by Rose Wulf
****
Angela stared at the grocery bags in her basket with a frown curving her lips. She had had her friend drop her off at the store so she could pick up a simple package of cookies to satisfy her craving, but as she’d meandered through the store she’d discovered several other things that sounded good, or that they were low on at home. And just how am I supposed to carry all these bags home? She sighed heavily. It would be impossible, which meant she was going to have to call someone for a ride. And she had been really looking forward to the walk. It’s my own stupid fault.
Biting back another sigh, Angela pulled the cart to the side, out of the way of the entrance, and put her back to the front wall of the store as she dug her cell phone from her purse. It was early afternoon on Monday, which meant Blake was on lifeguard duty, and given her new bout of free time, Brooke was probably at the beach, as well. She knew Logan was likely busy with construction plans, though she also knew he’d be willing to put them aside in order to pick her up. She had too many bags for Nate’s motorcycle, assuming he wasn’t at the beach looking for tourists. And she wasn’t so sure she wanted to call Dean away from whatever he was doing. But that leaves Mom or Dad. And they weren’t likely to be happy to learn she had detoured to the store on her own.
“Everything okay?” a vaguely familiar male voice asked from a few feet away.
Angela jumped, startled, and looked up from her phone. She quickly found herself staring into Vaughn’s curious blue eyes, and her tension eased. Lowering the phone, she smiled and gestured to the basket as she said, “I might’ve gone a little overboard, and now I need a ride home. But I don’t know who to call.”
His lips tipped up at the corners just slightly, eyes flickering for a moment to her groceries, and then he jerked his thumb over his shoulder, toward the parking lot. “I could give you a ride,” he offered. “I was on my way home, anyway.” He ruffled the lone plastic bag in his other hand for emphasis.
She hesitated for a beat, pulling her lip between her teeth as she considered his offer. It would save her the effort of having to call for a ride, not to mention the time it took for that ride to show up. And she wouldn’t have to feel guilty for making him go far out of his way. Her house was only a couple of blocks down from his. Plus, since his family’s new to the area, they can’t be our enemies, so it shouldn’t be dangerous. That was enough for her, so she tucked her phone away and smiled gratefully. “That would be great,” she said.
“Follow me, then,” Vaughn instructed as she wrapped her hands around the handle of her cart. He turned after a beat and led the way into the parking lot.
Angela’s eyebrows shot up her forehead as they came to a stop in front of a shiny new Audi R8 and Vaughn lifted the trunk for her. “This is yours?” she asked incredulously. It was a beautiful car, but she never expected someone her age to be driving one.
He flashed her a smirk as he began helping her unload the basket, saying, “Graduation present.”
“All I got was a laptop,” Angela complained with a laughing grin. He chuckled as they quickly loaded his trunk space, and then Angela turned the cart around and guided it to the nearest cart-return before rejoining Vaughn. She moved around to the passenger side as he pulled open the driver’s side door, and as she tucked herself into the front seat she smiled again and added, “Thanks for this.”
“Don’t mention it,” Vaughn replied easily. The engine began purring a moment later, and in no time they were in motion.
“How are you liking Darien so far?” Angela asked casually as he pulled out of the parking lot, aimed toward their street.
With an almost imperceptible shrug, he said, “It’s all right. I’m still trying to get used to it, but my parents love it here.”
“I’m sure it’ll grow on you,” Angela assured him. “Are you planning on going to college nearby?”
“Yeah,” he replied. “That’s why we moved here.”
Laughing softly, Angela leaned back into the seat and turned her head toward him as she added, “Well, maybe I’ll see you around campus, then, too.”
The corner of his lips twitched again and he added, “Maybe.”
They settled into silence for a minute, briefly broken by Angela’s direction once they turned onto the street, and then Vaughn was easing into her family’s driveway. He pulled as close to the door as the driveway allowed before putting the car in park and cutting the engine. “You want help unloading?” he asked as he turned toward her.
Angela shook her head and said, “I can wrangle my dad into helping. Thanks again for the ride, Vaughn.” He inclined his head silently and she popped open the door, letting herself out.
****
Tuesday rolled around without incident, and Nate and Madison piled into her car shortly before eleven. He guided her easily through the streets until the town fell away, and after instructing her to turn down a dirt road he navigated her to a large, empty space almost entirely surrounded by trees.
“And you’re sure my car will be okay?” Madison asked skeptically as she pulled the keys from the ignition.
“Of course,” Nate promised. “People park here all the time.”
“Yeah, well, if my car gets towed, I’m giving you the bill,” Madison replied. The upwards tilt of her lips belied her threat, however, and Nate only grinned. They climbed from the car, Madison adjusting her jacket as Nate slipped a backpack over his shoulders
“You ready?” Nate asked when she joined his side.
“As ready as I’ll ever be,” Madison declared with a nod.
His grin broadened and he said, “Good.” Then he started forward, walking down the dirt drive that they had just turned onto. “The path’s on the other side of the road,” he called over his shoulder.
Madison took a deep breath and moved quickly to catch up to him. She could only hope she was actually prepared for this hike. Her long hair was pulled together in a ponytail, to keep it off her face and neck, and she had a lightweight jacket over a comfortable tee to go with her casual blue jeans and sneakers. It was good hiking attire, but not necessarily the most flattering thing to be wearing on a first date. She was comforted, however, by the fact that Nate was also wearing casual jeans, sneakers, and a t-shirt. Though she thought he might be cold, seeing as how he’d donned the backpack instead of a jacket.
“So how far are we hiking?” Madison asked as they crossed the dirt road and almost immediately found themselves walking a slim, barely established trail.
“All the way to the top,” Nate declared casually. He tossed a grin over to her and added, “That is, assuming you think you can handle it.”
Madison barked out a laugh and playfully shoved at his nearest arm. “Ha! I should warn you, Nate Hawke, that I might be damaging your ego a little today. You’ll find I can handle myself quite well.”
Nate’s grin broadened and he teased, “Oh, I believe it.”
She rolled her eyes at him before turning her focus out, to their surroundings. The morning fog was thinner here, and thinning out the farther they walked, which meant she was able to actually see beyond the tree in front of her. And though at the moment it only looked like they were walking through a forest, the view was still good. The trees were tall, healthy, and wide, and the air smelled crisp and clean, if not slightly salty. It was a surprisingly good atmosphere for a date.
After a long minute of simply walking side-by-side, Madison casually declared, “I have a question for you.”
Curious, Nate arched a brow down at her without breaking stride and said, “Shoot.”
“Is it Nate or Nathan?”
He chuckled, the sound carrying easy familiarity. “It’s just Nate,” he replied.
“That’s sort of strange,” Madison admitted. “But I bet a lot of people just assume it’s a nickname, don’t they?”
Laughing now, Nate said, “Yeah. I can’t tell you how many teachers thought they could call me Nathan or Nathaniel to get my attention.”
Madison laugh
ed softly, clearly imagining that scenario with a few of the teachers she herself had had growing up. “Why do you think your parents did that?”
Nate shrugged and said, “I don’t know. Sometimes I think it’s because Nathan has a different feel to it than Blake, Logan, or Dean.”
“Fair enough,” Madison replied with a laugh and a nod. She lightly bumped her newly-bandage-free shoulder into his arm and added, “But I like it. It’s different without being weird or stupid.”
“Thank God!” Nate exclaimed with a laugh, reaching out and wrapping his hand around hers loosely. “What about you? Do you always go by Madison or do you have a nickname that you like?”
Smiling at the turnabout, Madison replied, “My mom usually calls me M, but my friends usually call me Maddie. I don’t really care which I go by, as long as no one tries calling me Mad.”
Nate cringed, asking, “Did someone call you that once?”
“In high school,” she declared. “Stupid rivalry stuff.”
“Ah, high school,” Nate said on an overdramatic sigh. “I don’t miss it.” He paused as she laughed in agreement before asking, “And how many dates do I have to take you on before I earn the privilege of using a nickname for you?”
Turning a mischievous grin up to him, Madison replied, “I’ll let you know when this one is over.”
“I suppose that’s acceptable,” Nate agreed with a grin and a nod. His eyes flashed, then, and he added, “Wait a minute; I could’ve sworn on your application that you said your mother’s name was Missy. Does she go by M, too? ‘Cause I’d think that’d get confusing.”
Madison laughed outright, slightly embarrassed at what she was about to say, and admitted, “Her name is Missy. And she used to go by M when she was younger, so when I was a kid she always called us ‘M&M.’”
Nate’s grin broadened again and he said, “That’s cute.”
“It was a lot cuter when I was in grade school,” Madison replied with an embarrassed laugh.
They were still chuckling when the path curved slightly and the trees began rapidly thinning before them. And then there were no trees at all on the other side of Nate, though there were still plenty beside Madison, and the ocean was suddenly spread out before them. They slowly stopped, turning enough to take in the sight as the ocean waves rolled gently along its blue surface. The fog had receded even more by now, and watching it slide over the ocean was strangely fascinating.
Madison sighed softly and tightened her hold on Nate’s hand. “It really is beautiful out here,” she breathed.
“It is,” Nate agreed, his lips twitching faintly. “Did you bring a camera?”
“I don’t have one,” Madison confessed, “and yesterday I was so distracted thinking about getting that bandage off my arm that I forgot to go get one.”
“Well,” Nate declared, using his free hand to extract his slim, metallic silver phone, “it just so happens that I have an amazing camera right here.”
Madison turned her gaze enough to see what he was holding, and she smiled. “You’ll have to email the pictures to me.”
“That shouldn’t be too hard,” Nate assured her as he adjusted the phone and snapped the first photo.
They lingered there for another couple of minutes, taking pictures and enjoying the calm serenity of the view.
Nate temporarily pocketed the phone and they resumed walking. Their pace remained casual as they climbed, taking the opportunity to learn little things about each other.
Madison revealed that her birthday was on Valentine’s Day. She admitted her three favorite colors were pink, purple, and blue, but she could never narrow it down beyond that. And she thought roses were cliché no matter the color. In return, she learned the only kind of music Nate didn’t like was Classical. Her eyes were his favorite shade of green—seriously—but blue would always be his favorite color bar none. And he couldn’t wait until vampires got scary again.
The sky was clear, bright blue by the time noon rolled around. Madison’s stomach began rumbling just minutes before they came upon a small clearing. The trail curved past it, continuing its way to the top of the cliff, but the clearing itself was covered in a layer of green grass that thinned out as it neared the edge. Wildflowers bloomed in sporadic patches, and a single, tall tree provided a bit of shade off to one side.
“Picture time?” Nate asked when her gaze lingered on the clearing. “Or lunch time?”
“Why can’t we do both?” Madison returned with a smile. “It’s a beautiful spot and I could eat.”
“That’s good enough for me,” Nate replied, grinning, as he pulled out his phone again. He snapped a photo of the clearing, and the ocean beyond, before releasing Madison’s hand and kneeling down to shrug out of the backpack. As he unzipped it and tugged out their carefully-packed lunch, Madison left his side to step into the clearing.
“I bet it’s absolutely amazing up here when everything’s blooming,” she declared as her eyes fell closed. She took a deep breath, inhaling the crisp, fresh air as a light wind blew through.
“Maybe we’ll come up next spring and find out,” Nate suggested easily, gathering their supplies and moving toward her.
Madison opened her eyes and turned back to face him. Her lips were tilted in a lopsided grin and she said, “Maybe.” She wondered if he even realized what he’d just implied.
Nate settled down in the center of the grass, depositing their sandwiches and fresh bottles of water, and declared, “Lunch is served.”
Laughing again, Madison moved over and sat beside him, easily lifting her sandwich to unwrap it. “Why thank you,” she teased, her green eyes shining.
Nate returned her smile, his eyes laughing along with hers.
They ate mostly in silence, angled just enough to have a perfect view of the rolling water beyond the cliff, the light breeze ruffling their hair and helping cool them down.
As she tightened the cap back over her bottle, Madison said softly, “This was an amazing idea, Nate. Thank you.” It was the truth. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d enjoyed herself as much.
Nate smiled, reaching over and brushing his fingertips lightly along the base of her throat as he leaned down and murmured, “You’re welcome.”
A shiver entirely unrelated to the breeze raced down her spine and Madison swallowed heavily. Her skin tingled beneath his feather-light touch as his warm breath fanned over her ear, and she doubted any woman would begrudge her such reflexes. She leaned back, into his touch, and shifted so that she could reach over and loosely grasp the collar of his shirt as she tugged him closer. He leaned in willingly, and this time when their lips met there was no hesitation. After a lingering moment, his tongue slipped out and trailed along her lower lip before sweeping into her mouth.
Her hand released his collar, sliding up his toned chest and curving around his shoulders until she could tangle it in his loose, dark hair. His hand tightened slightly over the nape of her neck, his fingers massaging the skin, as his other hand landed on her hip and hauled her up against his chest. His tongue slid along hers, more interested in the sensual dance than the exploration that awaited him, and Madison’s other hand lifted to curl into the side of his shirt. She hadn’t expected his kiss to awaken her senses quite so thoroughly, but she couldn’t deny that it had.
He rolled his tongue over hers one more time, letting the motion linger, before pulling away.
Madison dragged in a deep breath, her own hold on him relaxing, and she slowly offered him a small, appreciative smile.
He swallowed as he pulled his hands from her and asked, “So … ready to keep going?”
She nodded, taking a moment to find her own voice. “Can I borrow your phone? I want to take one more picture before we move on.” She also needed to catch her breath. She wanted to enjoy the environment as much as the man sharing it with her and, at the moment, her instincts were to focus mostly on enjoying him.
His lips twitched and he tugged the camera out of his pocket
. “Sure.” He handed it over before adding, “I’ll just clean up while you’re doing that.”
“Okay,” she said, smiling again as she pushed to her feet.
Madison moved closer to the edge of the cliff, wanting a picture of the clearing from the other side, and secretly glad that she would get at least one shot with Nate in it. And maybe she’d take a shot of the rocky shore that was surely far beneath them, too. But before she did either, she decided, she was going to shed her jacket. She had cooled down for the moment, but she knew that what was left of the hike would keep her temperature high enough without the fabric. So she dropped the phone in her jeans pocket and shrugged out of the coat as her gaze glided across the surface of the water before her.
She was too distracted to register the shifting of the ground beneath her feet at first, and when she shifted her weight to tug her arm free of the remaining sleeve, it was too late. The ground beneath her seemed to give, sinking slightly, before cracking and crumbling away entirely. The surface of the cliff arched out over open air, and there simply wasn’t enough to support her weight.
For a moment, Madison’s eyes widened and her heart stopped as she felt herself begin to fall. And then an instinctive cry tore from her lips as she attempted to spin around and throw herself backwards. She succeeded only in losing what was left of her footing and finding herself in free fall.
Chapter Seven
Nate froze for an instant at the startled, panicked cry that suddenly reached his ears. That was Madison.
He leaped to his feet and spun, his heart slamming against his ribcage as he saw Madison tumbling over the edge of the cliff. She screamed his name, terror in her voice, and he sprinted forward. “Madison!” he cried reflexively as he briefly lost sight of her over the edge. She was screaming incoherently now, her hair whipping the side of her face and her jacket dangling from one hand.
He didn’t actually think about his options before diving off the cliff edge, arms forward, as he simultaneously gathered an invisible cushion of air beneath her to slow her descent. When he was close enough he grabbed hold of her hand and pulled her into his arms, tucking one arm beneath her legs and wrapping the other around her shoulders securely. She clung to his neck and shoulders, her body shaking, as she sucked in ragged, gasping breaths. He silently tightened his arm around her shoulders, glancing down past her in time to see her jacket land awkwardly on a rock that was protruding from the shore.