The CEO's Kryptonite ⚣ ✓

11

Christian

I kept stealing glances at Alex.

We had been out camping for a good few hours now. The sun was starting to set.

And Alex was still trying to get his freaking tent set up.

"I don't know if I should feel concerned or insulted that it's taken this kid this long." Miles whispered to me. I chuckled.

"He really wasn't lying when he said camping wasn't his thing." We both shot another glance at this bewildered guy.

I was... intrigued.

Alex intrigued me. His mind was sharp, and at work, he excelled... But holy fucking shit, he couldn't do anything physical to save his life. It was nice to know who would and wouldn't be having my back in case of a zombie apocalypse.

"This is sad." Brad whispered to the two of us. It looked like he was going to be the first to break as he made his way over to Mr. Hamilton.

Alex's face lit up when he realized someone was actually coming to his rescue. I was surprised it was Brad. I knew Miles wouldn't budge until I told him he could interfere. But Brad... he usually didn't want to intervene, or show interest in anything.

Alex's face was starting to get flushed from the liquor. His movements were still pretty normal, but every few minutes, he accidentally lost his balance and bumped into Brad. Brad looked irritated...

But not that irritated.

And that, for some reason, irritated me.

-

The gang had finally settled in. Joel didn't stay long after the pictures were finished, so that left just Alex, Brad, Miles, and I.

I glanced around the camp a few times until a frown firmly plant itself on my lips. "Where's Alex?" I asked.

Brad just shrugged, but it was Miles who answered. "Went to grab some more firewood a little bit ago. Come to think of it, he's taking a while..."

I felt my body grow warm despite the chilly air that surrounded us. "Which direction did he take off in?" I asked, unable to mask my concern as well as I thought I could.

"Down through that trail there." Miles pointed to a narrow dirt trail. I didn't stick around to hear much more from either of the guys, and instead, made my way into the forest with a torch in hand.

-

Alex

Note to self: don't offer to gather any firewood in an unknown forest if you know good and damn well you get lost in Walmart regularly.

I glance around for the trillionth time in the past ten minutes. Nothing looked anywhere near familiar.

Just trees. Tons of fucking trees.

I felt myself stumble slightly. My foot must have caught on to one of those invisible branches the main protagonist trips on in every horror movie because I felt my soul escape my body shortly before face planting into the ground. It was only when I was dusting the rest of my dirt off my face, did I finally have my first drunk thought.

In all of those boot camp videos, the cadets always spread mud under their eyes to give them a performance advantage... right?

Well it sounded right to me.

I gathered a bit of dirt into my palm before squirting water from my canteen. It created this paste that left what I envisioned to be, perfect lines under my eyes.

I heard something snap a few hundred feet away from me. My heart beat was hammering out my chest and I couldn't tell whether that was the liquor or if I had actually heard that.

God didn't give me too long to speculate, as the sound of a branch snapping echoed through the forest again. This time, it was significantly closer.

I lost all functionality in my legs as I dropped to the floor in fear. This was why I didn't step foot outside. I could already feel my eyes growing irritated from my allergies.

I was shaking in fear. I couldn't help it. More branches snapped and leaves were pushed aside until I heard another noise at the edge of the opening. What threw me off was the bright light that was flashed over at my dirtied up self.

"Shit. Alex? Alex? Can you hear me?" Christian asked. His voice didn't sound like his voice... but it also did at the same time. I couldn't understand let alone explain how that was possible, but I'd never heard him sound this concerned before.

"Oh thank fuck." I whispered out shakily. I didn't want Christian to see me like this. I felt my stomach contract in a weird way when my eyes finally found his. Mine must have looked red and puffy by now from the alcohol/allergy mix.

I took a few steps forwards and stumbled. It wasn't until we both looked down, did we then see the huge gash on my knee. I had cut it open without even realizing when I tripped.

"You didn't feel that earlier?" Christian asked in disbelief. I could tell he was thinking hard about something but I couldn't tell what. "Alexander Hamilton. I don't know if I've gained an assistant, or more baggage." He grumbled to himself. His actions contradicted yet complimented his words as he knelt down in front of me.

When I didn't move, he turned his head towards me in annoyance. "Can you get on my back already? We're a couple miles out and you won't be able to walk on that."

I stared back at him like he had to be out of his goddamn mind if he thought I was going to let him give me a piggyback ride. "No-no really I'm fine. If we could just take it a little sl-"

"Get on my back or I'm leaving you in this forest."

That was all it took to have me securely gripping his body for dear life as he effortlessly carried me back to camp. He was careful not to hurt my left knee when his arm stepped under that thigh. At first I didn't wrap my arms around his neck because I felt like that would be too much, but when he bent down to dodge a tree branch without telling me, I quickly learned that nothing was too much.

"My face." I whined at where the tree branch had complete collided with my face. I was surprised I managed to stay on Christian's back. He stopped immediately to mumble an apology, but I ushered him on.

I couldn't stop my body from leaning into his warmth. It was like an ongoing battle with myself of not getting to close, but alcohol was starting to take over my movements. I laid my head down against his shoulder and took his scent in.

He smelt like the woods. Something you'd imagine a manly wilderness man to smell like. I'm sure I now smelt like sweat and a field of broken dreams. His body went rigid from underneath me, but that was the last of what I could recall before my memory slipped through the fingers of my once sober mind.

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