“That’s ridiculous,” Meadow said. “Aliens are already on thisplanet.”
Daisy flashed back to seeing Greg transform from a bear to a human. Talk about aliens. She still didn’t know what to make of his revelation. He hadn’t changed the way he’d interacted with her after she’d discovered his secret. They were all alone out in the woods. He could have killed her to keep her silent but he didn’t. He trusted her. But could shetrusthim?
“I’ll be right back,” Greg’s dad said as he climbed aroundhisson.
When he’d left the room, Greg leaned over and whispered in her ear. “Meet me in the woods tonight after everyone’sasleep.”
“I can’t,” shemurmured.
“Please.”
The desperation in his tone made her turn her head to look at him. He silently pleaded with his gorgeous hazel eyes. Specks of forest green and golden brown fanned out from his dark pupils. She tore her gaze away without giving him ananswer.
Greg’s dad hustled back into the room. “Did I missanything?”
“No, he’s still walking around,”Samanthasaid.
As they continued to watch the first man on the moon, she considered Greg’s request to join him. She hadn’t detected any malicious intent. Without knowing exactly why, she still trusted him. A part of her needed to be in his arms again. Her lips tingled in anticipation of hiskisses.
Trying to talk herself out of seeing him was pointless. But if anyone caught her, there’d be hell to pay. Greg’s dad had made it very clear that she wasn’t good enough for his son, and Andy would freak if he knew she’d kissed Greg. She’d have to be totally sure that no one woke up or she’d have to explain why she was trouncing around in the forest in the middle of thenight.
When the broadcast ended, Greg stood and held out a hand to help her up. She took it long enough to get to her feet then quickly released it. She turned to find his dad eying her warily. If he caught her sneaking out, he’d probably kick all of them off the farm and then all of their hard work over the last few weeks would bewasted.
“Thank you for letting us watch that,”Andysaid.
“Yes, thank you Mr. Grant,”Meadowsaid.
“Thanks, sir,”Riversaid.
“Have a good night,” Daisy said as she followed the others out the front door. She didn’t risk a backward glance for fear that everyone would see rightthroughher.
Hours later, she lay on her back in her tent. Silence blanketed the night, broken only by River’s occasional snoring. Everyone had fallen asleep so long ago that they had to be sleeping deep enough that she could slip out without themhearing.
She studied the flap at the front of her tent. She’d intentionally only zipped it halfway so that it would create less noise later. As she slowly tugged on the zipper, the teeth separated with soft clicks. Her fingers trembled as she reached the bottom of the tent. Was she really going to go throughwithit?
She hesitated. What was the point of trying to continue any kind of relationship with him when she was leaving in less than two weeks? She’d only be setting herself up for heartbreak. Running out to see him tonight would only make her miss him more when she left forCanada.
But none of that mattered. Her heart already ached for him. She’d already passed the point of no return and she’d hurt no matter what when she left. If all the time she’d ever have with him was limited to the next few days, then she wanted to make the most of it. She’d never been afraid to take a risk before, so whystartnow?
Determined to meet him, she rolled onto her hands and knees. She crawled toward the edge of the tent and listened carefully for any sign of movement from the other tents. When she didn’t hear anything, she inched forward. Without making a sound, she exited the enclosure. She carefully rolled onto her feet and stood. But before she could take a single step, a branch snappedbehindher.
Chapter10
She whipped aroundto find Greg standing in the shadows. He held a finger to his lips and waved her toward him. She carefully navigated the ground so that she wouldn’t step on a branch and make even more noise. When she reached him, he grabbed her hand and led her into thewoods.
They trekked through an area she hadn’t been to yet. The farther he led her into the woods, the more nervous she was becoming. What if she’d been completely wrong and he wanted tokillher?
He gave her hand a gentle squeeze. She relaxed as a revelation hit her. He wasn’t a monster; he was the same man she’d been falling for since the day she’d met him. She still didn’t understand how he’d managed to turn into a bear, but she’d seen far stranger things on ‘shroom trips. Granted, that had all been a figment of her imagination, but somehow his secret wasn’t as shocking now that she’d had time to see that he really was thesameman.
“We’re almost there,” hewhispered.
“Where?” sheasked.
“You’llsee.”
She followed him up a hill. When they reached the summit, she gasped. Flickering candles illuminated a small clearing which overlooked the whole valley. She stepped toward the edge andgasped.
“Unfortunately, we can’t see the moon right now,”hesaid.
