Page 7 of Entangled in the Woods
“I’m sure I’ll see you around, Fumbles. Don’t fall without me.”
I could hear his chuckling as I jogged out of there, careful not to fall again. Glancing back over my shoulder, I saw that Wilder stood casually in the middle of the trail, watching me jog away. His hands were in the pockets of his blue jeans and a smirk was on his mouth. Apparently he enjoyed watching me run from him.
Once I hit the gravel trail that was more conducive to running, I broke out into a fast run, my legs turning over quickly, until I reached the clearing by our cabin. Hunched over, I brought my hands to my knees, trying to catch my breath. There were always stories about women getting approached on their runs by creepy men—you just never thought you’d be one of them.
Shaking off the adrenaline that flowed through my veins, I walked up to the cabin and opened the door. Leo and Jenny were nowhere to be found. I walked down the hall hoping I wouldn’t see anything scandalous in one of their rooms as I made my way to my own. Fortunately Jenny was alone, sitting on her bed with a book.
She set it down once she saw me walk by and followed me. “How was your run?” she asked.
“Not the best. The trail I ran on turned out to be rocky, and a creepy guy in the woods approached me.” I kept the feeling of my attraction to Wilder to myself. I wasn’t supposed to feel something like that for a random man who’d approached me in the woods. He’d saved me from a nasty fall that would have ended with me covered in cuts and bruises, but I couldn’t let my guard down just because a man had used his reflexes and caught me. I wasn’t a damsel in need of a prince to save me.
“What?” Jenny said. “I didn’t think anyone lived close enough to our cabin that you would run into someone. What did he say? He didn’t touch you, did he? Are you okay?”
“No, no,” I said, realizing that she was starting to spiral. “He didn’t do anything. He was just very flirty when he approached me. I don’t like talking while I’m on a run, much less with a guy who comes up to me out of nowhere in the woods.”
“Yeah, that’s so weird. He didn’t follow you back here, did he?” Jenny asked.
“No, I left him about a mile away and he didn’t follow me. He said he didn’t even know there was a cabin back here.”
“Good. I’m glad you’re all right. Maybe there’s mace or something in the cabin you can bring with you next time.”
“Yeah, I should look for something like that.” My clothing was chilling my skin as the sweat that soaked the fabric cooled. “I’m going to take a shower quick before Professor Robinson gets here.”
I needed to wash off the conflicting feelings from my body and my mind.
CHAPTER FIVE
After my shower,I quickly got dressed in leggings and a T-shirt, then met Jenny and Leo at the kitchen table. Professor Robinson was just sitting down, handing out folders from his bag, when I slid into the last seat. He was an older professor, probably in his late sixties. His gray hair was short, military style, and he had groomed his mustache similarly. Opening the folder, I found a map of the area surrounding the cabin as well as some pamphlets from the university about codes of conduct and other human resources documents.
Clearing his throat, Professor Robinson began speaking. “I know you all have professors you’ll be conducting your research under, and you’ll be expected to check in with them weekly, but I’m here to supervise you physically.”
Jenny and I made eye contact and smirked—we were so mature.
The professor’s voice was stern and unwavering. It was obvious he took his job seriously. “You can go through all that human resource mumbo jumbo on your own time,” he said. “Why I wanted to meet with you today is to lay down the ground rules and give you some information about the local region.”
I felt like a freshman looking over a syllabus on my first day of class all over again.
“We’ve had some issues in the past with run-ins with the residents who live in this area. They don’t like that the university is out here conducting research on the land.” An irritated expression fell across Professor Robinson’s face. “Apparently they see it as an intrusion of their personal space as well as an intrusion of the natural order.” He paused, shaking his head before continuing. “Our differing philosophies aside, you are all here to work and begin your graduate studies. I would suggest staying clear of the locals.”
My face heated and my stomach dropped. One day in and I had already broken the rules.
“I’ve highlighted the homes that are within a twenty-mile radius of this cabin,” Robinson said. “The closest one is five miles away. Anything within that distance seems to be fine. Once you are outside that perimeter, I want your guards up and for you to be aware of your surroundings.”
Looking at the map, there were a handful of homes highlighted. Glancing at those, my eyes caught the black curved lines denoting trails. My fingers followed the lines, tracing all the different running paths I could soon explore.
“What happened with the locals and students that were here before us?” Jenny asked, looking concerned. She glanced at me before her gaze returned to Robinson, obviously disturbed for me and my recent run-in.
“Mostly verbal threats and reports back to the university of trespassing students,” he said. “One incident occurred two years ago where a gun was pointed at a student. That resident has since moved away, but I would strongly suggest you steer clear of the homes that are highlighted. A lot of the people out here have limited contact with the outside world, and we don’t knowanything about them. Best to keep to yourselves and keep to your work.”
Nodding, Jenny kicked me under the table, urging me with her eyes to tell the professor about my run-in earlier today. I subtly shook my head. I didn’t want Robinson to target me as a problem before we’d even begun working.
Robinson gestured to our folders on the table. “Keep your maps and go through the rest of the paperwork. I’ll be around next week to pick it up. I think you know how to act as mature adults, but you know how it is nowadays.”
We all nodded. Paging through the paperwork, I saw a code of ethics, sexual-harassment policy, and the safety waivers ready for my signatures.
“I’m sure you know how to keep the cabin clean,” he said, clearly not planning to wait for any questions we might have. “The university expects you to pick up after yourselves and maintain the cabin for future students to use. The outside of the cabin is also your responsibility. The last group here oversaw repainting the windows. Since it’s summertime, you’re responsible for cleaning up the landscaping around the cabin. I need weeds pulled and some general cleaning up around the perimeter of the cabin.”
I tried not to let my frown show. Great—another thing to add to my to-do-list.
