Chaos Theory (Nerds of Paradise #2)(32)
“I’m sure that’s it,” Will agreed, his blush flaring up again. He focused on packing, not daring to look over at her.
Not that keeping his eyes on his work did any good. When he finished packing and stood, slinging his backpack on once more, Melody was staring at him. She saw right through him. The twitch at the corner of her lips and the sly glint in her eyes was a dead-giveaway.
“Are you ready?” he asked, forcing her to focus on the mission ahead of them.
“Almost.” She raised their camera and took a picture of him.
Will frowned. “Don’t.”
“But you make such an attractive subject.”
Will blushed hot. He turned away from her, unfolded the map, and opened the compass once more as Melody giggled and resumed packing. At first glance, the map resembled nothing more than a jumble of squiggly elevation lines and shaded areas. There were a few roads or trails marked, but not many. Plenty of mountains. A few spots that were designated out of bounds. One corner of the map held a big, gold star and the words “Finish Line.” There was no way to tell at first glance where they were in relation to that, though. Will could only assume that they would have dropped the various teams off as close to an equal distance away from that gold star as possible to give everyone an equal chance. But Melody was right, the only way they were going to figure out where they were was to walk around for a while and see if they could match up any of the rivers, ponds, or landmarks on the map with the things they saw around them.
“Okay, I’m ready.” Melody rose, lifting her pack with some difficulty, but managing to get it around her shoulders before Will could reach her to help. The camera dangled from her wrist, ready to be used again. “I hope you’re right about this thing getting lighter as we use the things in it.”
“It will,” he nodded.
She let out a happy sigh and glanced around. The sunlight was still clear and warm, although it was already fading as afternoon turned to evening. It didn’t seem to matter to Melody, though. She looked surprisingly in her element with woods and sky all around her. “Right.” She breathed out. “Let’s get moving and win this thing.”
Chapter Nine
As they walked through the lush, stately forest, heading southeast, Melody found herself imagining that the bug up Will’s butt had jammed itself further up there as their helicopter hit the ground. She’d hoped that a little nature would loosen him up, get him in touch with a more primal, less controlled part of his nature. His downright obsessive need to inventory their backpacks told a different story.
Ah, well. There was still plenty of time to get him to relax that mighty sphincter of his. And they were in the perfect setting for him to do it.
The land around home in Haskell was flat, arid, and didn’t have a lot of indigenous greenery, but the part of the Shoshone National Park where they’d been dropped was green and lush. Mountains rose up all around them, the highest peaks still snow-covered. It was a good thing they had thermal sleeping bags and those funny silver blanket things with them, because it was likely to get cold once the sun went down. That didn’t stop Melody from appreciating the crystal blue sky above them and the rich, dark dirt they walked over. She raised the camera and took snaps of the sloping hills around them, the majestic pines, and even a few friendly forest critters that were probably wondering what the heck those crazy humans were doing.
“You might want to save some space in the camera’s memory for later,” Will said as they hiked up an increasingly steep ridge.
“It’s digital. There’s plenty of memory.” She turned the camera on Will and took a picture of his backside—or at least tried to, since most of it was covered by backpack. “And besides, if I do run out of memory, I can always delete some of the pics that aren’t up to scratch.”
“Why delete them when you could just not take them in the first place?”
She puffed out a breath—half over Will and half because the upward trek was pushing her lungs to the limit. “Why hold yourself back from taking what could be a gorgeous picture just because it might not turn out?”
He didn’t reply right away. When he finally glanced over his shoulder at her, he wore a frown. “Are you all right?”
“Yeah, I’m fine,” she half lied, out of breath. “Keep going.”
“Don’t push yourself too hard. This is only the beginning.”
She arched a brow at him. “Aren’t you in some kind of all-fired hurry to get to the finish line so you can win this thing?”
“Pacing,” he said as if that were the answer to everything. He also slowed down a little, dropping back to her side instead of marching ahead.
They continued on for a few hundred yards, winding in and out of trees, before Melody said, “Just so you know, it’s not going to be the end of the world if we don’t win.”
He let out a breath that might have been an ironic laugh—if Will was capable of irony, which Melody doubted—but kept his eyes straight ahead.
“The joy is in the experience,” she went on. “The journey is just as important as the destination. It’s an honor just to compete.” Her grin spread from ear to ear as she followed one cliché with another.
Will still didn’t crack a smile. “We’re almost to the top of the ridge, then, hopefully, we can look out and get a better sense for landmarks and where we might be on the map.”