April contained the urge to mope and simply nodded. Gripp got his pack together, and they began walking again.
They returned to a comfortable silence, and that was when sadness crept through her. She was sad that she hadn’t said anything, sad that he hadn’t either. No mention of a life beyond their adventure, something that she feared had simply been a fantasy they had happily engaged in.
Then April remembered there was a swamp ahead.
“Pull your socks up,” Gripp said, doing so with his own just before the swamp encroached. “I don’t want any bacteria to get in there.”
April leaned forward and did as he asked. As she did, she felt her eyes swell with tears. She wondered what was wrong with her. No man had ever made her cry, especially since they had yet to depart from each other’s presence.
She kept her head down for a few more moments to get herself together. She didn’t want Gripp to see the true sorrow in her. Then she would have to tell him how she felt, there was no doubt.
Just keep going.
One step at a time
.
TWENTY-FOUR
GRIPP
Gripp was dreading getting back to the States and parting from April. He wanted to tell her exactly what he was feeling, but his lack of trust in others and inexperience with romantic feelings held him back. He’d had a few flings in his life, but nothing had ever become serious because of his parents' neglect and the shitty way the government had dealt with him.
Moving around with April in his homeland was the closest thing to a serious relationship that he’d had.
Her bite from the snake wasn’t dangerous, but he didn’t want to risk it. Otherwise, he would offer to stay out here with her forever, find a secret hut somewhere on an abandoned island, make love constantly, and live off the land. It floored him to realize that he wanted that desperately.
They approached the swamp, which appeared around two feet deep. They would both have to wade in up to their knees for a few miles, but he had no doubt in his mind that April could handle it.
It was one of the many aspects of her personality that made him want to study every inch of her soul.
They both pulled their socks up, and Gripp took the first step in. He felt the sand beneath his shoes sink in but was stable enough. He glanced back at April, whose leg was poised in the air.
“There might be some animals in here,” he said. “But they’ll only attack if they feel threatened.”
She cocked an eyebrow at him, looking beautiful, curious, and disheveled.
“What if they’re hungry?” she asked.
Gripp grinned ear to ear. She had a wonderful sense of humor that made his heart sing. “Then we better hope that they already ate,” he quipped.
April pursed her lips, then shook her head sarcastically.
“Some guide you are,” she joked.
Gripp stood still in the swamp as he watched April place one foot down, then the other. She settled and took a few long strides forward to meet up with him, then turned to him with a slight flip of her hair.
“What are you waiting for?” she said, stepping ahead of him. “We’ve got a swamp to walk.”
God, I want to kiss her.
Gripp moved forward with his long legs, his heart thrumming in his chest like a spirited guitar.
“You aren’t like most girls, are you?” Gripp said.
April looked back, frowning. “You’ll have to be more specific,” she said.
“Most girls wouldn't want to wade through something like this,” Gripp pointed down at the sludge below them. “I would very likely have to carry them the entire way.”