Page 30 of Love Hazard

Her stomach rumbled.

Mine followed suit.

I let out a sigh and nodded toward the blue ice chest stillin the back. “At least we have some food and water. We just can’t go to ourholes.”

“Holes?” she repeated. “Ohhhh, theholes.”

“Hey, maybe we’ll get lucky, and he’ll find your giant moundof sand and get distracted enough for us to gather our things, find a hotel,lie to our dads, and tell them camping went great.”

Her laughter was all I needed. It filled the Jeep in a bigway—a way that had me genuinely smiling.

And then she frowned. “You have your phone? Keys andwallet?”

Where was she going with that? “I have my phone and mywallet, but the keys are at the campsite in my jeans.”

She nodded slowly, her eyes taking in the tent. “How muchdoes a tent like that cost?”

“Huh?”

“How much?” She smacked me on the shoulder. “Just answer thequestion.”

“Ouch!” I rubbed the spot and then shoved her head downwhile the bear looked over at us. “I don’t know. Like maybe eighty bucks?”

“And your clothes in that duffel bag over there?” Shepointed. “The chairs?”

I threw up a hand. “I mean, not alot. I didn’t bring a ton, and the chairs are old. Why are you asking about howmuch shit costs?”

“My purse is in here,” she said. “We basically haveeverything we need and can come back tomorrow, pack up the campsite, and makethe dads think we stayed one more night. If the campsite gets semi-destroyed,then we’ll just be honest. A bear attacked us because of our musk.”

“Musk? Because of our musk?”

“Yeah.” She was adorable with her dirty blond hair pulledback into a sad, traumatized ponytail. “We must have attracted it. You know,through hormones or something.”

“First musk and now hormones? I’m sorry, but are you havinga moment? Why would a bear be attracted to our musk? Now, the little hole you dug? Possibly. But musk? Nah, it probably wanted our food,and we’re in its territory.”

“Hormones, then.” She nodded with such finality that even Iwas almost convinced. “It could smell the estrogen.”

“Not the testosterone?”

“Meh.” She waved me off. “Probably not strong enough. You’dhave to be super horny, and I doubt bears do it for you.”

Immediately uncomfortable in my jeans, I cleared my throat.“Yeah, solid scientific point, because…science. And bears.” Why was I laughinglike a maniac? I nervously tugged at my sweatshirt. “Anyway, let’s just find away to grab the keys. We’ll drive to a nearby hotel, then come back and rescuewhat we can before going home. Nobody has to know.”

“Nobody has to know.” She nodded. “Okay. So you said thekeys are in your jeans from last night?”

I nodded. “Yup. Back pocket.”

Hazel looked down at the jeans I was wearing, then back up at me. “You changed in the tent last night?”

Goose bumps erupted down my arms. “They were uncomfortable,so I just wiggled”—poor choice of words—“into a newpair. So, yes, I changed in the tent. It’s not likeyou saw anything, peeping Tom. You were snoring mid-change.”

“You were naked. And I do not snore.”

“You probably attracted the bear even more,” I pointed out.“Now, let’s focus on what’s important: grabbing the keys and escaping. I sayyou provide a distraction. You know, make your body reallybig, get his attention. I’ll sprint to the tent, grab the jeans, and runback. By then, he’ll only be semi-hostile, and we can start the Jeep.”

Hazel frowned over at me andcrossed her arms. “So I’m bait?”

“But…” I leaned in and patted her on the knee. “Very nicebait. Attractive bait. Do you think the bear’s attracted to a person like me?”I made a face. “Gross, no, never. But you? Tall, beautiful, bold, and strong,almost like you were born to play the Disney princess from Brave. Thatwill throw him for a loop.”

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