Flock (The Ravenhood)

We’ve been off the beaten path of the specified trails at the mouth of the mountain for what seems like forever. Once we clear the next set of rocks, I marvel at our surroundings and my new back yard. I’ve spent weeks driving around the narrow roads and steep inclines of the mountains and not once thought about breaching the trees to see what’s inside. Fully submerged, I never expected to be so enamored by the tranquility, the cool air, the organic smell, or the sweat covering my skin. I look over to Sean with fresh eyes.

“You’ll make a mountain hippie out of me yet.”

“Let’s hope so.”

Somewhere between the time I saw him standing at his car this morning and the few hours we’ve spent on our hike, I’ve let a part of me I’ve kept locked away for years, my romantic heart, begin to hope. Sean’s made it far too easy to give it a reason to peek around the corner of the bitterness I’ve buried it behind. With every look, every touch, every easy exchange of words I feel that beckoning, letting me know it might be safe to come out and take a look around.

But we haven’t been in this long, whatever this is blooming between us. Even if Sean declared time our enemy, I’m all too aware that trust is fragile and can shatter in an instant. Time has told me it only takes seconds to be made a fool. In my short experience with men, I’ve been cheated on, lied to, and humiliated, and I have no intention of letting that happen again if I can help it. I don’t at all have a good track record with trusting my instincts when it comes to men. And after my last disaster, I promised myself I would be more cautious. The next man who wins my heart, my affection, will have to do a lot more to deserve it than offering pretty words and petty promises. Yet that promise I made to myself and my new determination for a temporary jailbreak don’t mesh well. Sean is one tempting apple in my celibate new garden. Physically, I want him. And it’s clear the feeling’s mutual. Maybe I shouldn’t think past that.

“What are you thinking?”

“Just glad I’m here.”

He gives me a side-eye. “I’m calling bullshit.”

“I haven’t…dated in a while.” I’m not sure it’s the right word to use.

He glances over at me. “And?”

“And it’s been a while, that’s all.”

“What happened with the last one?”

“You first,” I say as he steps over a fallen tree limb and easily lifts me to clear it.

“My last girl was Bianca. She was manipulative, so it didn’t last long.”

“Manipulative how?”

“She wanted to control me. I don’t do well with that. She wanted to manipulate my now, but I found myself trying to escape her more than I wanted to tolerate her. I ended it. Your turn.”

“He cheated on me in a club bathroom, on my eighteenth birthday.”

“Ouch.”

“Yeah, he was an asshole. To be fair, I was warned about him. My best friend Christy hated him, but I didn’t listen,” I give him a pointed look. “And I was warned about you too.”

He rolls his eyes. “I knew I should have gotten you earbuds.”

“Melinda sure does like to talk.”

“She only knows what she thinks she knows.”

A few more steps in and I pause at the sound filtering through the trees. “What is that?”

“Come on,” he guides me through another clearing of thick brush and around a corner. My jaw drops and my eyes widen when I see a waterfall looming a story above us, behind it sits a hollow cave, if it can be called that. The interior of it is completely visible behind the water, making it more of a nook.

“Oh my God, I’ve never seen one of these.”

“Pretty cool, huh?”

In minutes we’re standing behind it, the water flowing into a shallow pool at the bottom. I turn to see Sean setting down his pack, laying out a thick blanket.

“We’re picnicking behind a waterfall?”

“Cool, isn’t it?”

“So awesome.” I step back as he unpacks, refusing my help and eyeing the spread as he pulls out different containers. Cheese and crackers, granola bars, fruit. It’s simplistic, but the gesture alone sets my heart aflutter. He pulls out a few water bottles before stretching out a hand to me. It’s a dream, a living dream, this gorgeous man with sun-drenched skin and luminous eyes, reaching for me, along with the scene surrounding us. Resisting the urge to tackle him, I join him on the blanket a few rocks digging into my butt as I settle in at his side, drinking in the view.