He sighs, clearly unimpressed with my positioning, but he doesn’t say anything as he rolls it slowly over to the head of the trail and pulls it up next to the other four-wheeler.
I jump down as he cuts the engine, and then he swings a leg over and climbs off too.
Neither of us says a word as we watch his date drive a Toyota Pathfinder into the parking lot and cut the engine.
It doesn’t take her long to climb out, and when she does, it takes even less time for me to assess how truly, painfully beautiful she is.
She’s wearing low-slung, skintight jeans with a heavy-buckle-sporting belt and a tank top that shows off her perfectly toned arms and ample cleavage. Her hair is long, almost down to the band of her bra—assuming she’s wearing one—but she pulls it up as she walks.
I swear if I were a guy, this would be the kind of fantasy I’d expect from porn.
Jake is silent beside me, and I have to swallow hard to get rid of all the saliva filling my mouth.
She looked pretty when I met her at the group meeting to fill out paperwork, but I have to hand it to her—Date Rachel looks like a Victoria’s Secret model come to life.
One glance to Jake shows his eyes haven’t left her, and I instantly feel like a big, broken third wheel.
I step to the side and back, tripping over a root in the ground as I go. Jake reaches out to catch me, concern in his eyes, but thankfully, I stop myself before I make it to the ground.
His date, Rachel, having just made it to us, looks on with pity in her eyes.
Like, holy hell, this poor woman is such a mess.
“Whoops,” I mumble, tucking my burning cheeks toward the ground as I pretend to look between the two of them. “Sorry. I’ll just be…”
I glance away, twirling in a circle while I try to move away, afraid to lift my eyes off the ground and back up, but unable to bring myself to stop babbling to them either.
“So, um, have fun. Looks like it’s going to be…adventurous. And stuff. I’m excited,” I blab on. “I’m sure you guys are excited too. So, I’ll, um, let you get to it.”
Jake watches me with unconcealed interest as I back into the four-wheeler that’s to be mine and bump into it with my hip. Someone, anyone, please save me.
I don’t know if I’m going to survive following them around, and I’m almost positive it’s a terrible idea as I climb astride and try to figure out how in the hell you turn this freaking thing on.
I can hear them introducing themselves and making small talk, but I do my best to block them out and concentrate on trying to figure out how to operate the machinery.
There are buttons and switches everywhere, and the key itself doesn’t seem to be achieving a full launch.
Let’s see. Maybe if I just… No, that’s not it. Hmm. Okay, this bobby thing looks like it, well, bobs. Hmm. Oh! I know. Maybe the throttle, like, wakes it up and—
“Having trouble?” Jake asks from my side, making me damn near jump out of my skin.
I put a hand to my chest and practice bringing my breathing back down to a normal level.
“Jesus. You’re like a ninja sometimes.”
“Quiet feet. Something else they teach you in the SEALs,” he explains. “Do you want me to help you get it started?”
“I was just about to get it,” I deflect, and he smirks down at me, his eyes calling me out on my bullshit.
“Uh-huh, I could tell.”
“But…I guess, since you’re here…” I pause and shrug one nonchalant shoulder. “You might as well go ahead and do it.”
“Yeah, of course,” he agrees, humoring me.
I watch as he squeezes the brake handle thingy and turns the key, and the four-wheeler fires right up.
“I really was close!” I say, even though I know there’s no way I ever would have figured out I had to hold the brake thing.
“I know you were,” he patronizes me.
I stick out my tongue, and he just laughs.
“Ready, then?”
“Not even close,” I say honestly, and his smile makes the lines at the sides of his eyes crinkle.
“I’ll go slow. Promise.”
“No,” I say with a wave. “Don’t hold back on my account. You guys have fun, and I’ll just…you know, report from wherever I can.”