Juliet stops and her shoulders tremble. “Didn’t we leave our clothes here?”
I look around the large rock. There’s another large one to the left, and I search around there as well. Nothing.
“D-did somebody t-take our s-stuff?” Juliet’s teeth chatter.
The odds aren’t in our favor. Thankfully, I left my phone in my truck and hid the keys under the hubcap.
I broaden my inspection to every rock in the area but still come up empty.
I trudge backto Juliet; her whole body is shaking now. It’s not warm tonight. I need to get her to the truck before she freezes.
“Come on.” I wrap an arm around her shoulders, hoping to provide her with a little extra heat.
The hike to the parking lot is rough and rocky, even more so without shoes. Every so often, we hit a small patch of soft dirt, only to kick up more rocks. My feet are cut and throbbing, and we aren’t even halfway.
“Ow!” Juliet screams, and she pitches forward.
I use both arms to catch her before she falls and yank her upright, but she sinks into my side.
“I think… I stepped on a cactus.” Her words come out in sharp gasps.
I curse. I drop an arm behind her and scoop her into my arms. She’s wet and shivering against my bare skin, and I hold her tighter to keep her safe. I walk as fast as I dare.
The parking lot and my truck come into view, and I breathe a sigh of relief. Thank goodness our clothing thieves didn’t venture into felony charges. I pop the tailgateand set Juliet on it while I retrieve the keys and start the ignition to get the truck warming. I rummage around beneath thebackseat and come up with an old shirt. I don’t know if it’s clean, but at this point, I don’t think she’ll care.
“Here.” I hold the shirt out to her, and she slips it on, then I carry her to the passenger seat and close the door.
Once I’m inside, I flip on the light. Her chin quivers, and her lips are practically blue. I crank up the heat even more.
“Let me see your foot,” I say.
She twists to put her foot up on the middle console.
“I can’t bring myself to look. I hate needles." She says, wrapping a thick strand of hair around her fingers.
I try to keep an emotionless expression on my face for her benefit, but it’s hard. Good thing she didn’t look. There are five of the biggest cactus spines I’ve ever seen embedded in the ball of her foot.
“I think I have a first aid kit in the glove compartment.” I point in front of her.
She finds the kit and hands it to me.
The kit is old. I think someone gifted it to me when I graduated high school, but I find alcohol wipes, which are probably dry by now, and Band-Aids. I can get by with that.
“Are you going to pull the spines out?” she asks, worrying her bottom lip.
I freeze. “I was going to. I didn’t want you to have to ridehome like that, but I can take you to the hospital or something.”
“No, please do it.” She angles more toward me and brings her opposite leg to her chest. She buries her face against her knee, and her fingers wrap so tightly around her leg they have to be creating indentations. “I’m ready,” she squeaks.
I bite back a smile. She’s so cute. I’ve thought soallnight, but like a gentleman, I’ve kept my mind out of the gutter and purposely not stared at the way her light blue swimsuit perfectly hugs her body.
“Okay.” I touch her foot, gently preparing her for what’s to come, then wrap my hand around her arch so she won’t pull away when it hurts. I don’t want to make it any worse than it already is.
“Three, two, one.” I pull the first one out as gently as I can, and she makes a sound, somewhere between a scream and a cry, but it’s muffled by her leg. I get ready to pull the second. “Three, two—”
“Just pull it already before I pass out!”
That wouldn’t be ideal in the current circumstances. I yank the next one, and the next. Then stop to give her a break.
