Page 60 of Bound By Earth (The Nature Hunters Academy 1)

“Because it makes me glow?” she asked, sidestepping a small box turtle she had seen him stepover.

“It lights you up from the insideout.”

“How do you know? You’ve been in front of me the whole time,” she pointedout.

“There are other eyes and ears in the forest,” he said cryptically. “The wood nymphs are besotted withyou.”

Tara’s mouth dropped open and then snapped shut as she saw a fly buzz by. Had she heard him right? Had he said wood nymphs? Surely not. She inwardly groaned, only it didn’t stay inward as it came flowing right out ofher mouth. “Ahh damn. I knew you were too good to be true. Too handsome, too British,too,”

“Too British?” he asked as he crested the spot across from the waterfall. “I wasn’t aware that one could be tooBritish.”

She’d continued talking as if he hadn’t said a word. “There were so many red flags. Soooooo. Maaaany.” She moaned and threw her hands up in the air. “How could I be so damnblind?”

“I’m sorry, luv, but I’m not following. What are you going onabout?”

“You!” She snapped as she walked up to him and poked him in the chest with her finger. “I’m talking about you. You’re off your trolley. Isn’t that what you Brits say when someone is batshitcrazy?”

To her surprise, instead of getting angry at being called a raging lunatic, he laughed. Which only solidified in Tara’s mind that she was right. “Why is thatfunny?”

“You thought I was being serious about the wood nymphs?” He spread his arms wide as he grinned at her.Like a crazy person. That’s definitely a crazy person’sgrin.

“You sounded very serious and completelyrational.”

His arms dropped to his sides at the same time his grin fell. “How can I be crazy if I soundedrational?”

“The truly crazy people, like the ones with seriously misfiring synapses, alwayssoundrational about whatever it is they’re talking about, even if it’s barking mad. Because they truly believe in whatever the barking mad thing is.” She crossed her arms in front of her and shifted her weight to her rightleg.

“So because I sounded like I believed wood nymphs were real, that makes me off my trolley,” he asked as if what she said was difficult tounderstand.

“Exactly.”

“You seem happy that I’m understanding your explanation of why you think I’mcrazy.”

Her face quickly fell into a frown. “Of course, I’m not happy. I didn’t want you to be crazy. No girl wants the first guy she’s ever been attracted to … to be anutter.”

“The first guy?” His brow rose ininterest.

Dammit! Had she seriously said that out loud? Yes. Yes she had. Apparently, his type of crazy was like Shelly’s type of crazy—contagious. He was infecting her with his wood-nymph madness, and she was wordvomiting.

“This year,” she said quickly. “First guy this year. I left that partout.”

“Riiiight,” he said drawing out the word. “How about we drink some water while we work through my alleged madness and your lack of attraction for any male besides myself.” He reached into the backpack he’d been carrying and pulled out a bottle of water.He held it out to her, and Tara took it, making sure their skin didn’t touch. Just breathing the same air as Elias had obviously fried some brain cells. There was no telling what touching him would do. He didn’t miss her avoidance and winked at her. Stupid, handsome, crazyass.

When she’d had enough, Tara handed the bottle back to him and then hunted for a rock to rest on. He might be crazy, but she didn’t think Elias would hurt her. There was no reason not to enjoy being out in the woods, surrounded by the sight and scents of nature.Just as she was about to plant her rear end down, her phone chimed. She pulled it from her back pocket and saw that it was a text fromShelly.

What are you doing?I’m bored. That means come entertainme.

Tara shookher head and rolled hereyes.

“Everything all right?” Eliasasked.

She nodded. “Yes, just my lunatic best friend. She’s a different brand of crazy than you,” she said as she texted Shellyback.

Can’t entertain you.I’m hiking … withElias.

“Five, four, three, two, one.”Tara counted under her breath and chuckled when her phone chimed as she said “One.”

WHAT!Is that a euphemism for something NOT like hiking atall?

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