Page 34 of Just One Season
I chuckle and glance over at the passenger seat. Lucy looks adorable in an oversized hoodie, jeans, and—I swear to god—brand new hiking boots.
It’s clear she’s not a hiker, just like she said.
“It’s right outside of town, cookie.”
“That one’s terrible.” Lucy groans.
We texted all yesterday evening, mostly discussing pet names for each other. I insisted that food related names are the funniest, but she decided on animal names.
“You’re right, it’s pretty awful.”
Prince Harry sits on her lap, tongue hanging out, gazing at me with a look that might be adoration. Or it’s his natural face, I’m not sure.
Ava would love this creature.
“Do you have layers on?” I put my car in reverse.
“Layers?” Lucy furrows her brow.
“It’s warmer than it looks out. There’s zero shade up at the topby Horsetooth Rock, so you’ll get hot.”
“Yes,Mom, I have a tank top on underneath my hoodie.”
I bite back a grin and pull out from in front of Atticus’s apartment building.
Atticus might not be pleased when I tell him, Harley, and Lachlan my plan when we hang out tonight. He might have been supportive of me fake dating someone, but his sister? Then again, he did tell me to be nice to her. Which I am.
“What’d you tell Atticus?” I turn at Colorado State University to drive along the straight road that’ll quickly lead us to the entrance to the Foothills Trail.
“Nothing. He’s still sleeping. Oh, that’s really pretty.”
I glance over, and Lucy’s gazing out the window at Horsetooth Mountain, which is a modest size mountain that towers over a large reservoir right next to the town of Fort Collins.
“We should talk about a few things.”
“We definitely should.”
“There’s a lot of wildlife in these mountains.” I give her a quick glance, and she’s staring at me intently. “This is a fairly busy trail, so we probably won’t run into any lions.”
“What.”
“Like snakes, bears, mountain lions.” I smirk but don’t turn my head.
“Lions??”
“Mountainlions. They’re about the most dangerous creature we’d encounter. But it’s very unlikely they’ll come near a crowded trail.” I turn into the parking lot and grab the first empty spot.
“What do we do if we see a mountain lion? Run?”
“God, no, woman, don’t run.” I rotate in my seat to face her. “They’ll take you down with one swipe.”
Lucy’s face drains of color. “Seriously?”
I reach over and gently tap underneath her jaw. She breathes in quietly, her eyes widening.
“Very unlikely.”
Prince Harry reaches up and licks me with a long, squishy tongue. I laugh and pull back. I open my door and hop out, resting a hand on the roof and leaning my head down into the car.
