Page 7 of The Edge of Never

I swallowed hard, adjusted my glasses, and turned my gaze away from him to find the group gathering up their packs. People often told me I should wear contacts, but I found them uncomfortable, so I stuck with my glasses.

We weren’t going to summit a mountain today, but we were going out to test our newly acquired winter skills. That meant going off the beaten track. Although I’d done hillwalking before, I had only been as far as the Lake District to go up Scafell Pike. That had been four years ago. I hadn’t had a chance to summit any mountains since, but I liked to keep fit all the same. I hadn’t done any winter walking, hence the need to go on this course. And to get as far away as possible from the mess that was my life.

I filed outside with the rest of the group. Thane kept silent behind me as we set off from the lodge along a track that led into the hills. I should’ve asked him what was going on, but the annoyed look on his face kept me silent.

The walk was fine for the first half an hour. I shifted my pack on my shoulders. It wasn’t digging in anywhere, but I wasn’t used to the weight of it yet.

“Did ye pack that right?”

I almost jumped out of my skin at the sound of a voice behind me. My head turned, catching Thane’s irritated expression.

“What do you mean? And also, can you maybe not scare the shit out of me?”

“Yer backpack, did ye pack it right?”

Ignoring the scaring me part, I see. Maybe you wanted to scare me. That’s kind of fucked up, so maybe not. Who fucking knows with this guy!

“Of course I did. What kind of a question is that?”

“Am just checking.”

I rolled my eyes and stomped off behind the rest of the group. As if I didn’t know how to pack my stuff and distribute the weight just right.

It took all of two minutes for me to seethe over his words before I stopped abruptly and spun around.

“Why do you care if I packed it right?”

Thane stopped, looked me over, and cocked his head to the side.

“Did ye no hear me tell ye that ye’re with me today?”

“I did, but you didn’t explain what that means.”

He crossed his ridiculously muscly arms over his chest.

Hold on, what am I thinking? Ridiculously muscly? Someone stop my brain from conjuring up such imagery.

“Am looking after ye.”

I had to take a second to replay his words inside my head before I could process what he said.

“I do not need looking after.”

The way he smirked irritated the hell out of me.

“If ye say so.”

“I do.”

He dropped his arms and continued walking.

“If ye have a problem with it, take it up with Callan,” he threw over his shoulder.

I clenched my jaw shut before it hung open in shock and made me look like a gawking idiot. My gloved hands balled into fists. I came on this trip to get away from bullshit and here I was, landed with a stupidly hot guy who thought he knew better than me.

He’s not hot, brain. Look at that hair. Who does he think he is? I mean, the braids are nice, I suppose, and I have always had a thing for red hair, but that doesn’t make him hot.

Cursing the world under my breath, I followed the smug bastard. Just because I fell over yesterday, it didn’t mean I was incapable of staying upright and mastering the skills on this course. I would show him I didn’t need a babysitter. And what had he meant about taking it up with Callan? Did he tell Thane to watch over me? I was the only single person on the trip, but I still didn’t need an extra helping hand. I was perfectly capable… wasn’t I?

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