Chaos Theory (Nerds of Paradise #2)(57)
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Melody’s shout ripped through the sylvan peace that had seeped into Will’s muscles post-orgasm.
He jerked straight, nearly losing his balance as he whirled toward her. She came charging out of the forest as fast as she could with her bad ankle. Her backpack was strapped in place as though she was ready to hike the mountain beside them, a large roll of what looked like both sleeping bags fastened to the bottom of her pack. “Melody?”
“What is this all about?” she demanded, even louder, as she limped over to his backpack. She picked it up and shook it at him. “Explain this to me.”
Will gaped at her for a moment before wading out of the calf-deep water and over to where she stood, in an inexplicably towering temper. “Explain what?”
She dropped his backpack, opting to glare at him instead. “If you think I’m going to let you leave me behind to get picked up by some helicopter, you’ve got another think coming, buddy.”
He opened his mouth, but had no reply. “What are you talking about?”
“You,” she growled. “You thinking that you can walk off and leave me, that you can spill your guts to me and then ditch me the next day.”
He continued to work his jaw, speechless in the face of her torrent of anger, especially since that anger made no sense. But damned if he wasn’t clueless to even know where to start letting her know she’d gotten the wrong picture.
“You can’t keep running away from your emotions forever, Will,” she raged on. “They’re called difficult emotions for a reason. You can’t run and hide from them, and you can’t deal with them effectively on your own. No man is an island.”
“I know. I’m not an island.” He shook his head over how bizarre it sounded to say that while standing shirtless, pants rolled up, morning air starting to chill him to the bone.
For a change, Melody didn’t seem to be taking in the whole picture. “You’re wearing me out, Will. All I want to do is help you get through this. But you can’t pack up and leave everything behind all the time. And you can’t run from good emotions as quickly as you run from bad ones. And for gosh sakes, I can’t fight all of your problems for you.”
“I wasn’t—” Instead of stopping because he was speechless, he didn’t bother going on because the ridiculous of the situation hit him. There he was, mostly undressed and dripping, less than fifteen minutes after a self-induced orgasm, while Melody stood, bristling, in front of him, fully clothed. She’d taken the time to braid her hair and pack up before coming after him.
Her eyes narrowed, and her mouth formed a tight line. “Why are you laughing?”
Will hadn’t realized he was laughing until she pointed it out. He couldn’t stop either. That was it, he was well and truly broken. He crossed his arms, shaking his head as the laughter and cold shook the rest of him. “You thought I’d ditched you.”
She started to growl a reply, but stopped and blinked. “Didn’t you?”
“No.” He held his arms wide and stared down at himself. “Do I look like I’m dressed to bolt through the wilderness in order to get away from anything?”
Melody seemed to notice his bare chest and damp trousers for the first time. Lucky for him, he could tell she liked what she saw. Her shoulders dropped and the softness returned to her mouth and face. “Then what are you doing?” Confusion replaced anger in her voice and expression.
“I needed—” Will half turned, pointing at the lake with his thumb over his shoulder, before the wild notion that he should just opt for the truth instead of inventing some sugar-coated excuse hit him. He cleared his throat and turned back to her. “I had a hard-on the size of a sequoia when I woke up, and I decided to give myself a little space and privacy to take care of it.”
She just stood there, staring at him, mouth open. “You…” Her voice faded. She made a squeaking sound, then tried again. “You didn’t try to abandon me in the forest with the GPS thingy—” She held up their emergency walkie-talkie in her right hand. “—because you thought I’d be a liability?”
“No.” He crossed his arms again, fighting to keep a straight face. The old, no longer fully connected part of him thought he might just have a right to be angry with her for the direction her thoughts had taken, but the rest of him was too busy drinking in how cute she was when she was irate.
Melody huffed out a breath. “You weren’t so upset by all the mess last night that you decided to pick up and run to get away from how it all made you feel?”
“No.”
Her body sagged even more, and she made a strangled sound. “And you weren’t planning to have the helicopter come pick me up because of my ankle so that you could keep going alone and prove to yourself that you were strong enough to live up to your dad’s expectations on your own?”
“Uh, that would also be no.” He couldn’t help himself. He broke into a grin and rubbed a hand over his face. “But it’s nice to know that you think I’m capable of all that.”
“Oh.” She grimaced, taking a couple of steps over to a low boulder and sinking to sit on it. “Wow. My imagination is a real bitch this morning.”
Will snatched up his shirt, put it on, even though he was still damp, then grabbed his socks and boots before striding over to sit on the boulder with her. “I appreciate the thought.”