as I hiked filled me with more warmth than the winter sun. She put a smile on my face just by existing.
I couldn’t stop thinking about last night, too. The things we had done to her in that cabin… Well, let’s just say it was the hardest I’d ever come in my life. My balls legitimately ached afterwards, that’s how intense my orgasm was. I didn’t just blow my load; I blew every load for the next week.
I loved being around her. Even now, out here on a back-country trail, I missed Christie. I couldn’t wait to see her again.
She was definitely wife material.
The only problem? I was still sharing her with Harper and Riley. Which, if I was being totally honest, was great. Somehow it worked for all of us. No jealousy or anger. Just me and my two best friends sharing the girl of our dreams.
I didn’t know how we could keep doing this long-term, but I knew one thing: I wanted to try.
For the first time all morning, my radio crackled to life. “Ranger Station calling for Logan Verdugo. Come in, over.”
I pulled the radio out of my backpack pocket and smirked. “That you, Harper? How’d you get to the Ranger Station so quick? You leave Christie behind? Over.”
“We just got back. Christie led the way, actually. Over.”
“Now I know you’re pulling my chain. There’s no way a beginner hiker made it from Phantom Ranch to the south rim that fast.”
“Listen. We had a big fight once we got to the rim. She knows about Riley.”
I let out a wry chuckle. “Should’ve told her long before now.”
“I told him the same thing. But there’s bigger stuff going on. Riley’s community service hours came out because of some money problems with Christie’s non-profit. You always deposited the donations, right?”
“Of course I did. Always gave her my receipts, too.”
Harper groaned on the line. “That’s what I thought. I think her ex-boyfriend drained her bank accounts. They’re tapped clean. Thanks for confirming your side. You can go back to your hike now.”
My grip tightened on the radio and my focus narrowed. In the blink of an eye I made a decision that might change the rest of my life.
“I’m not far past The Tipoff point. I’ll be back at the station in a couple hours.”
“What? I thought your shift lasts a few days.”
“Fuck that,” I growled. “When your woman needs help, you come. And right now it sounds like Christie needs our help. See you this afternoon.”
I turned off the radio. Harper was the kind of guy who would try to talk me out of it, and I didn’t feel like listening. He wasn’t going to change my mind.
I backtracked on the Tonto Trail at a much faster pace than before. When I reached The Tipoff I turned left onto the South Kaibab Trail. I jogged up the prairie section of the canyon so fast my pack bounced on my back and my water bottle sloshed around. When I reached Skeleton Point I slowed to a fast walk, because that was as fast as I could go on the steep switchbacks that were cut into the ridge. Once the switchbacks ended I picked up the pace again, jogging steadily up the trail to the south rim.
My legs felt strong and my pack felt light. I breathed steadily in time with my stride, like a marathoner trying to be as efficient as possible. A blister was forming on my shoulder from my pack strap, but I didn’t bother to stop to adjust it. Getting to the top as quick as possible was all that mattered.
There was nothing more dangerous in the world than a man who was truly motivated.
I reached the south rim a few hours later. There was still about an hour of daylight remaining. I called Harper and told him to come pick me up at the trailhead. By the time he and Riley arrived five minutes later I had a plan.
“Dude,” Riley said from the front. “You didn’t have to do this.”
“If I had known you were going to skip out on your shift, I wouldn’t have radio’d you,” Harper said behind the wheel.
“Shut up and drive.”
“Where? Back to the station?”
I pulled out my phone. “Flagstaff. I’ll tell you where once we get closer.”
Harper sniffed the air. “Do you want to change clothes first?”
“Fuck that.”
Harper shrugged and drove onto the main road. Riley twisted in his seat to face me.
“Dude. You gonna tell us what the plan is,