Chapter Twenty-Four
Somehow I made it to the Echo Canyon Trailhead within twenty minutes.
There were more cars in the parking lot than I was anticipating for a holiday morning, but thankfully I managed to locate Alex’s SUV easily.
After parking mine next to it, I stashed my water bottle and cell phone in my utility pack, tied my hair in a ponytail, threw on a U of A ball cap, and set off up the trail in search of Alex.
The first quarter of a mile passed quickly until I hit a queue of hikers at a steep incline littered with rocks and boulders.
Suppressing my annoyance at the hikers who maneuvered and scrambled over the terrain—I hated walking, driving, or doing anything at someone else’s pace—I sucked air through my teeth and searched the faces of the people in front of me.
Alex was not among them, but then I didn’t expect him to be, considering he had arrived much earlier than I had.
I figured my best bet was to catch him on his way back down the mountain.
That knowledge gave me a bit of comfort.
Still, another fifteen minutes ticked by with me being trapped behind a group of slower-paced hikers, and anytime I attempted to pass them on the left, hikers heading down the mountain blocked the path.
“This is why you can never climb Mt. Everest,” I grumbled under my breath.
I needed to stay calm. Alex would have to pass me at some point on the trail, whether I was stuck behind these slow-ass hikers or not.
My anxiety, however, was urging me to walk faster, desperate for the burn in my muscles that would crowd out the worry.
Everything was a bit more manageable after a good workout.
After a handful of minutes, I needed a break.
Traffic on the Echo Canyon Trail was to be expected in the winter months, but this was ridiculous.
Stepping to the side of a shallow outcropping, I pulled my water bottle from my pack and took a guzzle.
Other hikers passed with nods, but I wanted to create some distance between me and the slower hikers who were testing my sanity.
A wave of nausea abruptly crashed over me, and I was reminded that I had been out drinking and dancing the night before. What a terrible New Year’s Day this was turning out to be.
Eventually, I stored my water and struck out again on the trail. I still hadn’t seen Alex, but he had to be up here somewhere.
I timed my pace to correspond with a pair of hikers in front of me.
They were young, perhaps Arizona State co-eds, and their rhythm was neither too fast nor too slow, and my anxiety settled into a gentle simmer instead of a rolling boil.
I kept a respectable distance behind them, but when one of the women needed to tie her shoelace, she stepped off the trail to allow me to pass.
“Thank you,” I murmured, moving around them when a distinct sound reverberated through the air. The unmistakable rattle made the blood freeze in my veins.
A rattlesnake was close by.
“Everyone stay absolutely still,” I ordered, my gaze darting about while I tried to find the snake’s location. From my periphery, I noticed other hikers stumbling to a halt a distance away.
And that’s when I saw it. It was coiled beneath a collection of rocks and boulders only feet from the hiker who had stopped to tie her shoe. Rattlesnakes could jump up to half their body length, and based on this one’s thick coils, he was probably massive. My stomach dropped.
“Do you see him?” I asked the hiker, gesturing to the rattler with my chin.
She nodded, her green eyes owlish and her hands shaking.
I glanced around, looking for something to prod the snake with to encourage it to move along, when I spied a piece of broken mesquite branch on the ground not far from me.
“Continue to hold still,” I murmured as I slowly reached for the branch. The snake’s rattling didn’t pitch louder, which I considered a good thing.
“A ranger’s been called,” someone yelled from farther up the trail, and I nodded in acknowledgment.
However, the snake was too close to the young woman, and we couldn’t wait for the ranger to get here.
Gripping the branch, I lowered my voice to say, “I’m going to use this to encourage the snake to go away.
You probably just caught him off guard and he’s trying to defend himself, but I want to make the effort more than it’s worth for him.
So once I start getting closer with the branch, I want you to back away as carefully as you can. ”
She nodded, but only slightly.
Taking a moment to crack my neck, I took a small step toward the snake, branch extended from my body.
Then I took another. The snake’s rattling intensified, and its coils loosened as it raised its head in my direction.
I didn’t dare look away, my heartbeat syncing with the staccato of its rattle.
From the corner of my eye, I saw the hiker stumble away.
Now it was just me and the snake, and he looked pissed.
I couldn’t blame him, really. He’d probably ventured out from his burrow to bask in the winter sunshine and then encountered a whole host of slow-moving hikers, just like I had.
And I didn’t have a tail to rattle. Biting my lip, I pondered if I should wait for the ranger to arrive and capture the snake, but thought better of it.
Who knew how long the ranger would take, and until they arrived, the trail was at a standstill.
Perhaps it would be best if I continued to urge this big fella along, especially with him so close to the path.
So I took another step toward him, brandishing the tree branch. I tried not to be intimidated as I slowly moved within reach of a jump strike.
“Holy shit, Sofia, what are you doing?”
Of course Alex would appear now that I was doing my best impression of Steve Irwin.
I tried to ignore him—and the scared note in his voice—and scraped the branch along the scree a foot in front of the snake. In response, it uncoiled more, raising its muscular body farther off the ground.
The crowd gasped in unison.
Holding myself as still as possible, I scratched the stick in the dirt again…and the snake turned and slithered quickly away into the rocks, cacti, and shrubs behind it.
A great breath rushed from my lungs, and I sagged with relief while a cheer from the other hikers went up behind me. I tossed aside the branch as the two women hikers turned to thank me with big smiles, when a familiar pair of arms wrapped around me from behind, clutching me to a firm chest.
“God damn it, Sofia, what were you thinking?” Alex demanded, putting me on my feet and spinning me around by the shoulders. “Why didn’t you wait for the ranger? You could have been bitten.”
“But I wasn’t.” I patted Alex on the chest. “And now people can safely continue their hike.”
“My God, you’re the most stubborn woman I know.” He gripped my chin, his thumb moving across my cheek in a way that made me think I had dirt on my face. “Can you ever just let people help you?”
It was clear Alex was talking about a lot more than just the snake.
People passed us as they continued their hikes, casting us curious glances, and it made me aware we had an audience.
I straightened my spine. “May I head back down with you?”
Alex narrowed his eyes. “Are you going to taunt more dangerous wildlife?”
Pretending to consider it, I lifted a shoulder. “I suppose that depends on if you say yes or no.”
Alex stared at me for a long moment and finally extended a hand toward the trail. We walked in silence, navigating the terrain without saying a word. It was the longest thirty minutes of my life.
When we arrived at the trailhead, Alex opened the passenger-side door of his SUV and gestured for me to get inside. He slid behind the steering wheel seconds later, and we once again settled into silence.
I despised how uncomfortable I felt with Alex now, when being together had always been so effortless.
“Sofia,” he said suddenly, staring out through the windshield, “I need you to help me understand why you thought Caitlin and I were dating.”
Clenching my eyes closed, I tried to think of how I could explain my thought process without sounding like an idiot.
How could I tell him that I’d never met a man who was interested in me when Caitlin was right there?
It all seemed so dumb now, especially after my earlier discussion with my best friend.
But because Alex deserved the truth, I told him.
“I didn’t think it was possible that someone like you, successful and ambitious, would want me, unemployed and stagnant, when you could have someone amazing like Caitlin. And that nugget of self-doubt made it easy for me to unknowingly skew what I saw and heard to support that idea.”
“Ay, you beautiful, infuriating woman.” Alex snatched off his sunglasses and rubbed the heels of his palms into his eyes.
“I’ve been twisted up in knots over you since we met at that restaurant.
No, before that. Since I saw your first goddamn TikTok and felt like someone reached inside my chest to snatch my heart out. ”
My mouth fell open as I stared at him, wide-eyed.
Alex raked a hand through his hair. “I never dreamed we would have an opportunity to meet, and, miraculously, there you were at that table, waiting for Caitlin and me. I couldn’t believe it.
But then you acted like you didn’t know me and I…
followed your lead. I didn’t want to make things hard for you, especially when it became clear no one knew about your social media persona.
So I’ve just tried to be your friend even though I’ve wanted more. I’ve always wanted more.”
Surprise made it hard for me to breathe.
“There were times,” he continued, “when I thought you might be interested in me, too. Expressions I would catch on your face when you looked at me. But then you would pull away, and I convinced myself I had imagined them.”
“I was more than interested,” I breathed.
He clenched his eyes closed and lowered his head to the steering wheel.
“God, you have to know that I’ve never cheated on a partner.
I’ve never wanted to. So for you to think I would be capable of doing something like that really hurt.
Was everything that happened between us just a bit of fun?
Did nothing we shared mean anything to you? ”
I could barely speak around the sobs scouring my throat.
“What we shared meant the world to me. Every moment I was with you, especially this last week, has been…magical.” My hands curled into tight fists.
“And I hated myself for it. I loathed myself for experiencing so much happiness with a man I didn’t think I’d ever be able to have. ”
“Why didn’t you just ask me?” Alex shook his head. “We would have saved ourselves so much torment.”
A tear slid down my cheek, falling onto my hand. “Because…because if I asked you, there was a chance you wouldn’t choose me. I’m a selfish person, and I was willing to steal any moment I could with you until you decided you didn’t want me anymore.”
With a move that startled me, Alex threw open his door and climbed out, stalking to my door and wrenching it open. Grasping my arm, he pulled me out, crowding me back against the side of his SUV.
“The stars would fall from the sky and the ocean waters would rise to swallow everything on Earth before I would not want you.” He cradled my face in his hands as his gaze searched mine.
“I would choose you in this lifetime and the next because you have become my home. You, Sofia Mendoza. I’m in love with you. ”
A sob tore free from my throat, and I clamped my eyes closed as my cries shook my frame. Alex gathered me against his chest, one hand smoothing up and down my back, while the other stroked over my hair. When he pressed a kiss to the top of my head, I cried harder.
“If you let me, I would spend the rest of my life proving to you how much I love you.” He nuzzled my temple. “Will you let me?”
I glanced up at him through my tears and nodded. “I love you, too. So fucking much.”
Alex rolled his lips together and closed his eyes, dropping his head to rest on mine as he held me tighter.
“I’m sorry I made things so hard,” I whispered against his chest. “If I had just been brave enough to speak with you, to tell you how I felt, I could have saved us so much heartache. We’ve wasted so much time.”
“No, we haven’t. These last six months have been a gift, even when we were just friends.” Alex lifted his head up and pulled back to meet my eyes. “And now we can start the new year with no more misunderstandings between us.”
“No more misunderstandings.” I inhaled a giant breath and released it. “I love you, User Number guy.”
His dimple cut deep into his cheek with his grin. “And I love you, SLikeTheSun. God, and now that I’ve said it, I’m never going to stop. Watch out.”
Linking my arms around his neck, I stepped onto my toes to bring my lips to his. “I’m ready. I’ve always been ready.”