My stomach clenches at the thought that this amazing man ever felt like he wasn’t good enough.
That he wasn’t wanted.
“Is that when you cleaned up your act?”
“When I realized Sadie was inrealdanger at the Serpents, I knew I had two choices. I could keep being the angry, destructive asshole I’d become, or I could be the kind of man Aaron and my grandma would have been proud of. Someone who protects the people he loves without losing himself in the process.”
We stand in comfortable silence, both lost in our own thoughts. The sun is starting to lower in the sky, turning everything golden and warm. The Kelso Dunes rise from the desert floor like golden mountains, their curves sculpted by wind and time into something that looks almost too perfect to be real. The late afternoon sun turns the sand shiny, resembling liquid gold.
“Holy shit!” Phoenix breathes, echoing my earlier reaction to the preserve. “This is…”
“I know, right?” I smile, shifting to his side, taking his lead, knowing he is done with that part of our conversation.
He glances back out to the dunes as we begin to walk toward them. “How high are they?” Phoenix asks, shouldering my tripod bag.
“The tallest is about 650 feet. Which means we’d better start hiking if we want to get to the top before sunset.”
The climb is harder than I expected. Sand is deceiving. It looks stable but shifts under your feet with every step, making progress frustratingly slow. Phoenix stays close behind me, ready to help if I need it, but not hovering.
Halfway up, we stop to rest, and I check my blood sugar.
“You okay?” Phoenix asks, his tone is casual, not worried.
“Perfect. Though I’m definitely feeling this climb.”
“Want me to carry your camera bag too?”
“I’ve got it.” I adjust the strap and start climbing again. “Besides, you’re already carrying half my equipment. I’m not completely helpless.”
“Never said you were.” His voice carries a note of admiration. “Actually, you’re pretty badass for someone with a chronic illness.”
“Pretty badass for someone, period,” I correct him.
He chuckles, nodding in agreement. “From here, I can tell you, you most definitely have a bad ass.” I hear the smile in his voice.
I stop walking abruptly and spin with a huge smile crossing my face, but I cross my arms over my chest. “Was that your way of flirting, or are you giving my ass a negative review right now as we drag ourselves up a sandy hill with no witnesses?”
He snorts out a laugh, continuing past me, hoisting my equipment up his shoulder. “So, my delivery needs some work, but Clover, I could never leave a negative review on your ass. It’s all gold stars and Michelin reviews from me, Reel Girl.” He winks, then takes off ahead of me, Dracula following him as a flush crosses my cheeks.
But then I jerk my head back in realization of what he said, and take off after him. “Wait, Michelin is for eating!”
He glances back at me with a nonchalant shrug. “Well, maybe I wanna taste every inch of you?”
I stop dead on the spot as he chuckles, spins, and keeps trudging up the hill. My heart races against my chest, and I move my hand to my watch to turn off the alert before it starts beeping this time, knowing it is going to sound at any second.
Holy. Fuck!
“C’mon, Clo, you’re gonna miss all the fun,”he calls ahead of me, breaking me from my shock-induced coma.
Letting out the breath I didn’t know I was holding, I rush to catch up to him, but I’m fighting the urge to climb him like atree. He simply smiles at me when I move in beside him, but says nothing. A comfortable silence flows between us. When we’re about three-quarters of the way up, a low, haunting hum that seems to come from the dunes themselves vibrates through the air, and I stop climbing, mesmerized.
“Do you hear that?” I whisper so I don’t disturb the moment.
Phoenix stops beside me, tilting his head to listen. “Whatisthat?”
“The singing sands. The sound happens when the sand grains slide against each other in just the right way.” I pull out my cell to record the symphony. “Scientists think it has to do with the size and shape of the sand particles, but no one knows for sure why some dunes sing and others don’t.”
The brightest smile lights Phoenix’s lips. That, teamed with the humming dunes, is like something from a Nicholas Sparks novel. We stand listening to the desert’s song, and I watch Phoenix’s face transform with wonder. This tough biker who’s seen the worst of humanity is standing on a sand dune, completely captivated by a natural phenomenon most people will never experience.
