Shattered Girl (Emmy)

I was so excited, that I jumped out of my seat the moment Mike slowed to turn into a parking space.

"Careful, honey. Let me

e get the truck turned off before you start jumping around, Mike admonished. Blushing, I sat down. When Mike had turned off the truck, he turned to me, smiling. Now you can get out. If I had brought you back hurt because you jumped out of a moving vehicle, we would both be in a lot of trouble," he joked.

I nodded in understanding. 'I'm sorry, I know that wasn't safe; I will be more careful, I promise," I told Mike before letting myself out of the truck. I met Mike at the back of the truck, He pulled out my pack first, handing it to me so I could get it adjusted properly.

A few minutes later, we were heading toward the trailhead, and Mike began telling me about the area, pointing out and telling me the names of trees and flowers as we passed. "It's beautiful out here; 1 love it; look at all the flowers I laughed. I love flowers, they were so bright and beautiful, and always lifted my mood. Living with my father, though, I never had any money to buy any, and if I had tried to plant any seeds, my father would have surely killed them or pulled them out when he was mad at me,

When Mike heard this, he promised that when we found our forever home, He would get me any flowers I wanted to plant. I grinned excitedly, "Do you think we can find someplace like this to live? I love it here, but I know it's too far away for Patrick because he has to spend so much time in the city."

"I know we will do our best to find something that will make us all happy." Mike promised. I'm sure there is somewhere close enough to the city for Patrick but still secluded enough for you, honey." Mike reached for my hand, pulled me toward him, and gave me a deep. I smiled up at Mike as we continued walking, but I stayed close, keeping our fingers intertwined. After several minutes of walking I noticed a creek appear off to one side of the path. That looks so refreshing, I'm really looking forward to swimming today."This content © Nôv/elDr(a)m/a.Org.

"Me too, honey, but I'm more excited to see you in whatever swimsuit you packed for this trip. Mike grinned wickedly, wiggling his eyebrows at me. I laughed at his teasing.

"Well I guess you will just have to wait and see then, I'm not going to give you any hints, so don't even try to guess what I'm going to wear. I'm just glad I remembered to pack one, otherwise I would be out on the boat later with nothing on." I laughed at Mike's groan. He reached out, smacking my ass, and before I could complain, silenced me with a

A few minutes later, I began to hear the faint roaring sound of fast-moving water. Mike led me around a bend in the trail, and there, as the trail branched off in a different direction, was a beautiful waterfall I froze in the middle of the trail, staring up at the waterfall in awe. ""Mike, it's beautiful," I said.

Mike stepped up behind me, resting his hands on my hips and the side of my neck. "I thought you would like it." He murmured. Taking my hand, we set off to a smaller trail that led closer to the falls. As we got closer, I began to feel misty drops of water brushing my face, and as if by magic, the waterfall appeared. There was a small clearing at the base of a cliff, and the waterfall fell into a pool of water that led off toward the creek we had been walking beside. As Mike led me closer, I pulled my phone out to take a video of the beautiful

scene. "Can we come

we come back and swim here?" I asked Mike. He nodded.

"I have been swimming here a few times, but I have to warn you, it's going to be a lot colder than the lake." Curious now, I walked toward the edge of the pool, knelt down, and ran my hand through the water. Shit, it was freezing: I quickly pulled my hand out of the icy water and dried it on my shorts.

"Nope, never mind. It's way too cold for this city girl" I went back to Mike, who was chuckling until I slid my freezing hand under his shirt. He yelped, trying to wiggle away from my freezing fingers. Once he escaped my icy attack, he took my cold hand and tucked it into the crook of his arm while he led me further along the edge of the pool. There was a small outcropping of rocks off to one side. Mike led me to one that was flat enough for both of us to sit on. Pulling a blanket out of his pack, he folded it before setting it on the rock, giving me a soft place to sit.

We spent a long time sitting by the waterfall, cuddling together,, enjoying the view, and just talking. When his phone alarm went off, Mike shifted to grab it and turn off the annoying beeping. Sighing, he cuddled me, down the back of my neck, making me giggle as he found a ticklish

spot,

"Come on, pretty girl. It's time to go home. The guys are probably more than ready to be out on the lake, and I want to see this swimsuit of yours." He pulled me to my feet, and I decided to tease him a little. Slowly bending down to pick up my backpack, I knew I had his attention. Standing back up. I called over my shoulder.

"If you can call it that, there's more string than suit." 1 giggled at Mike's groan, and we began walking back toward the parking lot where we had left the truck.