Page 2 of Her Dragon
“Hey, Marielle,” she called.
I glanced over my shoulder. “What?”
“You should go out with the next guy who asks you. Dating might help you lighten up.”
“Thanks for the advice,” I mumbled, my cheeks heating.
I ducked my head and headed to the other side of campus, where my dorm was located. Her words rattled around my brain during the fifteen-minute walk. I wished going on my first date was as simple as she suggested. I’d been asked out by a few guys on campus—including someone from our class last month, which he’d done in front of Shelley. Even if I’d had the time to date, I wasn’t interested in any of those guys. In fact, I’d never met a guy who tempted me to agree to a date.
Back in high school, I hadn’t really worried about my lack of interest in dating. I figured it was just because I was a late bloomer, and I’d meet someone in college who brought my dormant libido to life. But so far, I hadn’t been that lucky. Not that it would really matter when I barely had enough time to get grades that would be good enough for me to be accepted to a decent PhD program. It wasn’t the right time for me to date, so it was probably for the best that I hadn’t met anyone who wasn’t easy to resist.
2
MARIELLE
One of the reasons Dr. McCord had us work in teams on our field reports was to ensure none of his students wandered around the wilderness by themselves. I knew it was safer to use the buddy system, but desperate times called for desperate measures. With less than a week to complete the entire assignment without any help from Shelley, I had no choice but to head to the forest a couple of towns over from campus on my own.
My stash of snacks was running low, so I stopped at the gas station about a mile from where I planned to park. As I walked up to the counter with a basket full of stuff, I realized that I probably should have eaten more at breakfast.
“Oooh, I didn’t realize they carried dill pickle bites here.”
I glanced at the woman behind me in line, my lips curving when I spotted her rounded belly.
“I’ll grab a couple of packs,” the man at her side murmured, brushing his lips against her temple before heading toward the aisle where I grabbed the bag I had just plopped onto the counter.
“You’re not going to have any luck,” I called. “I got the last one.”
“Drat.” The woman puffed out her bottom lip with a sigh. “Just seeing them has my mouth watering.”
Before the guy at the register could scan the bag, I picked it up and offered it to her. “Take it. I have plenty of other snacks to get me through my trek through the woods today.”
“Oh, I couldn’t,” she replied, even as she snagged the bag from me and clutched it against her ample chest.
The man turned back around, shaking his head with a deep laugh. “You know there isn’t a chance in hell she’s getting those pickles back from you, so just say thank you, baby.”
“True,” she conceded with a grin. “Thanks so much.”
I returned her smile as I paid for the rest of my things and lifted the bag filled with snacks off the counter. “You’re welcome.”
The man wrapped his arm around the pregnant woman’s back. “Headed anywhere in particular?”
“I’m not one hundred percent sure.” I pressed my lips together, my nose wrinkling while I gave it some thought before I explained about my assignment and losing my partner. “So I probably won’t go as deep into the state park as I had originally planned. Which will suck for my assignment, but I don’t want to risk anything happening while I’m by myself.”
“Stick to the eastern side of the park,” he suggested, a gleam of concern in his eyes as he pulled his wallet from his back pocket. Flipping it open, he removed a scrap of paper and asked the gas station attendant for a pen. After scrawling a number on it, he handed the note to me. “The trails aren’t used quite as much because of their proximity to private property where trespassing is enforced, and you can give us a call if you need help.”
I accepted the paper from him, my brows drawing together. “Thanks, but the last thing I need is to get arrested for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
“Feel free to ignore the trespassing signs if you come across any,” he offered with a grin. “My family owns most of the land butted up against the state park, so if anyone gives you trouble for being there, just tell them Leyton said it was okay.”
“Really?” I bounced on the balls of my feet, excited at the chance to explore territory that hadn’t already been covered by my classmates.
Leyton nodded. “It’s the least I could do after you gave up one of your snacks so Evette got what she was craving.”
“Thanks so much. I appreciate it.”
He waved off my gratitude as he inserted his credit card into the reader to pay for their stuff.
Evette opened a bag of chips to start eating them, mumbling, “Just promise you’ll be careful.”