I let most of the guys go ahead of me, only swinging my leg over my bike when it was Piper, Rod, and me remaining.
Smiling at Piper, I asked, “Are you ready to hang out with guys all weekend?”
She sighed. “I guess so.”
Rod pushed off to go ahead of us.
The trail wasn’t wide enough for two, so I rode slightly ahead of Piper. I was conscious that the guys had noticed I was into her. I didn’t want them giving either of us a hard time.
We kept an easy silence as we traversed the rocky terrain. I concentrated on the path in front of us, avoiding any sticks or rocks. When the path widened, I rode next to her, keeping an eye on her. Her shoulders were relaxed as she easily maneuvered around obstacles.
“You don’t have to hang back with me, you know,” Piper finally said, shooting a glance at me.
“I don’t like you back here by yourself.” I stiffened, wondering if she’d be angry or assume I was insinuating she couldn’t take care of herself.
She was quiet for a few seconds before saying quietly, “It’s been a while since anyone’s worried about me.”
The words, “You don’t have a boyfriend?” were out before I could stop myself.
Her expression turned serious. “I have this knack for liking guys who leave.”
I was momentarily stunned by her brutal honesty.
“Sorry. That came out of nowhere. You don’t want to hear about that stuff.”
I wanted to hear everything. She’d said she wasn’t authentic with her family, so why was she transparent with me? “Who left?”
“My high school boyfriend got a scholarship to play football. He insisted he wanted to do the long-distance thing, but after a month or so, he didn’t want someone waiting for him back home. There were too many girls who wanted to date a football player.”
“He was stupid and immature.”
She shot me an amused look. “Thanks for saying that, but it was for the best.”
“You ever leave Telluride?”
“No. It was never the right time, or I never had a good reason to.”
“Sometimes you have to make the time.” I didn’t know what her circumstances were, but I didn’t like her not living her dreams.
“I wanted to travel to see what else there was after high school, maybe even go to college, but it wasn’t an option.” She bit her lip.
“Why wasn’t it?” It felt like I was prying but my desire to know more about her overrode everything else.
“My parents were already paying for Henry to go to college. They could only pay for one of us. I got my cosmetology license in school, so I already had a marketable skill.”
Her answer sounded rote as if she’d repeated it a thousand times. Was that what her parents had told her?
“What about what you wanted?”
“I suppose I could have left, but I didn’t really have the money for that. I thought I’d work for a while and save up. Then it seemed more important to move out of my parents’ and get my own place. Then I needed a car. It was always something, and you don’t make a lot of money as a stylist—at least, not in a small town.”
I hated that she felt like she didn’t have options. I sifted through what I knew about her. She was a hairstylist, she liked the outdoors, she was active, and she helped her brother at his lodge. “You’re a good person to help out your brother. Especially when he got something you wanted.”
She laughed. “I don’t know about that. I’m still resentful of what happened, how my parents viewed things.”
There was more to her story with her family, but I didn’t know her well enough to ask more questions.
We came up on a clearing. The others had stopped to get some water. We pulled up beside them, climbing off our bikes.
Piper sat on a rock, unwrapping a granola bar.
Not wanting the guys to ask why I was hanging out with Piper, I moved over to Rod. “What do you think so far?”
“It’s beautiful out here.”
“It is.” Since I’d been called to Colorado, I wanted to explore, but there was never time. My days were filled with training, workouts, and unpacking my belongings in my new apartment.
After a few minutes, we headed out again. This time, I rode next to Rod, making sure to hang back in case Piper needed help. I got into a rhythm, zoning out like I did when I was playing baseball.
A loud crash, like something tearing through the brush, jerked me out of my reverie.
“What was that?” Rod stopped, pulling his bike off the path.
I skidded to a stop, too, worried it was Piper. Dropping my bike to the ground, I turned to find the path behind us empty.
Rod was already jogging back. “I think Piper skidded off the path.”
The rest of the group had already gone ahead.
I ran after Rod, my heart beating hard in my chest.
“She’s down there.” Rod was staring down the sharp incline.
I held my hand out to stop him. “I got her.”
I didn’t wait for his response, running down the hill as fast as I could, slipping here and there until I skidded to a stop next to her.
“I’m okay. I’m okay.” She tried to sit up, her hand moving toward her tattered leggings.
“Just wait.” I pushed on her chest for her to stay down. “Where are you hurt?”
She was quiet, probably assessing her injuries. “I think it’s just scratches. I’m more embarrassed than anything.”
“What happened? Did something dart out in front of you? Did you hit a rock?” I ran my hands over her body, trying to see if she was hurt anywhere.
When she didn’t answer right away, I looked at her face.
Her cheeks were flushed. “I was distracted when I went around the curve. I wasn’t thinking.”
She must have flown straight off the path and down the embankment.
“You have to pay attention to the path ahead of you,” I chided.
She was quiet, not arguing with me. It made me wonder what she’d been doing. Was she distracted by me?
Not feeling any obvious injuries, I motioned for her to sit up. “Where does it hurt?”
She pointed to her ripped leggings where she had a few scratches.
Relieved it wasn’t worse, I said, “I’ll need the first aid kit in my pack.”
The problem was the hill was steep. I wasn’t sure I could carry her.
“I can walk.” Her expression was dubious.
“Let’s see if you can stand.” Her ankle didn’t seem swollen, but she might have still tweaked it.
Her breath hitched as I helped her up. Was she as affected by our proximity as I was?
She placed her weight on her feet. “I feel okay.”
I kept a hand under her elbow so I could grab her if she stumbled. We trudged up the hill where Rod was waiting with the first aid kit.
I guided Piper to a rock.
Rod handed me the kit. “I called Henry.”
I kneeled in front of her, opening the kit to pull out antiseptic and a Band-Aid.
Piper’s face was pinched. “You didn’t have to.”
“We need to let him know we’re not with them.” I wasn’t sure of the path we were supposed to be taking. “Is he coming back?”