Page 15 of Love Notes and Late Nights
“Duly noted,” Harris replied. He moved next to Wolf so they could share the phone. “It’s cool. Right?”
“Yeah. I like it.” Wolf stared at the photo, which was taken when they were both surfing the same wave a few feet apart. They each had one arm extended toward the other, hands almost touching.
“Send it to me,” Harris said, giving the phone back to Tyler.
“Me too.” A second later, Wolf’s phone dinged. He sat cross-legged in the sand, clicked open the text message from Tyler, and zoomed in on the image of Harris in the photo. He looked up at Harris, just to make sure it wasn’t the camera lens that made his friend look so attractive. But it wasn’t. Harris, standing there with the top of his wet suit peeled down to his waist and showing off an incredible upper body, held Wolf’s gaze captive.
Again, feeling Wolf’s gaze, Harris turned toward Wolf, and they made eye contact. Harris smiled, and a twinkle brightened the blue of his eyes, before he turned back to his conversation with Marshall.
Wolf, who was so taken by the sight in front of him, couldn’t do more than stare. He returned his eyes to the photo. Still transfixed, he couldn’t stop admiring how good Harris looked.
***
Surfing with the guys a few days ago seemed to clear Wolf’s head. It always did. One of the things he loved most about living high in the mountains was the hiking trails which offered him clarity and a chance to escape. They’d be leaving for the tour in about another week, and he wanted to try and free his mind of all negative thoughts before then. He’d been sleeping well and wanted it to stay that way so he didn’t scare the hell out of everyone on the bus with one of his nightmares.
The fresh mountain air filled his lungs with oxygen. He bent his leg at the knee, grabbed hold of his ankle, and stretched out his muscles, then did the same thing to his other leg. He picked up his backpack, slung it over his shoulder, and was about to jump on his Harley to ride to the entrance of the trail, when his phone signaled that someone entered his front gate. He expected it to be Ethan, but it was Harris, and he waited next to his bike for his friend to make it up the driveway.
“Did I catch you at a bad time?” Harris asked, pulling his Porsche to a stop.
“I was just about to head out for a hike. What’s up?”
“Nothing much. I was bored, so I thought I’d swing by.”
Taking a cruise in the middle of the night and showing up unexpectedly at Wolf’s door because of a bad feeling was one thing. Taking a spur-of-the-moment drive during the day with the horrendous LA traffic was something else. But Wolf appreciated the company so didn’t ask questions or make it a thing. “I was heading to Runyon. Do you want to join me?”
“Cool. Hop in. I’ll drive.”
Wolf grabbed a couple more bottles of water and an extra baseball cap for the hike and then climbed into the convertible. The wind took his hair on a roller coaster ride from hell. It was in his eyes, his mouth, and turning into one big knot. He found a hair tie in his backpack and twisted his hair into a bun at the back of his neck. He thought about putting the baseball cap on his head, but it would probably just fly away, especially since Harris was driving like he was racing in the Formula 1.
Wolf looked over at Harris. The guy’s hair handled the wind as if he were in a shampoo commercial. His thick waves bounced with body and volume, and time at the beach brought out his golden highlights. Lucky bastard.
Wolf ran his hands over the crown of his head to smooth down the flyaways. “I hate convertibles.”
Harris glanced at Wolf, then raised the windows which offered a bit of a reprieve from the wind. “Better?”
“A little.”
When they arrived at the entrance to the trail, Harris hesitated before getting out of the car. “There are a lot of people here. Do you think we should call security?”
“We’ll be fine. I got pepper spray.”
“Are you serious?”
“You never know when a mountain lion is going to follow you.”
“A mountain lion?”
Wolf smiled at the fear in Harris’ voice. “Just kidding. Sort of.”
Most people were locals who didn’t care if celebrities trotted by, and the tourists were too absorbed in the scenery to notice most of the time. The baseball caps which shielded them from the sun also added to the camouflage, so no one bothered them, and they hiked the easy trail making small talk.
After a while, Wolf decided to address something that was weighing on his mind. “Do you want to tell me the real reason you’ve just shown up at my house recently?”
“I didn’t know I had to call first.”
“You don’t, but it’s a ride to show up on a whim. If I’m not home and you gotta turn around and drive right back, it would suck. What’s going on?”
Harris slowed his pace and glanced at Wolf briefly. “I worry about you. After I saw that nightmare you had that night, I can’t stop thinking about it.”
