problem.
He was going to have to shift. Soon. And there would be no way to keep that from Rebecca.