Page 39 of Hero on the Road
“This,” he said coldly, “is really not the time, Olivia. What do we do?”
“Weren’t you in the Boy Scouts or something? Didn’t they teach you what to do if a bear invaded your campsite?”
“If they did, I was sick that day. Stop making jokes. All day you’re the most serious person in the world andnowyou want to make jokes? Do I have to have a bear riding around with us in the van to bring this side out in you?”
The corner of my mouth twitched and that insane urge to laugh came back. “Now who’s making jokes? Focus, Connor!”
“You’re one to talk!”
He shouted that last part, and that was a mistake because the bear, which had been ignoring us in favor of a bag of chips—evidently bearsdideat chips—suddenly whirled on us, its tiny eyes going from Connor to me and back again.
Oh. My. God.
When the bear jumped toward us Ididscream, and Connor and I turned and ran, racing for the front of the van to put something between us and the enormous beast. But it chased us, of course, letting out alarming growls as it ran, and this just made me want to scream even more. Connor grabbed my hand and increased his pace, pulling me along behind him so my strides felt more like flying, and I tried desperately to get my brain to work. What were we supposed to do, here? Why was the bear chasing us in the first place? Presumably it thought we had more food. Or maybe it was just angry that we’d interrupted its meal.
That didn’t matter, I told myself, struggling for breath as Connor towed me along. The thing was bigger than us and faster, and I had a bad feeling we were going to get tired before it did. We needed to get to someplace safe, and we were far enough from every other campsite that we couldn’t exactly go to anyone else for help. We only had ourselves to depend on. Just Connor and me.
And the van.
Oh my God, the van.
“Get in the van!” I shouted.
“But the food!” Connor replied.
“What are you, stupid? We can buy more food! Get in the van! The bear can’t open doors!”
“Right!”
When we rounded the back, Connor managed to grab the handle and open the door, turning and slinging me into the back like I was a stuffed animal. He jumped in after me and slammed the door, then ran for the driver’s seat. The keys were still in the ignition and he turned them quickly while I threw myself into the passenger’s seat.
Outside, the bear had realized where we’d gone and was banging on the side of the van like he was going to tear right through the metal and get inside.
And I was screeching. I heard myself and knew how obnoxious it was. I also knew that it wasn’t going to do any good. But I couldn’t seem to stop myself. My body had become unhinged from my brain and was acting of its own accord.
Connor, meanwhile, had started the engine, giving the van the amount of gas it needed to get started—which I had yet to perfect—and thrown the vehicle into drive. “Let’s get out of here,” he muttered.
“Less talking, more driving!” I shouted. “Or that bear is going to open this van like a can of tuna.”
Connor barked out a laugh, jammed his foot on the gas, and took us skidding out of the parking lot and away from the bear. We left the cooler and the food. The bear could have those.
The van flew onto the road and toward the main highway, the trees blurring as we got the hell out of there. Connor didn’t stop until we hit the gas station fifteen miles away, and when he pulled over and looked at me, he had the start of an insane smile blooming on his face.
“Think we stayed hidden long enough to throw the press off?”
“I don’t even care,” I replied. “Take me back to civilization, Connor. We’ll deal with the fallout when we get there.”
Because if we could fight off a bear together, I was thinking the press—and the label, and their rules—would be no problem.
CHAPTER23
Colin
Guys. For a full day, I thought Olivia Johns and Connor Wheating had deserted us.
In my last post I talked about that show in the bar and how the two of them went into the same bedroom that night, and you might remember that I was heartbroken because I had to admit that Olivia might have feelings for Connor.
I also told you that my blog had been picked up my a pretty big magazine, with the first publication coming out the next day. Yesterday, to be exact.
