Chapter 17
seventeen
RYAN
We’re traveling in two vans to a day hike.
The van I’m in is quiet, most of the bachelorettes and camera people either looking out the window at the scenic view or buried in their phones.
As we turn off the highway onto a smaller road, the van bumps along.
I’m not paying a bit of attention to my surroundings, though.
Last night’s rose ceremony keeps looping in my head.
The way Wren blinked when I said her name.
Like she still didn’t believe she belonged here.
The idea doesn’t sit right with me. How can I fix that?
“We’re here!” Rich calls. He slides open the van’s door.
When I climb out into a large gravel parking lot, the place is empty.
We’re in the middle of the woods. The only thing around is a large sign saying CLEAR SPRINGS TRAILHEAD.
There’s a well-worn path that leads off to the right.
Behind us, the ground rises up steeply to form a sharp incline.
I haven’t been here before, but I know this area is right at the beginning of the foothills, where the hill country of the Piedmont above Atlanta meets the sloping terrain of the Blue Ridge Parkway.
I’ve never really been anywhere around here, but I look at Rich expectantly.
“Is this today’s date?” I ask.
“You said that you liked to hike, so here we are.” He extends a hand toward the woods. “Once the rest of the girls are here, we should have good weather all day for shooting.”
I look up. He’s seemingly correct. The sky is bright blue above us, not a cloud in sight. That doesn’t guarantee anything when it comes to Georgia weather, but hopefully the hiking won’t be too uphill.
I crack my knuckles as Rich opens the back of the van, revealing two backpacks stuffed with hiking gear. He unzips one and shows off the contents. Tons of granola, Clif bars, bandages, and bottled water. He produces a Nalgene bottle and offers it to me.
I take it, twist off the cap, and sniff the contents. It’s just water, as far as I can tell.
He points to the bottle. “Water with a little bit of electrolyte solution. The gold standard.”
I change into my own hiking boots. I didn’t know Rich had asked for them specifically for this date, but I’m not terribly surprised.
The other van pulls up. As soon as the doors open, the other contestants swarm around me. I try not to look at Wren. Or think about how it felt to have my fingers inside her last night. Immediate thoughts of her slam into me anyway.
I glance over the crowd of girls and am instantly entertained. If the TV audience isn’t, I don’t know what can help them.
Nikki is wearing a black bodycon dress that barely covers her ass and a pair of brand-new hiking boots. She tosses her hair and announces that she doesn’t do sweat. As a concept. Whatever that means.
Raven looks around and pulls out a can of bug spray, coating herself and offering it around. Mei is recording everything. She’s in denim cutoffs and an oversized plaid workman shirt. I have no idea what she’s saying to her phone as she talks and films, but someone somewhere is probably entertained.
Raven and Divya both wear hiking shorts and long-sleeve T-shirts. Raven’s biting her lip and looking around like she’s unsure. Divya, on the other hand, stays quiet. She keeps looking up at the mountain like it doesn’t impress her.
“Okay, everyone.” Rich claps his hands, pulling our attention.
“Today is a hiking date. For your safety, please take a lightweight pack with granola, water, and a tracking device. Just in case something goes terribly wrong. Once you’re ready, we’ll have you head out as one group.
You’ll naturally fall into your own pace.
Some people will be faster and move toward the front, others slower and drift toward the back.
Doesn’t matter. This isn’t a race. We’re only going a few miles. ”
He turns to me. “Ryan, anything you want to say?”
I smile at the group and shrug apologetically.
“Sorry you got dragged out here. This is one of my favorite off-day activities. Although I usually like my hiking to be a bit more strenuous. Rich assures me this should be an easy out and back. Don’t be afraid to speak up if you need anything.
Water, food, a break. Whatever. I won’t think less of you. Promise.”
JacqLyn, who’s wearing hiking pants and a loose long-sleeved T-shirt, grins. “ Ready to go, Captain.”
I smile and walk over to her. “You wanna accompany me as we walk?”
“Yeah, I do.” She beams. “I love to hike. This is, like, the perfect date to me.”
I cock a brow. “Really?”
“Yeah, it actually is. All my friends think I’m crazy because I adore hiking.”
Raven walks up and holds out her can of bug spray. “You guys are crazy for wanting to do this, but can I please spray you down first?”
I nod. Definitely didn’t think about bug spray. Internally, I admit I usually don’t. Spray matters more in swampy areas, but I don’t expect to need it much today. Still, they say good luck is ninety percent preparation, ten percent perspiration. Or whatever.
JacqLyn, Daisy, and I start down the trail.
For a long while, it’s pretty flat with only a little elevation as we go.
JacqLyn hikes with us for a while before breaking away and moving faster.
If it were a date with just the two of us, I’d try to keep pace, but as it is, Daisy and I are already ahead of most of the contestants.
As we walk, Daisy tells me about her hometown. Nashville, Tennessee. How the city throws a huge country music festival each spring. She goes into a long, funny story about the antics she and her friends got into this year. I laugh. I can’t even see JacqLyn anymore by the time she finishes.
Eventually, I slow down.
“I’m going to wait for some of the others to catch up.”
She makes a face and says, “Okay, slowpoke. I’ll try to catch up with JacqLyn. See you at the top.” A cameraman breaks off and goes with her, so I feel pretty good about letting her go.
Wren and Raven are the next pair of hikers. I wait for them. They’re laughing at a joke Wren just made when I fall into step with them.
Raven looks me up and down. “Okay, I just have to say. Those are some serious hiking boots you’ve got on.”
I glance at my black boots and laugh. “They’re pretty metal. They’re for more serious hiking than this, but it’s what I had.”
“I thought for a second you were turning goth like me. You know I love a goth boy.”
Wren snorts and I laugh.
Divya seems unbothered by the exercise, but when a bee buzzes near her head, she screams and shoos it away frantically.
“Are you crazy? Don’t do that,” Wren says. “That probably makes it more interested in you.”
“For sure,” I add.
“Nobody told me I’d be going on hikes into the wilderness for a man,” Divya says primly. “Especially a man that hasn’t even kissed me.” She arches a brow and crosses her arms.
I shrug and smile. “So sorry to bother you, my lady. Dost thou needeth a piggyback ride?”
Divya shoots me a glare. “Hardly,” she says.
I turn my head to look at Wren, who’s fallen a bit behind. She’s making it all right, but she’s sweaty. The boots she’s wearing look like something Gene Simmons would wear onstage.
“What’s up, Buttercup?” I ask gently.
She looks off into the woods and screws up her face. “Nothing is up.”
“No?”
She looks at me, then at the camera, then back at me. “No,” she says heavily.
That gets my mind working. Obviously, there are some things she wants to say, but won’t. Not with the cameras on her. That’s more than fair.
But that doesn’t stop me from trying to figure out what she’s thinking.
I hike ahead as the trail starts to incline more. She’s flushed, breathing a little heavier than usual. When we hit the switchback, she slows down a lot. I pause and let her catch up a few times before she shoots me a crabby look.
“You don’t have to stop for me,” she mutters.
“We’re on a date. A group date, sure, but still a date. If I don’t stop for you, then I’ll just hike this whole trail alone. Not really interested in that.”
She juts her chin. “You could just go a little faster. Catch up with Divya and Raven.”
“But I don’t want to. I want to stay here and talk to you.”
Wren purses her lips. When the trail hits another steep switchback, she stops and stares up the slope like she’s not so sure about it.
I grab my Nalgene from my backpack and unscrew the cap before handing it to her.
She blinks at me like I’ve just offered her a kidney. “You need water,” I say. “You’re not looking very good.”
For a second, I think she’s going to fight me on it. But then she surprises me. She takes the bottle and drinks slowly, her throat moving, lashes fluttering slightly.
I swallow. Why is that attractive? I don’t know.
When she finishes, she hands it back. “Thanks,” she says.
“So, what do you think about hiking in general?”
“I think it sucks. I’m sorry that this is one of your favorite activities, but it gets a zero out of ten from me.”
“Even if you get to spend the afternoon with me?” I ask quietly.
That pulls a smile from her. She grunts. “You’re the worst. The actual worst.”
There’s no bite to her words. I walk beside her again, matching her slower pace.
She doesn’t push me away. She just mutters something about pine needles and toe blisters. As we start to climb a steeper incline, the shade stretches long overhead.
“You okay?” I ask.
She gives me a little look. “I’m okay. I don’t need you to check on me.”
“That’s just what I do. I like to make sure my girls are okay.”
“Your girls, huh? Is that what I am?”
I shrug. “Maybe you could be.”
She narrows her eyes at me. I think she’s about to let me have it. But before she can, someone shouts from the trail below us.
I can’t see anyone, but whoever it is sounds close. I turn and start back down the trail.
Around the next switchback, I find Letitia and Mei trying to help Nikki stand. One of the producers is whipping a cameraman into place, but I bark out, “Are you serious? You guys aren’t helping her? Come on, this is a medical emergency!”
Nikki’s knees give out and she crumples, dragging Mei down with her.
I call out, “Rich! Get Divya! We need a doctor!”
Wren passes me and kneels beside Nikki, who is flat on the ground now. She feels Nikki’s forehead and tries to talk to her.
Nikki’s eyes flutter open. She responds, but I can’t hear what she says.
Before I can issue another command, Divya comes barreling down the trail. She pushes past me and takes over.
“Okay, move aside. Let me see her.”
She all but pushes Mei out of the way and kneels down, checking Nikki’s pulse and talking to her a little. Wren gets a bottle of water out of her backpack and hands it to Nikki, but Nikki doesn’t seem to be aware of it. Wren tries to coax her into taking a drink.
Divya looks around, then locks eyes with me. “We need to call for medics. Now.”
I turn my head. One of the PAs waves at me. “I’m already on the phone with them.”
“Can we move her down to the trailhead?” he asks Divya.
Divya looks around and then nods. “I think so. Could two of you come in and take her arms and help her walk? There isn’t anything obviously wrong with her, but she’s extremely tired. Maybe dehydrated, maybe a little low blood sugar. Her pulse is very fast.”
Two contestants take Nikki by the arms and start guiding her down the trail.
JacqLyn and Daisy fall in line behind. I hang back as we start to follow her down the mountain. The cameras are rolling, but most of the group is silent as we descend.
Down at the bottom, the paramedics are already there. They’re closing up the back of their truck, ready to take Nikki to the emergency room.
Divya goes with them, her lips pressed into a thin line. I have to give it to her. She held it together really well today. Didn’t lose her shit for a second.
That’s the closest she’s come to knocking my socks off.
There’s a picnic set up for us on the other side of the parking lot, but I’m not feeling it anymore. I find Rich and apologize but firmly tell him the date and the shooting are over for the day. He doesn’t like it, but he eventually concedes, giving the orders to pack it all in.
On the ride back, Wren sits beside me and stares out the window. It’s nearly impossible for me not to brush her pinky with mine.
I swallow. Who am I becoming? Where did the cocky hockey player go?
I wish like anything that Wren didn’t make me feel so damned needy.