Kane takes the map from my hands, and I keep our first clue.
“Easy,” Ford says. He and Warner have their heads practically side by side, looking at the map.
“Remember this is about teamwork. You might only be able to rely on one person at times. Make sure you read each card carefully. The forest has eyes,” Clark calls.
“Fuck.” Aiden does a full-body shiver. “Someone tell Saige I love her, and she’s not allowed to date after I’m gone.” He makes the sign of the cross over his chest. I’m not even sure if he’s religious or not.
“On the count of three, you can rip open your envelopes. One… two… three.”
Each group of two blocks everyone else out as the envelopes are torn open.
* * *
Make a wish but don’t take a drink.
* * *
We scan the map, trying to find anything that might fit that description. Kane points at the river, but the “make a wish” bit doesn’t make sense.
“See you, suckers,” Ford says, and he and Warner run into the woods.
“One of them probably won’t come out,” Kane mumbles.
I shake my head at them. “They’re so competitive.”
“I say we just let them win,” Aiden says. “Maksim can have more biscuits and I’ll work on my spiral.” He tosses the football in the air.
“Everyone does it.” Kane uses his stern tone.
Aiden grumbles.
Kane points at the water fountain on the map—all the way on the other side of the land. “I swear they did this on purpose.”
We walk into the woods, following the map and trying to act nonchalant, but we must have the farthest to walk. At least no one else is around us right now. I’ve been craving some alone time with Kane because apparently, I’m an idiot who can’t stop herself from developing feelings for him.
We’re thirty feet in when he speaks. “I bet you never thought you’d be doing this?”
“I thought the worst would be that I’d get wet.”
Kane uses his thumb to point at himself. “Well, worry not. This Canadian will protect you.”
“Were you a hunter?”
He seems to find that idea amusing. “No.”
“So, how are you going to protect me?”
“Are you questioning my manly instincts?” He jumps. “Shit. Did you see that?”
A little squirrel runs up a nearby tree and I side-eye Kane.
“It ran through my feet, okay?”
“I didn’t say anything. Maybe you’re a little more city than you like to think.”
“Maybe. We need to go right here.”
We take the path that veers right, and a half hour later, we finally arrive at the abandoned water fountain that sits in the middle of a small dry pond.
“Here’s our next clue.” I kneel to grab our envelope off the ground at the edge of the dried-up pond.
“We need to make a wish.”
“There’s no water and I have no change.” I retrieve the envelope and stand.
“Just pretend. Eyes are everywhere. What if we’re supposed to do it?”
As much as I hate it, Kane has a point. I close my eyes and wish for guidance on my decision with Kane. “Done.”
“Did you wish you could be my girlfriend? Because you can, you know.” He smiles at me.
“Oh my god.” I bend over into a belly laugh. “You’re really changing course, huh? What happened to the patient man?”
“I just wanted to be clear. Make sure you aren’t getting any mixed signals.”
I hold up my hands. “No mixed signals here. I’m clear on what you want.”
“And it’s not just to be in your pants. I want more than that.” He keeps his intense gaze on me.
“Yep, I got you, Kane.”
“Okay, let me see the envelope.” He holds out his hand.
I pass it to him, looking out over the rolling landscape. “They have horses.” I point at the neighbor’s pasture in the distance. “I never had a horse.”
“Daddy never bought you one?” Kane asks, pulling the piece of paper out of the envelope.
“Daddy?”
“I’m kidding. Sorry though, horses are out of my income level.”
I turn to face him, my arms stretching on the wood-slotted fence that runs along one side of the pond. “Are you forgetting I know how much you make?”
He turns around the clue card, ignoring me. “‘I’m a bed without sheets, and I’m always dirty.’”
I snatch it out of his hands. “Did you plan this?”
He holds up both hands and sits down to look at the map.
I sit in the grass alongside him and lean close to his face, smelling the soap from his shower. “What do you think, then?”
He moves his head, and our eyes catch, our mouths millimeters apart. “Jana?” His voice is rough, and I know what he’s going to say.
“Yeah?”
“I’m giving you fair warning, if you don’t want to be kissed, move.”
I stay where I am. His one eyebrow quirks up, but I remain in place, swallowing all my fears and reservations because I know what saying yes to this kiss means.
“I warned you.”
His lips smash to mine and my body stirs with the excitement of tasting him again. This time is different because it’s more than just sex. He wants a relationship, and although I’m not sure how I’ll handle that, these months without him have left me longing for what we had.
And not just the physical aspect. I miss his company and his presence in my life. Sometimes when he looks at me, I wonder what it would feel like to be his.
His arm glides up my spine, his fingers threading through the hair at the back of my head, deepening our kiss. My fingers gently touch his bearded cheek, unsure where to go. We’ve never kissed like this, with this much feeling. It was usually a quick kiss before a race to undress one another.
This kiss comes with expectations and promises. Surprisingly, I don’t feel panic welling up inside me.
I’m lost in Kane when footsteps breaking branches echo through the forest.
“Over there!” someone yells.
Kane strips his lips off mine and stands. “Let’s go. Flower bed is next.”
He grabs my hand, pulling me up, then places a gentle kiss on my forehead. I know right then that being Kane’s is going to feel pretty close to heaven.
I need to be done with this team-building bullshit right now if I’m going to get Jana in my bed. She’s there in wanting us to be together, I know she is, but we need longer than a few minutes alone.
I’m tugging her through the scavenger hunt, trying to get us to the end as soon as possible so we can relax and hopefully have a conversation about what she wants. We only have one more night here before we fly home.
We pass the other teams often, all of us going in a zigzag motion over the map it seems.
Jana and I are headed back to the starting point when we hear rustling in the woods behind us. Figuring it’s another team, I turn to see who it is, but I see something furry instead.
“What is that?” Jana points at exactly what I see. A brown-haired animal in the brush that’s coming at us fast.