Anyone But Nick (Anyone But... #3) - Penelope Bloom Page 0,60

but on foot it was another story. The bushes and branches were thick, forcing us to push our bodies through scratchy tangles of leaves at times. Nick was taking the brunt of the abuse, because he was clearing the path, but I’d still managed to whack my head on a couple of branches. I’d even tripped over a tree root and fallen hard on my knee shortly after we’d left the clearing. I could still feel the dull throb.

The worst moment had come when a thick caterpillar had fallen from a tree branch onto my neck. I’d let out a bloodcurdling scream, fallen to the ground, and flailed uselessly around until Nick had picked it off my neck and laughed at me. Apparently, I was not suited for the forest life.

“A little,” I said. “I’ll admit, I was picturing more like a nice nighttime hike through the forest. I guess it turns out that I don’t know what hiking through the forest is really like. There are a lot less paths and a lot more piles of scratchy things to squeeze through than I thought.”

Nick smirked. He had tucked his glasses in his pocket, and his face was smeared with dirt. The rugged look was different on him, but I found myself enjoying it. “We can still text Cade, if you want.”

“No,” I said, sighing. “Can we just sit for a little bit to catch our breath?”

Nick hopped up on a fallen tree log, and I sat down on a mossy rock across from him, not even caring that I was probably smearing a nice green stain on my ass. We’d been walking for close to an hour, and my legs and calves felt as stiff as rocks.

“So,” I said. “We’ve been here two days. What insights has the retreat given you on the status of our employees?”

“Unfortunately, I have only been watching one employee.”

I smiled. “Which one?”

“Hmm, I wonder.”

I licked my lips. “Do you remember when I was student council president back in high school, and you helped me plan the prom at the last minute?”

“Of course. Christina was supposed to help you do it, but she bailed on you. I was actually really excited when you asked me to help.”

“You were? I never took you for the prom-planning-enthusiast type.”

He chuckled. “I wasn’t. I was more of a Miranda Collins enthusiast.”

I felt my mood sour slightly.

“Sorry, did I say something wrong?” Nick asked.

“No, it’s just . . . hard. Thinking about it, I mean. If you were interested in me when we planned the prom together, that means we were both interested at the same time.”

“Maybe the way it worked out was the only way that would bring us here.”

“Sweaty, scratched to hell, and three miles of walking from civilization?”

“Together,” he said.

My throat went tight. I tried to swallow, but it made an embarrassingly loud noise. “Technically or figuratively?” I asked.

“Call me traditional, but when you jumped my bones on the bed in my room, I thought that was a decent step toward technical. That and the part where I basically poured my heart out and told you how much I want to be with you.”

“Okay. Clarification. That was a mutual kiss. I actually lost my balance and kind of fell toward you. The way I remember it, you closed those last few inches on your own, and you’re the one who pushed me backward and climbed on top.” My voice grew quieter and less confident as I spoke. Just talking about it was doing all sorts of things to my body. I had been trying not to think about how good it had felt or how long it had taken my heart to stop racing afterward. Now I was retelling it to Nick’s face, and it felt somehow dirty and exciting all at the same time.

“You fell into me?” Nick was still smirking. “Then why did your eyes go all lovey-dovey right before you fell? I think it might be more accurate to say you became so aroused that you lost control of your body. So the ‘fall’ was still a result of your inability to control your attraction.”

I folded my arms. “At least you’re not lacking confidence.”

“It’d be hard to with the way you’ve been looking at me.”

I knew I was blushing but hoped it was too dark for him to notice. He was seeing straight through my bullshit, and I wasn’t even sure why I was trying to play games and stretch the truth. He and