Page 35 of Just One Season
“If we see a mountain lion, we face it directly. You get right next to me. We raise our hands and try to appear as big as possible, then make a lot of noise to show it we’re dominant. Then we slowly back away until we are very, very far from it.”
“Got it.” She nods solemnly.
“Oh, but make sure to grab Prince Harry. If he runs, the mountain lion would catch him in about two seconds flat.”
“Jeez,” Lucy mutters under her breath and ducks out of the car, gently placing Prince Harry on the ground with a quick pat to his head. She might be murmuring reassurances to him, probably about how she won’t let a mountain lion get him, but I can’t quite hear.
“Honestly. Don’t worry.”
“What kind of noise do we make?” She stands up straight.
“Roar and yell. Or growl like a bear.” I lock the car and wave her toward the entrance to the trail.
“Can you give me an example? Of the kind of roar you’re talking about?”
“Just a normal roar.”
“I really don’t know what that means. Like this?” Lucy makes a pathetic roaring sound.
“No,” I laugh. “Like this.” I make a much more impressive roar, but when I look back at her, she’s cracking up.
“You’re good at that.”
“Oh, shut up.” I bite back a grin. “Come on.”
Lucy walks by my side onto the trail, Prince Harry on his leash trotting happily beside her.
“There’s a nice waterfall and a lake that we’ll head toward. Should take about an hour and a half total, so fairly easy.”
Lucy stumbles on what appears to be dirt and reaches out for my arm, catching herself. She leaves her hand on my forearm for afew more seconds, and I glance down at her fingers on my sleeve, interested to see how much I like the feeling.
“Sorry.” She slides her hand off. “New boots.”
“I thought they looked too clean.” I sigh. “Wearing brand new boots on a hike isn’t a great idea. You should break them in first.”
“Too late now, I guess.” She shrugs.
“So, should we get started?” Fall leaves crunch under my (broken in) boots.
“With the media training?” Lucy looks at me innocently, and I raise my eyebrows back.
“Haha. With fake dating, peanut butter pie.” I can barely get the words out without chuckling.
“Now you’re just making me hungry.”
“Sorry.” I sneak another look at her. “After a night’s sleep, you still up for this? I would be okay if you wanted to back out.”
“No way.” Lucy shakes her head and crosses her arms, like she’s protecting her chest. Or her heart. “I don’t want to back out. I’m fully invested.”
“Great.”
“But we might have an HR problem.”
“Hmmm.”
“I remembered Lina making a comment about how the official team policy is that players and staffers shouldn’t date without HR permission.”
A pair of women pass us by, each with a big dog on a leash. Prince Harry goes nuts, and Lucy shushes him.
