Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 76647 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 383(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76647 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 383(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
“I want to help you finish it.”
Her jaw dropped. “Why?”
“Why not? You’ve got a good start. It won’t take too much to add another layer to the walls and strengthen them.”
She bit her lip, her green eyes turning away. “It’s just… it’s kind of the place I go when I need to think.”
“How will my being there prevent you from thinking?”
Involuntarily, her gaze traveled down my body and back up again, and I bit back a grin.
“It’s just… it’s my place to be alone.”
“The make-shift archery range is my place to think and get away from it all—yet, I invited you there.”
She gazed into the distance for a moment before she nodded. “Yeah, you did. Okay, come on.”
She led the way, or rather, Zeus did. It was clear that he’d been invited here before. When we got there, she stepped inside. The structure was about five by five with an open door and a log at the back to sit on. The walls were well structured, but they were only about three feet tall. That wasn’t high enough.
“Is that what you used?” I gestured toward the yellow bucket in the corner. It looked like it belonged on a California beach, not a mountain in Colorado. “Why don’t you make another layer? I’ll help fill it in and strengthen the walls.”
“All right.”
We worked well together, though it took a while. She’d already used a lot of the loose snow around the fort, so she had to travel a bit to get more snow to pack into the bucket. After a few minutes, it dawned on me that it would be easier to bring the snow to her, so I used the shovel to make a pile of snow near the door. I also pressed snow against the outside of the walls, using the shovel to pack it tight and smooth it out. “If we had time, we could douse the walls with water. Then it’d freeze overnight and would be really hard by tomorrow.”
She shuddered. “Ice isn’t my favorite thing right now.”
“Touché.”
The walls of the fort were over four-feet tall when we stopped. “It looks good,” she said when we stepped back to survey it. “A lot stronger than it was before.”
I strode around it like a general inspecting his troops. “Yeah, it’s better, but it’s still got a few weak points. Time to shore up the defenses.”
“What do you mean?” Sierra looked generally curious to know the answer. I’d half expected that by this point, she would’ve gone back inside to warm herself by the fire while making googly eyes at Tristan and Drew.
To answer her question, I stooped down and gathered a large handful of snow from the pile I’d made before. With my leather gloves protecting my hands, I packed it into a tight ball. Then I placed it inside the fort and made another one.
Sierra followed suit. When the pile of snow dwindled, I used the shovel to get more. We didn’t stop until we had well over hundred snowballs lined up inside the fort.
Sierra’s face was flushed from the cold, but she smiled as she looked over our defenses. “What now?”
“Do you have your phone with you?”
“Of course.”
“Now you call Drew or Tristan and tell them that you fell and twisted your ankle.”
Sierra grinned as she took off her gloves and pulled out her phone.
19
SIERRA
I never dreamed I’d spend the morning with Carter—or that I’d enjoy it. I hadn’t known what to expect when he appeared ahead of me in the woods earlier. As always, he looked amazing, like an ad for men’s mountain wear.
His skill with the bow had been impressive, too, and I was very much relieved to find out he hadn’t been out here shooting animals for sport. In fact, I was a little ashamed I’d ever thought that.
But all that paled in comparison to him helping me finish my fort. If you’d asked me yesterday what would’ve happened if he found out about my little building project, I would’ve said he’d laugh his ass off and tease me mercilessly about it. Yet, he hadn’t done either. He’d helped me build it. And now we were both crouched behind the much-improved walls waiting for our victims to come by.
It didn’t take them long. I’d called Drew and told him I hurt my ankle. Carter grinned as I made it sound realistic. Though I tried not to make a habit of it, my acting career provided the skills to really sell a lie. And now I heard the two men running through the snow calling my name. I almost felt guilty for worrying them—almost.
“Not yet,” Carter whispered. He had two snowballs in his glove and more cradled between his arm and his jacket.
“Over this way,” Drew called. “I think she sometimes hangs out back here.”