Page 4 of Brock
“Not as much as I should,” he admits. A few more moments pass, and then he stops the truck. “Come on, we’re here.”
I get out. We walk the rest of the way along a thin, shadowy path. Trees and bushes on either side of us. The faint sound of animals scurrying along the forest floor. Our feet crunching on the leaves and the twigs and the dirt. Normally I might be scared, but with Brock, I know I’m in no danger.
“Just in time.”
I look around me. My breathing is slightly labored from the uphill walk. Thick clouds of condensation bellow from my mouth like I’m smoking a cigar. It’s cold up here in the mountains. Cold and beautiful.
“Wow.”
I try to think of something better to say, but I’m literally lost for words.
Brock just smiles at me. “I know what you mean.”
I loop my arm around his and lean my head on his bicep. I probably shouldn’t. But it feels so natural. To be up here. With him. Alone. Watching the huge orange orb rising from behind massive, prehistoric peaks.
By the time it’s in the sky, I’ve made up my mind.
No way am I going to let my production company come up here and ruin this spectacular spot, even if it means losing my job.
“That’s it,” Brock says, letting out a deep breath. “Pretty good, huh?”
“Amazing.”
“You wanna see some more?” he asks. “Or do you have to get back to the city?”
“I’d love to see some more,” I say. “ No point rushing back to work… not anymore.”
4
Brock
The rest of the morning, Layla and I walk around my land. I was expecting the big sales pitch, but it never happens. She just stays close. Never complaining. Taking in the sheer beauty of our surroundings.
Every time I look at her, my heart throbs and my cock hardens. She’s so fucking beautiful.
But it’s been a long time since I’ve been with a woman. A long time since I’vewantedto be with a woman.
It’s one of the reasons I decided to come up here to the mountains.
I’d been living the fast life. Women. Drink. Drugs. I thought I was invincible.
Then I settled down. Fell in love. Thought I had the rest of my life mapped out in front of me.
But all that was taken from me. In the blink of an eye. I’ve never been the same since.
I couldn’t bear to see other happy couples. A constant reminder of the bliss I’d once felt. Of the woman I’d woken up to every morning, who’d decided to run out to the seven eleven in the middle of the night for a tub of chocolate chip ice cream and been gunned down by a stickup man in a senseless moment of extraordinary violence.
But being with Layla, it’s reminded me of the things I’m missing out on.
That, maybe I’m not living my best life.
That Mellissa, the woman I married, would want me to be happy. And maybe I’ve spent long enough mourning by myself in my cabin of solitude.
After a few hours of trekking, Layla says to me. “I wouldn’t mind something to eat.”
“You wanna head back into town?” I ask. “Or we can go to my cabin? I can cook us something nice.”
“I want to go to your cabin, Brock,” she says. “I want to see how you live.”
