Page 23 of Wild About the Mountain Guide
“Nervous?” I ask as I sit down next to her.
“Terrified,” she admits with a laugh. “But also excited. Is that normal?”
“Completely. If you weren’t at least a little scared, I’d be worried about your judgment.”
She pulls her knees up to her chest, staring at the summit high above us. “Can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“Why do you do this? Guide people like us, I mean. You could probably make way more money doing something else. Or just disappear into these woods for days without a group of rookies cramping your style.”
“I love the mountains. And I love watching people discover what they’re capable of. Most folks walk around thinking they’re not strong enough, not brave enough, not whatever enough. But out here, they find out they’re wrong. It’s amazing to see that.”
“Is that how you see me too?”
I turn to look at her. “I think you’re stronger than you know. Braver than you give yourself credit for. And tomorrow morning, when you’re standing on that summit, you’re going to realize it too.”
She smiles that bright, genuine smile that’s been undoing me a little more each day. “Thank you. This week has been… I don’t even have words for it, and that’s saying a lot, because I’m an author. I’m supposed to be great with words.”
“Don’t jump the gun. You can thank me once we’re back down the mountain safely,” I joke.
“I’ll do my best to survive. How else are you going to explain it to your best friend’s wife?” She laughs.
“You’re right.” I wink. “That’s the only reason I haven’t let you fall off a cliff yet.”
She playfully pushes my shoulder. “Hey, watch it. There are plenty of other reasons to keep me alive.”
“There are,” I say, locking eyes with her.
My heart’s about to leap out of my chest. This is it. I’m not going to hold back any longer. I’m going to go for it and… kiss her.
I gently put my hand on her cheek and brush my thumb over her soft skin.
“Knox,” Peyton whispers, a smile playing on her lips like she’s high on something.
I know I am. High onher.
I lean in, and our lips are mere inches apart, when a deafening scream interrupts our glorious moment. I immediately jump up and run to find the source of the scream.
Alexandra is standing a few feet from the latrine path, eyes wide and a hand pressed to her chest.
“I almost stepped on a snake!” she cries out in a shaky voice.
I jog over and glance down at the alleged threat, but it’s motionless. Just in case, I grab a nearby stick and give it a careful poke. Huh. It’s a rolled-up wool sock. It’s damp and mud-streaked, but definitely not venomous.
“False alarm,” I say, holding it up between two fingers. “Just an abandoned sock.”
Alexandra lets out a breathy laugh and waves it off. “My bad. It looked like it was coiled and everything.”
I toss the sock in our garbage bag and glance back at the boulder where Peyton’s still sitting. She holds my gaze for a second, then slides off the rock and walks toward the rest of the group.
Yeah. Moment’s definitely over. I just hope we’ll get a second chance at kissing.
I decide to start preparing dinner, so I have something to do. It keeps me from wallowing in disappointment after our kiss got interrupted by a muddy sock.
By the time the sun has disappeared behind the peaks, I let the group know it’s time to go to sleep. “Early bedtime, everyone. Two-thirty wake-up call.”
Groans and grumbles about not being able to sleep this early follow my announcement, but everyone complies anyway.
