For a moment there, I wonder if my wandering mind hasn’t gotten us lost. There was a fork a while back, and though I’m fairly certain I took the correct side, maybe I was confused? Parrish seems checked out, and he certainly isn’t talking to me anymore.
I decide it doesn’t matter; if I got lost, the guide will come and find us eventually. If we just stick to the trails, we’ll be fine.
The sound of another ATV brings me a surge of relief as we crest the next hill. I expect to see Paul and Tess and the guide on the other side of it. Instead, there’s nobody there. A quick glance over my shoulder shows me another vehicle coming up on us quick.
“Pull over and let this douche pass,” Parrish grumbles, his voice barely audible over the roar of the wind. The trails around here are pretty popular, especially in summer, so I figure he’s right. Pull over, let this person go on their merry way so I can keep our chill pace going.
I slow down and pull completely off the trail, parking in a relatively flat spot with scrubby groundcover. We idle there as the other ATV comes up on us, my fingers tapping out a rhythm on the wheel as my eyes flick in Parrish’s direction. He looks entirely miserable.
“We don’t have to be impossible, you know,” I tell him, but my voice is pitched too low. I’m not even sure he can hear me over the engine.
Slowly, he turns to look at me, his toasted almond gaze hidden behind the helmet’s visor.
Next thing I know, our ATV is lurching forward, sliding through the dirt toward the dip in the trail. I slam my foot down on the brake automatically, wondering if I somehow hit the gas or … but no. The movement is too violent. My body ends up slamming into the steering wheel as we pitch forward, right over the edge.
We’ve been hit so hard that our vehicle tips upside down, the world spinning and swirling around me. I see trees and sky and ground, and it feels impossible to tell which end is up. That is, until the roof of the ATV smashes into the dusty ground, swirling red-brown clouds around us as I choke and sputter. I feel weightless and yet impossibly heavy all at once, hanging upside down and held in place by my seat belt and nothing else.
“Dakota!”
It takes several seconds for me to realize that Parrish is screaming my name. I feel his hand clamp around mine, and then someone’s reaching in through the window and undoing my seat belt. My shoulder hits the roof just before my neck does, and pain shoots through me as I crumple out of my seat. Whoever it is that took off my seat belt, they’re grabbing me, dragging me through the window and onto the hot dirt.
I’m so disoriented that it feels impossible to make sense of the situation. Did they … did they hit us? I wonder, thinking of the other ATV. If so, they might be hurt, too. Or maybe it’s the driver that’s rescuing me right now?
Only, this person doesn’t seem to care if they’re hurting me or not.
I’m being dragged across the ground, my bare legs burning as they scrape and tear over hot rocks and spiky shrubs. A door opens beside me, and I realize that whoever this is, they’re trying to put me into their own ATV. Are they … is this a kidnapping?
“Hey!” It’s Parrish’s voice. I blink a few times, my vision obscured by the dust, trying desperately to get my mind together. “Hands off my gamer girl, bitch.”
My eyes find the damaged front end of the ATV as my ‘rescuer’ tries to lift me up and put me into the vehicle. That’s when it all comes together: yep, he hit us. Accidentally? Purposefully? I have no idea.
I’m also not willing to wait around and find out.
With a scream, I kick out hard and nail my attacker right in the balls. He lets out a wail and drops me to the dirt where I scramble to my feet, stumbling away and tripping over another rock. My knees hit the ground hard, but when I turn around, it’s Parrish that’s behind me. He grabs me by the hand and yanks me to my feet before turning on the driver.
Parrish doesn’t skip a beat, picking up a huge rock and tossing it at the other guy as I struggle to catch my breath. The rock makes contact with the man’s helmet, but Parrish isn’t done there. He picks up a huge stick and wields it like a bat, standing in front of me like a shield.
It’s a bit heroic, a lot sexy.
The driver of the other ATV hesitates, and even though I can’t see his face because of his helmet, there’s something about him that strikes me as familiar. The fine hairs on my arms stand at attention as a chill ripples through me. Do I know this person? Have I seen him somewhere before?
