Page 120 of Valley Girls
“No problem.” Lauren grabbed her Stetson and backpack. “Time to go save people from stupidity.”
Rilla shook Walker’s shoulder. “Hey. I’m hungry. Take me to breakfast.”
He grunted.
She licked his ear.
He bolted up. “What?”
Laughing, she stepped over him. “Be quiet. I’m going to put actual clothes on. You’re taking me to breakfast.”
“Oh, sweet Jesus,” he gasped, clutching his ear as she left. “Don’t do that again.”
A sense of power—way too evil for whatever the hell time it was—flooded her veins, and she had to muffle a giggle in the hall. Quietly, she climbed up to her attic and pulled on a T-shirt and sweats over a pair of shorts.
Thankfully, Thea hadn’t made an appearance by the time she got outside.
Walker sat on the steps, his dress shirt unbuttoned. He leaned on the railing, asleep.
“Breakfast. Now.” She smacked him lightly on the top of the head.
“I need clothes,” he said. “And I prefer the first way you woke me up.”
They walked over to his tent and Rilla tried to look like she’d not ... in the ...
“How’s it going?” Adrienne asked, pouring granola over her yogurt. “Is Walker up this early? I thought with a day off, he’d be asleep still.”
“I’m hungry,” Rilla said.
Adrienne shoved a spoon in her mouth. “I’m late for a meeting,” she said over the food. “See ya.”
Walker biked them across the Valley in the early morning light, to the cafeteria, where they filled their plates and coffee cups and sprawled out on one of the gleaming tables.
“Want to go climbing today?” Walker asked. “With me?”
She smiled, dumping hot sauce on her hash browns. “Iguessyou’ve earned it.”
“I mean. I can keep working toward it,” he said hastily, a twinkle in his eye.
She laughed and mixed her food with a fork. Before she said anything else, someone ruffled her hair. “Look what the Valley churned up,” Hico said joyfully, sitting beside Rilla and grabbing the hot sauce off her tray. “You two disappeared last night.” He eyed them both. “Some emergency I missed?”
Rilla snorted and didn’t look up.
“You know. There’s always something in Yosemite,” Walker said.
“Mm-hm.” Hico twisted in his chair. “Dude, over here.”
Gage slid his tray in beside Walker. “The girls are here too. I saw them come in.”
Sure enough, in a few minutes, a sleepy-looking Adeena, Caroline, and Petra appeared at the table.
“The Valley girls themselves,” Hico said. “Good morning sunshines.”
“Like, why are you, like, so awake?” Petra said in a fake accent.
Adeena busted out laughing. “I have never heard you talk like that. When I was little, I thought that’s how all girls in America talked.”
Petra salted her eggs and pushed her tray out so she could lean on her hand while eating. “So, what were you two up to last night?” She pointed her fork between Rilla and Walker.
