Best Dating Rules by Tamie Dearen (no david read aloud .TXT) 📕

away the tears that streaked through the dirt on her face. Josh led the way down the trail, and Emily limped behind him with Brad taking up the rear. A few minutes onto the trail, Josh turned his head, aiming a comment at Brad.

“Hey, looks like this detour was worth it for the scenery.”

Brad craned his head to look around Josh. “How many?”

“Five, I think!”

“Five what?” asked Emily.

“Girls.” Josh chuckled.

Emily peered around Josh down the trail. “Charlie?”

“Ohmygosh! Emily? Is that you?”

Josh stepped back as Emily limped down and six girls collided together, hugging and crying.

“What are you doing here?” Emily asked.

“Looking for you!” exclaimed Charlie. “What do you think? This is even stupider than Thursday night. What happened to my sensible sister?”

“I’m meeting the hiking group up here,” Emily said. “I would’ve been fine. You didn’t need to come.”

“You don’t look fine,” said Grace. “You look pretty beat up.”

“I need to clean up before Spencer comes. But I’m not leaving before he shows up. I didn’t suffer for eight hours just to give up and go home. He’s got to give me a chance to talk to him.”

“Well, he’s not here,” said Charlie. “So you might as well go back with us.”

“He didn’t come?” Her chest constricted, and she couldn’t breath.

Charlie reached out to steady her. “Woah! Are you dizzy?”

“Emily, this isn’t even where the group went hiking,” said Grace. “Becca lied to you.”

“She lied? He’s somewhere else?” Emily bit back bitter tears. “I really did this for nothing, and now I’ve lost him anyway.”

“You haven’t lost him,” said Grace. “I told you he loved you.”

“Yes, I have,” said Emily. “He hiked all day and worked me out of his system.”

“I’m confused… I thought he didn’t go on the hike,” Olivia said.

“No, he went on the hike looking for Emily,” said Hannah.

“Actually,” Charlie told Emily, “Spencer didn’t go on the group hike—he came to your apartment to talk to you. Then Steven and Spencer almost killed themselves, running the entire ten-mile hike and back at Harriman trying to find you. And Steven got us tickets to see Let It Be, tonight, and we’re missing it!”

“Eh-hem.” A voice cleared behind them.

Charlie looked up at Emily’s companions and grinned. “Sorry. Are we blocking the trail?”

“No,” Emily corrected. “These two guys pretty much saved my life today. There seems to be a lot of that going on lately. This is Brad, and this is Josh.” She gave each of the guys a hug. “And this is my sister, Charlie, and my friends, Grace and Hannah and Claire and Olivia.” She gave the guys a shaky smile. “I know now I’d never have made that hike without y’all. I really owe you.”

“I’ve got a great idea,” said Charlie. “Let’s bring the guys back with us, and we can take them out for a late dinner to thank them.”

Emily examined the two men, noticing for the first time both were extremely attractive, with well-muscled physiques. No wonder Charlie wanted to bring them back to the city. Grace also seemed interested in the idea, or in the guys. She was giggling at something Brad said to her. Well, she’d be glad if something good came out of this awful day. Maybe someone else could find love. As for her, she’d blown it again.

“We appreciate the offer,” Brad said. “But, I doubt we could all fit in your vehicle. Or did you come by taxi?”

“Nah,” said Charlie, “We’re in a limo—plenty of room. Do y’all live in the city? We could drop y’all by your places to clean up, and then meet for dinner.”

“A limo? You’re kidding, right?” said Josh.

“No,” said Claire. “It’s a real limousine. You should come—it’s fun.”

“Why on earth did you come out here in a limousine? Are you rich or something?” asked Josh.

“Heck, no,” said Charlie. “But my stepdad is. Are you guys coming? Or are you camping on the cold hard ground and hiking all day tomorrow.”

“Well, that was the original plan.” Brad said. “But... I’ll leave it up to Josh. Whatever, you want. I’m game.”

“Why not? We can hike any time.” Josh sent a concerned glance in Emily’s direction and moved to steady her as she swayed against him.

She was dizzy and bone tired. She was also heartbroken, but she tried not to dampen the spirits of her friends. Josh supported her as she limped along, following the animated group down the long trail to the parking lot where the limousine waited. She climbed in and wedged herself into the corner seat, where she promptly fell sound asleep.*****

“They found her,” Gherring told Spencer. They’d reached their car and were trying to decide whether to drive toward Devil’s Tombstone when Charlie called. “They have her in the limo, and they’re headed back to town.”

Spencer felt his body relax as relief flooded his system. He hadn’t realized how tense he’d been. “Is she okay? I can’t believe she made that hike on her own.”

“She’s apparently okay, but a bit torn up. Nothing broken. They’re bringing two guys back with them. Evidently, these two met up with Emily on the trail and helped her out.” Gherring shook his head. “The girls are planning to take those boys out to a late dinner as a thank-you.”

Spencer felt a surge of jealousy. What was wrong with him? He should be grateful she had help. Otherwise, she’d probably be stuck alone on the trail or even lost. But he couldn’t help wondering how friendly they’d been.

“We should beat them home by an hour. Do you want to wait with us? Or do you want to go home.”

“I’ll go home. I really need a shower.”

“And then come back over for dinner with the group?” Gherring asked.

Spencer considered his options. He was exhausted, and he really didn’t feel like going out for a late dinner. On the other hand, he wanted to see Emily.

“I guess I’ll take a quick shower and then wait at your place for Emily to come back.”

“So you can kill her before I do?”

“Absolutely.”