Chapter Three
Iris
If someone had told me this morning that I’d be driving up a mountain with a hot guy to spend a few days in nature, I would have thought they’d lost their minds, yet here I am.
My wedding dress is squashed into the passenger seat, flowing over to Falcon’s side of the car. I can’t wait to get it off and slip into something more comfortable.
I hope my parents caught Joshua and his mistress or one-night-stand or whatever she was, even though I’m not sure it matters anymore. The damage is done. Nothing he says or does will ever make things right.
“Where were you staying before running off?” Falcon asks, breaking the silence between us.
“At a hotel.”
He frowns. “Seriously? The closest one is ten miles from here. You walked all the way to Bearclaw Ridge in that dress, and no one stopped to help you?”
“I did get some super weird looks, that’s for sure. But I was also crying, so I think people were afraid to approach me. Walking the ten miles was nothing, though. It’s amazing how far you can get when you’re angry and full of adrenaline.” I bite my bottom lip, debating whether to be even more honest. “It felt good to be outside and move my body. My mother doesn’t believe in running as exercise. She says it’s for commoners, but I love it.”
“Your mother disapproves of running? How old are you, Iris?”
“Twenty-six.”
He raises an eyebrow. “So you’re an adult. You can make your own choices and go running, hiking, or whatever you want.”
“I know, but it’s a bit more complicated than that. My family isn’t like other families. My mother has unattainable standards. Her only goal in life is to raise perfect daughters. She hates that running has always been my escape. It’s my way of rebelling against the stuffiness of my life. I hate that everything needs to be picture-perfect all the time. When I run… it feels like freedom, you know?”
He smiles. “Yeah, it’s the same with hiking for me. I”m happiest when I’m up on the mountain, alone in the woods.”
“Are you close with your family?” I ask.
He nods. “My three brothers—Titan, Blaze, and Skyler—and I are super close. We run a company called RidgeRoam Adventure Tours, and we still have dinner at our parents’ place every week or so, even though we’re all in our thirties.”
“I wish I grew up like that,” I admit. “Thank you for taking me with you. I don’t know what I would’ve done if you hadn’t found me.”
“One of my brothers would’ve caught you sneaking around the premises.”
His jawline tightens as if he’s jealous, but I must be imagining things, right? Why would he be jealous of his brothers finding me instead of him?
Falcon slows the car until we can’t go any further, thanks to the narrow forest road in front of us.
“This is our starting point,” he says and hops out. “Why don’t you get changed?”
“Here? Out in the open?”
He chuckles. “Trust me, there isn’t a soul here. I’ll turn around to give you your privacy. Throw your wedding dress on the passenger seat when you’re done. We’ll deal with that later.”
“We’re not taking it with us? I thought we could make a campfire and burn it,” I joke.
He grabs his backpack and slings it over his shoulder. “Only if you’re carrying it.”
“Change of clothes it is, then,” I say with a wink.
He turns around as promised, and I wrestle myself out of the dress. I found a shirt with the tags still on in the lost-and-found box at Falcon’s shed and a pair of warm leggings. They look brand-new. Thank goodness I ran away in sneakers. Although not ideal for hiking, it’s better than walking around in heels in the woods. I pair the shirt and leggings with an oversized flannel shirt that falls to my knees. It may not be glamorous, but it’ll keep me warm, and that’s all that matters. I’ve had enough to deal with already. I’m not planning to add freezing to death to my list of misfortunes.
I throw the dress on the passenger seat and slam the door shut.
“Are you sure you’re up for this? It’s not too late to turn back,” Falcon says.
“I’m good.”
Relief floods his features. “Great. Let’s get going then.”
I follow in his footsteps, hiking through the woods and up the mountain while birds chatter in the background. This is nice. I needed this. I’m feeling so good about this that I’m hiking with a spring in my step.
Falcon looks over his shoulder at me, and I give him a big thumbs up. “This is awesome.”
He grins. “It sure is.”
Half an hour later, though, I’ve changed my mind. This might turn out to be harder than I anticipated. I thought a stroll through the woods would take my mind off things, but this is serious business. There are rocky inclines and steep descents, all at a pace I have no chance of keeping up with.
“Are you okay, Iris?” Falcon asks when I stop to catch my breath.
A trickle of sweat runs down my backside, and my hair sticks to my wet neck. “I’m fine,” I say in between breaths. “Maybe a bit dizzy.”
“You’re not fine then, are you? First rule in hiking with me is always to be honest.”
I nod. “Got it.”
Falcon throws his backpack on the ground and leads me to a rock at the side of the trail for me to sit on. He hands me his water bottle. “Drink,” he instructs.
I gladly take the bottle from him and down half of it without thinking. The way the cool water soothes my parched throat is almost orgasmic.
“Shit. You brought more water, right?” I ask, suddenly guilty about using his water bottle. “I don’t want us to run without because of me.”
“No need to feel bad. I came prepared. We can purify the water from the streams that run through these mountains.”
“Still, I’m slowing us down.”
“No, you’ve helped me, actually.”
“Really? How?”
He sits down beside me and hands me a chocolate bar. “I thought this hike would be good for beginners, but it’s clearly not. I’ll have to find a different approach trail to the camping spot. If I offer this to my clients, they’ll drop like flies.”
I laugh. “You can’t have that. Imagine the bad reviews you’ll get.”
“Exactly. I can’t afford to have RidgeRoam Adventure Tours’ perfect four-point seven review score take a hit because of some poorly planned hike.”
I unwrap the chocolate bar and take a grateful bite. “Glad to be of service.”
“Speaking of service,” Falcon says, his dark eyes locking with mine. “What do you do for a living? I feel like I don’t know a lot about you.”
“I told you about my mother, didn’t I?”
He chuckles. “You’re right. The mother with unattainable standards who thinks running is for the less privileged. What else does she not approve of? Eating a hamburger with your bare hands?”
I snort. “That’s my mother, all right. Food that people eat without cutlery isn’t good enough in her eyes.”
Falcon whistles. “Jesus Christ. I was kidding. She’s that stuck-up, huh?”
“Unfortunately, yes. But to answer your question, I work in public relations. My mother insisted I pursue a career that reflects positively on our family’s reputation. So, I spend my days smoothing out any wrinkles in the public image of influential people, ensuring they always appear polished and perfect. And because I do that, my family also appears perfect. At least, that’s how my mother sees things.”
Falcon’s eyebrows shoot up in surprise. “Sounds... demanding.”
“You have no idea,” I say with a wry smile. “But it pays the bills and keeps my mother off my back, most of the time anyway.”
He nods sympathetically. “I admire your dedication. It takes a lot to deal with that kind of pressure.”
I take another swig of water. “Well, it’s all in the past now that I ran away from my wedding. I’ll probably be shunned by my family. I don’t know how I feel about that, to be honest. On the one hand, I’m relieved I finally broke free from all the demands and pressure. But on the other hand, I’m sad because I do love them and want to make them happy.”
“I get that, but parents should love their children unconditionally and let them carve out their own paths. My mother doesn’t like the idea of her four sons leading adventure tours. She’s always afraid something will happen to us, but she respects that this is what lights us up and makes us happy.”
My heart melts at his words. He’s the first person who’s ever said anything like this to me. I don’t know why, but not a single person in my life has ever told me that it’s okay to be myself. To follow my own bliss. To be me instead of trying to be who everyone around me wants to be.
“Thanks, Falcon,” I tell him.
He gives me a smile that makes my heart do a double-take. “Of course. Now, we should get going if we want to make it to the camping spot before the sun sets.”
“Lead the way,” I tell him.
I would follow him anywhere.