Free Save Me (Elk Creek) by Crystal Lee Page B

heck isn’t little compared to you?” he asked. “You’re like your own species.”  His grin got bigger.
    D ammit, I did not like it, he was not handsome. I kept telling myself that, but it wasn’t helping.
                  “You’re a little spitfire too, I like it.” 
    I swear , if he said “little” one more time, I was gonna deck him. Given his size, and he was probably hard as a frickin rock, I’d probably just break my hand. I decided not to say any more, obviously talking to him was only encouraging him. I pursed my lips closed and tried to direct my gaze anywhere other than his chiseled chest and shoulders.
                  “Are you going to tell me what you were doing way down here?” he asked again, breaking the momentary silence.
                  I let out a long, insufferable sigh. “If you must know, I just needed space. I like it here, it’s quiet. Well, it was quiet, I should say.”
                  “Do you mind if I hang out in your quiet place?” he asked, and darn if he didn’t seem sincere.
                  “Sure, just please don’t scare me. I’d hate to have to really put the hurt on you.” I gave the meanest face I could muster, and it must not have been effective because he just chuckled.
                  We walked down the shore for quite a while, one of his long, confident strides equaling two of mine. I was surprised that I was really enjoying his quiet company. He was different from Ethan in that I felt more like an equal with him, not like a child. It was actually quite freeing. I allowed myself to relax and listen to the soft noises surrounding us: the lapping of water on the shore, the call of songbirds overhead, our feet crunching into the sand—his loud and even, mine soft and lopsided.
                  I was baffled by my comfort with him. Usually I wouldn’t go anywhere near anyone who wasn’t family—especially some behemoth of a man.
                  “What size shoe do you wear?” I blurted out of nowhere. Good grief.
                  “Uh… fourteen, why?” he asked, looking caught off guard.
                  “I was just curious,” I quickly shrugged. “I was thinking you were more than twice my size, and I wondered if your feet were in proportion with your body.” Did I really just say that out loud?
                  “I honestly don’t think I have ever been asked that by a girl before,” he mused.
                  “Glad I could be your first,” I said. He gave me a look, and I’m not sure I could name it, but if he were a wild, carnivorous animal, I think he would have eaten me.
                  He cleared his throat. “Do you think we should head back? I don’t want Ethan to think I kidnapped you or something.”
                  I sighed. “I suppose, although after tonight I might pay you to kidnap me,” I muttered.
                  “Oh?” he quirked his brow.
                  “You know a person can really get a crick in her neck looking at you?” I deflected his question. I couldn’t believe I said that.
                  “Well, how about instead of me kidnapping you, you come over for dinner? Then your brother won’t try to kill me, and I don’t run the risk of a prison sentence,” he said. His hands stayed at his sides, but his eyes, those eyes, were imploring.
                  Well, wasn’t this fan-frickin-tastic?
     
     
     

Chapter 5- Carter
     
                  God, she was cute. And witty, too. She was a firecracker, all right. I hadn’t laughed like that in forever. I looked down at her and a bright crimson blush had reddened her face. I knew I put her on the spot, but I wanted to ask her out, and knew from the incident at the diner that it would be a safer bet to ask her over to my house, rather than