5. Ridge
5
RIDGE
The air is crisp outside the cabin, but the sun is shining, warming our faces as we walk toward the forest. Lila looks painfully adorable, wrapped up in her coat, hat, and gloves, her cheeks pink from the cold. I have to fight the instinct to hold her hand as we walk.
“It’s so beautiful up here,” she says, stopping just before the trees and turning back to look at the vista. “You can see for miles! Is that Cherry Hollow down there?”
“Sure is.”
“What about your cabin?”
“Can’t see it from here, but it’s over there.” I point. “Not far, just a little way up the mountain.”
“Cool. The view must be even better from your place.”
I open my mouth to tell her that I’ll show her some time, but think better of it. I have to keep reminding myself that Lila is leaving tomorrow, and a dull ache grows inside me as we enter the forest, our feet crunching against the fallen branches and snow. Nobody has ever been inside my cabin except me and Middy. That’s how I like things. But damn, I’d love to invite Lila into my home. While she was sleeping this morning, I made a few calls, arranging to have the tree removed from my cabin and all the necessary repairs made. It won’t be ready until after she leaves. Otherwise, I’d take her there right now.
“It’s so peaceful,” Lila says as we head deeper into the trees, past frozen waterfalls and frost-covered leaves. “I can see why you love it out here so much.”
“Yeah, it’s a special place. I spend most of my time in these woods.”
She hums thoughtfully. “There’s something about being out here. It’s so…so big and wild…so beautiful. It really helps put your problems into perspective. They seem smaller, you know? You look at the trees and the rivers and you breathe in that fresh earthy smell, and it just feels like everything is going to be okay.”
“You said it better than I ever could.”
She smiles at me, and I run her words over in my mind. There’s so much I want to know about Lila. She said she lost her job and came to the mountains to get away, but something tells me there’s more to the story. Behind her bright smile and glistening brown eyes, there’s something fragile. I saw a hint of it at breakfast—the look on her face when she tried to give me her sandwich. She looked self-conscious. Unsure of herself.
“It’s none of my business,” I grunt, “but what problems are you trying to put into perspective out here?”
She’s quiet for a moment. “Losing my job, I guess.” She looks at me, biting her lip. “But I don’t want to bother you with all my problems, Ridge. They’re pretty mundane—nothing compared to what you went through.”
I frown, struggling to tear my eyes from her mouth as I say, “We’re not competing, Lila. Just because I got shot twenty years ago doesn’t mean you can’t tell me what’s wrong.”
“Well, I guess when you put it like that…” she tapers off with a sigh. “The thing is, losing my job means I have to move back home with my parents in Colorado Springs. We’re not a close family. My dad is a total jerk. He cheats on my mom constantly and she takes her anger out on me instead of divorcing him like she should have done years ago.”
A twinge of pity squeezes my gut. “How does she take her anger out on you?”
“She says horrible things about me. Anything from my appearance to my life choices. She talks about me like I’m not even in the room.”
My throat tightens, anger rising as I process her words. Her parents sound like fucking assholes, and I hate the thought of her being forced to live with them.
“I’m sorry, Lila,” I tell her. “That’s really shitty. You got any other relatives you could stay with instead?”
“Sadly not.” She sighs. “I thought about asking my best friend, Audrey. She rents an apartment in the city, but I don’t want to be a burden, not when I can’t afford to pay my share.”
I want to tell her she can come stay with me. It’s on the tip of my tongue to offer her a room in my cabin when it’s fixed. But I’d probably creep her out by asking. Anyway, I live on a damn mountain, hours from the city. A pretty young thing like Lila won’t want to be stuck out here with an old grump like me.
“Anyway,” Lila continues with a sigh, “it just felt like a lot of crappy things happened at once: my job, my apartment, the video. It wasn’t a great start to the year, but I guess it can only get better, right?”
“Video?”
She goes silent, frowning like she’s mad at herself. “I don’t know why I mentioned that. It was nothing, just this stupid thing on social media.”
I want to hear more about the video, but she seems reluctant to talk about it, so we walk in silence, listening to the twittering birds and the rustling trees. My arm is aching, the cold making my shoulder tense up painfully. But it’s worth it to be out here with Lila.
Eventually, we reach a narrow creek. It blocks our path, stretching out in either direction, the icy top layer starting to melt away.
“I guess we’ll have to turn back,” Lila says.
“You want to?”
She shakes her head. “No, but I don’t think I can jump that.”
“I can. I’ll carry you over.”
Lila’s eyes widen. “Carry me?”
“Sure.”
“I’m too heavy,” she says, her cheeks pinkening.
“Of course you’re not.” I frown at her, then before she can protest, I lift her into my arms and take a giant step over the creek. She feels so warm and soft against me, and my cock twitches in my boxers, the closeness filling me with longing. I want to hold her tighter, without these coats and sweaters between us—just me and Lila. But I force myself to set her down on the other side, feeling cold without her.
“Thanks,” she says, her voice a little breathless.
“No problem. You’re not heavy at all.”
She lets out a noise between a laugh and a sigh. “Well, it’s easy for you to say. You could probably bench-press an elephant if you tried.”
“I’m serious, Lila.” I stop walking and look at her, crossing my arms. “Remember what I said back at the cabin?”
She blinks at me, then looks down at her feet. “You said I was…fine as I am.”
“That’s not the only thing I said.”
Her eyes flicker up to meet mine, her lips parting slightly. “You said I was beautiful.”
“Damn straight. And I meant it, too.”
She holds my gaze, the air buzzing around us as we look at each other. Something moves in my peripheral vision, a branch maybe, but I keep my eyes on Lila’s face—those chocolate-brown eyes, her sweet red lips. I want to lean in and kiss her. Fuck the consequences—I want to claim that pretty mouth right here.
But something’s wrong.
Unease crawls over me as I hear a soft rustle from somewhere nearby. The hairs on the back of my neck are standing on end. We’re being watched. I can feel it. The singing birds are gone. They know there’s a predator nearby, and I turn around slowly, scanning the undergrowth with my heart in my throat.
Fuck, have I put Lila in danger?
I have keen eyes, and after years of living in the mountains, I know what I’m looking for.
“Ridge, are you okay?” Lila asks.
The mountain lion is about fifteen feet away, peering at us from behind a tree. My stomach drops, and I take a step in front of Lila, shielding her.
“Ridge?”
“I need you to do what I say, okay?” I tell her, already unzipping my coat. “There’s a cougar watching us. Stay behind me. Don’t make a sound. And whatever you do, don’t run.”
I hear Lila’s breath hitch, but she does as I tell her, keeping back. With my coat undone, I hold it wide open, making myself look bigger as I call, “Hey! Yeah, that’s right, I see you! Now get out of here!”
I wave my arms slowly above my head, standing tall, but the mountain lion just stares, unmoving, its eyes fixed on me. I keep shouting, adrenaline pumping through me as I listen to Lila’s panicked breaths.
Fuck, I need to get her out of here.
“Lila, we’re going to back away, okay? Go slow and stay as upright as possible.”
I hear her start to move and follow her backward, keeping my eyes fixed on the cougar. As we pass a thick tree, I reach up to grab a branch and snap it off before tossing it with all my might toward the predator. It bristles at the noise.
“You’re okay,” I tell Lila, keeping my eyes forward. “You’re doing great. Keep going.”
The cougar looks indecisive, like it’s trying to decide if we’re worth chasing. If it comes for us, I’ll do anything to protect the angel behind me. I’ll fight it with my bare fucking hands if I have to.
We keep retreating, and I aim a few more branches in the cougar’s direction, each dull thud disturbing it more and more. I toss one last branch and it smacks against a tree beside the cougar, startling it. It dithers for a moment before turning tail and loping away through the forest, disappearing into the trees.
“It’s gone,” I tell Lila, fixing my gaze on the place where the cougar vanished. “You okay?”
“I’m okay,” she says, her voice barely audible.
“We have to be careful. It could come back. Don’t run, just keep walking slowly.”
She does as I say. We keep backing away, and once we reach the creek, the forest opens up a little. I’m confident we’re no longer being followed, and I carry Lila over the water once more, feeling her quiver slightly in my arms. She’s still breathing hard, and I don’t let myself relax until we reach the cabin, closing the door behind us.