21. Chapter 21
Chapter twenty-one
Cal
Rowan answered the door in a little blue sundress that hugged her curves in all the right places. Her hair was down in long waves again, framing her beautiful face.
“Wow,” I said, leaning in to kiss her soft cheek. “You look amazing, but I screwed up.”
Her smile fell. “Oh, do you need to cancel?”
“No, I just should have said to wear clothes you can hike in. I thought we could go over to Sawtooth Ridge and do the trail. If you’re up for it.” I rubbed my neck while she considered the idea. I should have asked if she liked hiking. Her mobility had improved so much over the past weeks, I thought it’d be a good trail to push her. “It was a bad idea. We can go to Centennial Park.”
“No way,” she said with a huge smile. “I was just trying to remember where I packed my hiking boots. Give me five minutes.”
I waited on the porch, and a few minutes later she returned in a crop top and a pair of spandex shorts that made my mouth go dry. She’d put her hair into a ponytail and threaded it through a Karma baseball cap, which shouldn’t have been sexy but was.
“Where’s Skye?” she asked, sitting on the steps to lace up her well-worn hiking boots. Her small backpack and reusable water bottle looked equally used.
“Theo has her. I wanted to have my hands free for you.”
She blushed an adorable shade of pink, and my pulse quickened. I cleared my throat. “In case you need my help on the trail.”
“I used to hike it all the time with my dad. I think I’ll be ok, but you’re right, I’m in no shape to run after Skye if she spots a squirrel.” She grabbed onto the railing beside the steps and pulled herself up.
The front door opened, and Rose leaned out. “Did you remember sunscreen and bug spray?”
“Yes, Mom,” Rowan said, blushing again.
“What about you, Cal? I’m sure you don’t burn like a redhead, but the mosquitos will eat y’all alive this time of year.”
“I have some in the car.”
“Ok, kids. Have fun,” she said and smiled again before closing the door.
“Sorry about that,” Rowan said as she climbed into the passenger seat after we’d stowed her pack in the back with mine. “She forgets I’m a grown woman sometimes.”
“That’s nothing. My mom would have doused us with bug spray without asking. She has a serious fear of ticks.”
Rowan scrunched her delicate nose. “I don’t blame her.”
I couldn’t stop myself from leaning into the SUV and giving her a quick kiss. She smelled like sunscreen and citronella and a hint of chocolate. When I pulled away, she bit her bottom lip and smiled up at me. I considered skipping the entire hiking trip and driving her down the street to my house. Instead, I closed her door and walked around to the driver’s side. Rose stood in the picture window waving, and I congratulated myself on not mauling Rowan the second I thought we were alone.
Rowan waved to her mother, a huge smile on her face. “I’m so excited,” she said. “I haven’t been hiking since I came back to Peace Falls. My family is too scared I’ll hurt myself, and I’m concerned enough I won’t hike alone.”
I felt a sudden rush of worry and glanced at her. “Do you ever hike alone?”
Rowan shrugged. “Sometimes. If my back weren’t messed up, I’d have done the Triple Crown by now.”
“Alone?” I said, turning onto Broad Street.
“It’s more fun with a friend. But yeah, I’ve had a lot of time on my hands. So, I might have tackled one or two hikes by myself.”
“Those trails can be dangerous.”
“Sure, if you don’t know what you’re doing. My dad took Poppy and me hiking almost every weekend before he got sick. I know those trails like the back of my hand. And I always bring a Garmin with gps and satellite messaging, plus my phone, of course.”
“Still, you don’t know who else is out there.”
“Caleb Cardoso,” she said with a smirk. “Are you usually this overprotective?”
I shook my head. “I’m protective. Nothing over about it. You’re a beautiful woman and the world is full of creeps.”
She threw her head back and laughed. “You’re serious, aren’t you?”
“Yep.”
“Is it wrong that I kind of like that about you?” she said, drumming her fingers on her leg.
I reached across the car and took her hand in mine. We traveled several miles in comfortable silence, Rowan admiring the view as we drove to the trail head. I let go of her hand when I turned into the parking lot. It was filled with cars for the popular McAffee Knob trail, which ran eight miles and, along with Dragon’s Tooth and Tinkers Cliffs, made up the Triple Crown. I was beginning to think we wouldn’t find a parking spot when a family emerged from the trailhead of the two-mile out-and-back hike I’d planned to make with Rowan. I pulled into the space they left behind at the edge of the lot.
Rowan was already out of her seat and at the back of the SUV before I’d finished placing the sunshade across the windshield.
I chuckled as I joined her and pulled out my pack. She practically climbed into the trunk for hers. “Let me help you. I want to lighten your pack as much as possible.”
Some of the excitement dimmed from her face. “Yeah, that’s probably a good idea.”
“Hey,” I said, laying my hands gently on her shoulders. “I wouldn’t have suggested this if I didn’t think you were strong enough. But there’s no sense carrying extra weight. I have plenty of room in my pack.”
She unzipped her pack and handed me a massive plastic bag of brownies. “I thought they’d be easier to eat on a picnic than cupcakes or monkey bread.”
“These look amazing.” I opened my pack and put the bag on top of the lunch I’d made, then held out my hand for more. She sighed and handed me her large aluminum water bottle. “Anything else?”
She shook her head. I frowned and lifted her pack but found it surprisingly light.
“Satisfied, doctor?”
“Never.” I gave her a wolfish grin and she laughed.
“Come on,” she said, gripping my arm. “The sun’s only getting hotter.”
It was much cooler than last week, but still, I was thankful for the shade cover as we started out. Sawtooth Ridge was a sliver of the Appalachian trail that ran from Maine to Georgia. This portion of the trail hugged the ridgeline and mountain edge, with only a 417-foot rise in elevation. Still, it offered fantastic views of the valley below. We stopped after a quarter mile to drink from our water bottles and admire the view. I’d watched Rowan carefully for any signs of discomfort, but the smile never left her face.
“I missed this so much,” she said, twisting the cap back on her bottle and handing it to me. I’d thought we’d share my water, but with the heat, I was glad to have my own.
“Do you hike often?” she asked.
I nodded. “Theo, Aiden, and I got into it during the pandemic.”
“I have to get Poppy and Chris back out here with me,” she said. “They haven’t even let me make the short hike to see the waterfall by town. They’ll be easier to convince if you wrote a note. Preferably on letterhead.”
I laughed as she swung her pack onto her back. When the trail narrowed, I walked behind her and studied her gait again. She moved slower than someone of her age and fitness level, but her steps were much more fluid than they’d been in our first session. Before long I stopped focusing on her footfalls and found myself staring at her perfect ass. If Adam weren’t on my case, I’d probably suggest Rowan switch to another PT since I clearly couldn’t tamp down my attraction when I observed her.
The trail opened to a large rock scramble, which Rowan eyed with interest. I could picture her hopping from boulder to boulder as she worked her way to the top.
“Don’t even think about it,” I said, guiding her to a flat rock with views of Brushy Mountain. I opened my pack and took out the water bottles. We both drank deeply before she helped me spread out the blanket I’d brought on the boulder.
Once we were sitting, I pulled out the soft cooler from inside my pack and laid out the sandwich wraps and fruit salad I’d made as well as the brownies. “I realized this morning I should have asked what you liked, so there’s a turkey, a ham, and a veggie wrap. Take whichever you want. There’s hummus on the veggie wrap, mustard on the ham, and mayo on the turkey. Now that I think about it, there’s a good chance you don’t like any of those combinations. I should have left them plain.”
She smiled. “You don’t do this often do you?”
“Picnics?”
She shook her head. “Dates.”
“Is it that obvious?”
She laughed. “No, not if I didn’t know you. It’s just you always seem so confident and in control. It’s like you’ve thought everything out five steps ahead, but you forgot to include another person in your plans.”
“Guilty,” I said, taking the ham sandwich after she grabbed the turkey. “You’re right. I don’t date. I just—.”
She raised her eyebrows. “Keep things casual.”
“Exactly,” I said, taking a bite of my sandwich.
But this was a date. I’d said so yesterday, yet the knot in my stomach that usually formed whenever the word snuck into a conversation with a woman never came. I might have eaten a few meals with Avery, but I never planned something just to spend time talking with her. I’d tried not to give her the wrong idea about our arrangement—and utterly failed. Rowan was different. Our end was built into our beginning. She’d be leaving Peace Falls and me soon enough, and I planned to enjoy whatever time I had with her.
I finished my sandwich and polished off the veggie wrap as well. Then we shared the fruit and opened the brownies, the rich chocolate finally filling my stomach.
“Have you ever considered hiking the full trail?” she asked, looking past the end of Sawtooth Ridge where the Appalachian trail continued south.
“I enjoy day hikes more than camping. What about you?”
“My dad and I used to talk about doing the thru-hike. I thought I could take a gap year between high school and college or right after I got my degree, but then he got sick again.”
“Again?”
Rowan nodded. “He was diagnosed the first time when Poppy and I were in elementary school. He went through chemo and all the terrible side effects. The doctors thought they’d gotten everything. Chris was a complete oops,” she said laughing. “Mom and Dad didn’t think they needed birth control after all his treatments. Chris was a year old when the cancer came back, worse than before. After Dad died, I let go of the thru-hike. When I graduated high school, Chris was still so young. Mom needed my help, which was why I drove down on the weekends when I was in college. And now I have a ton of student loans.”
“But you still hike.”
She nodded.
“Does it ever make you sad? Hiking?”
“No,” she said, giving me a curious look. “I love it.”
I nodded. “This summer was the first time I’ve held a football since the accident.”
She paled and reached for my hand.
“Logan and I had been teammates since we were little. I couldn’t even watch a football game that first year while I was going through PT. Eventually, Aiden visited me at JMU and dragged me to a game, then another. I enjoyed watching again, but I never played. Not once.”
“Until I made you,” she whispered. “I’m so sorry, Caleb.”
I shook my head. “Don’t be. Training Chris has been the second-best thing to happen to me this summer.”
She blushed. “And the first?”
“Finding Skye, obviously.”
“Yeah, I’m really glad we found her,” Rowan said, looking at the mountains. I felt like the world’s biggest asshole. Most of the women I hung around would have recognized the humor and given me a playful slap on the chest, but Rowan was different. She didn’t see herself the way the world did, and I wanted to punch every idiot who’d made her feel less about herself, myself included.
“Hey,” I said, squeezing her hand. “That was a dumb joke. I’m glad we found Skye. Very. But I wouldn’t have if you hadn’t walked into my practice. And I wouldn’t be here with you now.”
I rubbed my thumb across her cheek with my other hand and she leaned into my touch. I lowered my head and kissed her, sweet at first, then deeper, hungrier. She moaned and I went as hard as the rock we were sitting on.
She climbed into my lap, rolling her hips over me in waves that made my dick ache. “We better stop,” I said breaking the kiss. “Unless you want me to fuck you in the middle of the trail for anyone to see.”
She jerked as though realizing where we were and looked around, her eyes wild.
I chuckled. “No one can see us right now. But we won’t be alone long.”
“Your back windows are tinted,” she said. “And you put that sunshade in the front.”
I’ve never packed up so fast in my life. We managed the return hike in less than twenty minutes and were both out of breath and sweating by the time we reached the parking lot. It was only a fifteen-minute drive to my house, but after starting the air conditioner and shoving our packs in the rear, we both squeezed into the back seat, tearing at each other’s clothes. I grabbed a condom from my wallet but before I could put it on, she took it, tore it opened, and rolled it down my heated skin.
I threw my head back and knocked it against the window. Our eyes locked. My heart ached in my chest. “Come here,” I said.
She climbed up my body, our faces pressed together. Her eyes never left mine as she reached between us, positioned me at her entrance, and sank down. We both moaned when I rocked up into her. We moved together, gentle at first, then frantic, each desperate for release. She called my name as she came, sending me over the edge, pleasure ripping through my body with a force that left me dizzy.
She smiled, and I begged the world to stop, to hold the moment a bit longer, but a horn sounded in the parking lot, breaking it into a million pieces. She giggled. I wanted to wrap my arms around her and stay locked with her body for as long as she’d let me. Instead, I eased out of her, hoping she wouldn’t notice how much it pained me to leave.