Page 27 of Fight

Reading her mind, Morgan leaned toward her and dramatically stage whispered behind her hand. “You should probably get back over there and rescue Jake. I don’t think he likes your friend.”

Lena sighed. “I don’t think so either.” As she rose off the bench, she couldn’t help but notice that Sadie was giving her the stink eye from where she sat next to Morgan. She was definitely getting weird vibes from that girl.What’s that all about?

Proving to herself that she didn’t care about some girl who didn’t like her, Lena smoothly walked around the table, wine glass in hand. She smiled at Jake warmly as he scooted down the bench so that she was on the end of it now.

“Thanks,” she said sweetly. With a couple glasses of wine in her system, Lena was feeling pretty good. And Jake. Jake waslookingreally good. She smiled over at him in a way her inner, more sober voice decreed was pathetic and worshipful.

But a-couple-glasses-of-wine Lena didn’t give a damn about what that Lena thought. She could feel heat radiating from his body where he sat next to her. A woodsy, manly scent emanated from him.

And Jesus H. Christ, the man could really pull off an old t-shirt, that was for sure. She watched the way his shoulders and back flexed as he leaned forward to energetically talk with Duke. He still needed a haircut and his dark blond hair curled boyishly over the nape of his neck and his ears. She wanted to lean over and rub her face all over his neck. Maybe drag her teeth over his skin.

It was interesting to watch him sitting across from Daniel, who, as with every other time Lena had seen him, looked sleek and well put together. He was wearing a pair of skinny black jeans, and a thick white t-shirt. His blond hair was cut short on the sides, and long and gelled on top. He was exactly the kind of guy she'd always dated. Guys she met at art galleries, concerts, and painting classes.

While he had been fine to talk to on the plane, she didn’t get the same butterflies from him as she did from Jake's rugged, unpolished look. The fact that Jake looked so good without any discernible effort put into it made the final product all the more appealing to her.

She looked up at Daniel, continuing to consider him, and he looked over from listening to Jake and Duke to make eye contact with her.

He gave her a soft smile, which Lena returned.He’s a nice guy, really. Then he ruined the nice, friendly moment when he winked at her again. Lena visibly recoiled.Ugh.Please, Daniel. Stop doing that to people.She quickly shifted her eyes down the table to Jake and Duke's conversation looking for a distraction.

Jake and Duke seemed to be recapping a hike they had taken last fall up to Mt. Dalak, the tallest mountain in the Lake Conrad skyline.

“And this guy.” Duke yanked his thumb toward Jake. “He’s a damn machine. Stopping to have a beer or take a break was out of the question.”

Jake laughed and leaned back against the wall as he rested his hands on his flat stomach. Lena sipped her wine and watched his hands.Oh, to be a hand upon those abs.

“I just figure if you’re going to climb a mountain like Dalak, it should be to push your body to its limits, not to lollygag down a path.”Jake chuckled as he took a deep drink from his beer and spread his arms behind him so that his right arm rested lightly above her shoulder.

Wait a minute. She’d heard those words from him before. Lena didn’t catch Duke's response to that as she looked up from Jake's sexy stomach with a start. She furrowed her brows as she watched his face relax into a laugh. “If you can’t hack it, Duke, it’s not my problem.”

Everyone laughed then. “You’re so hardcore, Jake.” Sadie shot Jake a sultry smile. “I agree with you. What’s the point of doing something if it doesn’t hurt?”

“Exactly, Sadie!” He moved his arms from the back of the bench, and raised his glass to clink with Sadie's. She looked like the cat that got the canary when she took a sip of her beer. Lena rolled her eyes as something sparked inside of her. This was all too terribly familiar. Suddenly, a slideshow of Hell Hike played in her brain.

Jake ridiculing her shoes.

Jake shouting at her to move her ass when he deemed she was walking too slowly.

Jake rolling his eyes when she’d stopped to admire a particularly lovely view.

Jake sneering as she and Annie had cuddled up to share Annie’s sleeping bag.

Jake's an asshole.

In getting so distracted by his sexiness, she’d forgotten how much this person seemingly hated her. He hated everything about her. He didn’t love anything she loved. He'd proven that. Why had she forgotten? Oh yeah, because he bought her a bottle of wine and treated her like a human being a handful of times.And because he's nice to look at. You shallow, bitch, she scolded herself.

She couldn’t keep her mouth closed any longer. “Maybe it’s not so bad to stop and enjoy the scenery. Not everything has to be an exercise of endurance or adrenaline or whatever. Sometimes it’s a matter of enjoying the beauty nature has to offer.”

“Hmm, mother nature's blessing,” drunk, earth-mother Annie murmured obliviously as she rested her face on her hand. Lena rolled her eyes at Annie while Ian smirked down at her good-humoredly.

Everyone else looked up at Lena’s outburst like she had burst into flames.

“Look, I’m not saying I don’t appreciate where I am and what I’m looking at. I just want to physically get something out of it.” Jake seemed to realize that he’d struck a nerve with Lena and was quickly trying to repair the situation. “Anyway, we all know how Duke wants to ‘enjoy’ nature. He just wants to drink and piss beer all over it.”

Everyone at the table laughed as Morgan raised her hand to give Duke a high five. “That’s my boy!” she yelled.

Gross. Lena cringed, most definitelynotlaughing. “I think Duke should be allowed to hike, enjoy nature, or exercise however he wants to. And so should I. Maybe I’ll hike Mt. Dalak on my next weekend off. I think I have Thursday and Friday off this week. I’ll bring my art supplies.”

“Oh Leeny.” Annie reached down the table. “Why don’t we take the gondola up to the observation area on top of Dalak? You can paint from up there. We can get you some Dramamine for the ride.”

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