Page 102 of The Falcon and the Foe

“It’s very difficult for me to be around you all day without kissing or touching you. You’re like a sexy can of Pringles,” Cal cooed in my ear, which despite the awkward analogy (and me preferring Frito’s), turned me on. “And you know what else I was thinking? I wish we could go skinny dipping in the pond.”

I suppressed a lust-filled groan. That sounded perfect.

“I need to do a Google search,” he kissed my neck. “Of all rivers and lakes and ponds in the Hudson Valley.” Again. “Where we can swim naked.” And again. Damn this was amazing. “And earn our water sex badges.”

“Do you always have sex on the brain?”

“Affirmative.”

I leaned down to reciprocate the exquisite torture that he’d ravaged upon my neck when he snapped back, all lust vanishing from his eyes.

“Did you hear that?” he whispered.

What?I mouthed until I heard the low rumble of a growl.

Not a sexy growl.

A bear growl.

Adrenaline pumped through my veins. Fight or flight was invented for this growl. We crept from our post to where we’d left the boys. It’d only been a minute that we left them to pee, but in that time, a bear had found them.

Two small boys were cowering in front of a big, hulking bear, eyes filled with terror.

“Oh, my God.” My heart sank. I was surging with adrenaline but unsure how to deploy.

“Russ, what do we do? We have to make noise, scare him away.” Cal’s face was a sheet of white.

“This is probably where he comes for water. He thinks we’re trespassers.”

“He wouldn’t hurt two innocent boys, right?”

I didn’t want to answer that. The bear couldn’t tell the difference.

Slowly, the boys sank to the ground to lay like helpless driftwood. It was exactly what we’d gone over in a past class. To the letter.

The bear sniffed around them. He scratched at the backpack looped around Quentin’s arms, ripping shreds into the fabric. He tugged a granola bar from the front pocket and spat it on the ground. His rumbling growl pounded in my ears.

“I have an idea.” Cal set a timer on his iPhone for ten seconds. “I was due for an upgrade anyway.”

I thought about Malcolm and that night. One minute I was watching TV, the next, a cop was at my door. Maybe this was the mercy of bad things, that they happened so fast. They didn’t drag out the torture. I wanted to wave my arms.Take me. Claw me to death. Wear my skin like a tuxedo. I don’t care.

The bear leaned down and sniffed at Josh’s leg. Each second dragged to hours.

Cal pulled me away with a forceful grip. Four seconds remained on his timer. He chucked the phone into the woods.

Beeps and chimes blared from a faraway thicket of trees. The bear turned to the woods, curiosity piqued.

“C’mon, you lumbering wannabe Baloo fuck,” Cal said under his breath.

Adrenaline made me see everything with crystal clarity. Yet, I didn’t exhale when the bear tramped into the woods to chase the noise. I was paralyzed, still processing what had happened, what was happening.

Cal scooped up Josh and Quentin into each arm. They shivered at his touch, tears quickly forming in their eyes. I stumbled out of the woods, creakily coming back to life. The sights and sounds of the outside world sped up to normal length. I joined the group hug, squeezing the boys so tight they squeaked for help.

“We’re okay. We’re okay,” Cal repeated in a soothing voice.

“Holy shit.”

I let Quentin get away with cursing. I couldn’t reprimand him. My mouth opened, but nothing came out.

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