He stopped again, bent over, gasping. Panic flashed across his face, quick and raw. Moonlight made his skin look pale, his soaked clothes clinging to every sharp line of his frame.
I could catch him now, take him down, drag him back, even if he kicked and screamed.
Even if my wife was still upstairs.
I exhaled, and the sound gave me away. His head snapped toward me.
Our eyes locked for a beat. His widened, mine narrowed, and he bolted.
“Shit.”
He tore deeper into the forest, the dark swallowing him. Toward Corkland Waterfall.
Did he even know? One wrong step and he’d be over.
I pushed harder, branches scraping my arms, my shoes slipping in the wet leaves. His breathing was ragged now, each gasp pulling me closer, until he glanced over his shoulder and stumbled.
“Ryan,” I called, closing in, dropping into a crouch. “Jesus, are you—”
A sudden kick caught me in the ribs. Not hard enough to break anything, but enough to make me grunt and grab my side. He used that moment to roll away, scrambling upright.
“Fuck.”
The roar of the waterfall grew louder. Mist hung in the air, the ground slick underfoot.
Something glowed in the dirt, his phone, screen lit with a call from someone named Devon. I snatched it up, stuffed it in my pocket, and kept moving.
Through the trees, a flash of blond hair. He looked back, saw me, and panic ripped across his face.
“Leave me alone!” he shouted, still running.
The water's edge was only yards ahead. He didn’t see it.
“Creep!” he spat over his shoulder.
I didn’t slow.
“You’re such a fucking asshole, fuck—”
I lunged, wrapping my arms around him just before the drop. We crashed into the dirt, rolling through mud and wet leaves. I braced my arms so I wouldn’t crush him.
When we stopped, he was on top, dripping, chest heaving against mine, every muscle taut. I could feel him shaking, part cold, part something else.
My shirt’s soaked and streaked with mud.
The waterfall was right there. Ryan turned his head, startled.
“Oh my god! What the fuck? Why didn’t you say there was a fucking waterfall right there?”
He huffed, then grinned.
“Whoa, this is a good view.”
I tried to roll him off, but he clung to me like a koala, laughing.
“Get off,” I muttered.
Instead, he laughed harder, his weight pressing me into the ground.
