Trigger (11 page)

Dylan was the first to spot the snake crawling across the dirt road we were on, only a few yards ahead of us. He pulled me to a stop.

“Look,” he said and pointed toward the long, black snake. “It must be a rattlesnake.”

I stopped too, staring at the slimy reptile. I hated snakes. “You’re
right
. I thought that was a tree branch or something at first. Let’s go over here instead.”

I pulled him in the direction of another dirt road that led up to a higher mountain next to the one we were currently climbing. He followed me eagerly and, together, we began climbing the ever steeper road until we reached the top of the mountain. Both of us gasping for breath and sweaty now, we shared the big water bottle Dylan had brought.

I wiped my mouth and handed the bottle back to Dylan. “Good thing we brought
that
with us.”

I turned around and, shading my eyes against the sun that not even my old Ray-Bans could block entirely, I gazed out over the green, billowing landscape that stretched out below the high cliff. I walked closer to the edge of the mountain to get a better look. If I took two more steps, I’d fall dozens of yards before reaching the ground below. A rush of vertigo rolled through my stomach as I imagined slipping into the abyss. I took a step back not to be as close and raised my gaze.

“Wow,” I said. “I can’t get over how beautiful California is. I never get tired of looking at it.”

Dylan joined me, slinging an arm around my shoulders and pulling me close. “I know. It’s like paradise. The most beautiful place on earth.” He turned me toward him. “And you fit perfectly in here with it.” He bent down to kiss me softly. “I feel like the luckiest man on earth. Thank you for giving me a second chance, Nina.”

“No, thank you for looking me up. I was wrong about you.” I looked deep into his turquoise eyes, losing myself with each passing second. Again he kissed me, and this time the kiss was more demanding, hungrier, almost violent. I felt his hands snaking down my body, stopping at my butt, which he squeezed so hard he almost lifted me from the ground. Sighing, he began kissing my neck, his hands moving to my top that he began pulling upward. I raised my arms to help him remove it. But before it was off, he pulled it back down, as though he’d realized having me shirtless on top of a mountain in the middle of the day might not be so smart after all. We weren’t alone on this mountain, it being part of a public hiking area. Somewhere at the back of my mind, I was glad he’d decided to keep me covered despite wanting nothing more than to be naked with him right now.

I should show him my gratitude.

Kissing him again, my hands found the outside of his shorts. I stroked his hardness, feeling it grow even bigger and harder. I longed to taste him, take him in my mouth. He moaned as I sank to my knees and opened his shorts. I soon found what I was looking for. Cupping his balls, I took him in my mouth, managing to get half of him down my throat despite his size. He stroked my head as I was sucking him, licking his cock to the best of my ability, enjoying the way he tasted, the feel of him in my mouth.

“Goddamn, you’re good at that, Nina,” he murmured between gasps. His words spurred me on to do better, make it even more pleasurable for him.

“I’m gonna come soon if you keep that up…” he moaned.

Dylan

I didn’t think I had ever been as horny. The way Nina was working me in her mouth, with her tongue and her hands, was bringing me closer and closer to release. But I didn’t want to come in her mouth, and certainly not yet. Not before having given her an orgasm. We should find a secluded place somewhere close by where we could make love for real, undisturbed by other hikers.

Using the utmost restraint, I reached down and grabbed her under her armpits, pulling her up so she was facing me. But I had come to this decision too late. Before I could think another thought, I felt myself explode in a warm cloud of ecstasy so intense and sweet my knees weakened. I grimaced with pleasure, barely able to see Nina for a few delicious seconds during which I was lost in this other world.

The push came just as my vision fully returned. At first, I didn’t realize what had happened, too busy to steady myself, avoid falling down the steep mountain and break my neck on the ground below that had to be at least thirty yards away. I was dangerously close to the edge. It was with the use of all my strength and balance skills that I managed not to fall off the precipice, contracting my abdominals as I leaned in the other direction.

Only when I had steadied myself finally and saw Nina run away from me, down the dirt road we had come on, did my brain compute what must have happened.

Nina just tried to push me off the fucking cliff.

But why would she do such a thing? I looked after her shrinking body. Had it been an accident?
Yes
,
it must have been an accident.
I caught her throwing a glance over her shoulder, in my direction.
But why is she running like that if it was an accident?
If it had been an accident, she would have stayed, trying to correct her flub, wouldn’t she?

Oh, God
… I was suddenly nauseous.

It had been intentional then. The realization filled me with a terrible sensation that prickled my skin.

I stared after her as she kept getting smaller and smaller, not at all feeling inclined to go after her. It didn’t really matter why she had tried to push me, I decided. What mattered was that she had done it at all.

What normal person would try to push
anyone
down a high cliff to their likely death? I couldn’t think of any reason that would justify such an action. Something must be seriously wrong with this girl. Really, really wrong… I glanced down the precipice and a shudder went through me. If I hadn’t died from the fall, I would surely have ended up in a wheelchair, utterly incapacitated for the rest of my life. Which would almost be worse than dying. Thank God I had managed to catch myself. I supposed I had my almost daily Crossfit sessions to thank for that.

I turned back to look in the direction Nina had run in. She was no longer within my range of vision.

Nina

I was running so hard down the mountain, my lungs hurt like I had breathed in a cloud of sand. Only when I was almost all the way down to the parking lot where Dylan’s car was parked next to a few other vehicles did I dare slow down a little, turn around and see if Dylan was after me. Gasping for breath, I gazed up the long dirt trail I had just covered. It was empty and I couldn’t see anything but trees and undergrowth and stone on either side of it. A frightened little animal, a squirrel perhaps, crossed the road and disappeared behind a bush, reminding me of the snake in our path. I searched the ground where I was standing for signs of more snakes.

I kept looking a few more seconds to be sure I was in the clear. Then I turned around and continued to move away from where I had left Dylan, but at a slower pace now that I felt safer, having covered such a distance already.

There was something that was not right about Dylan, something that scared the shit out of me. And it had nothing to do with fear of getting close to a man. I was absolutely certain of that now. It was something much worse and that was why I had pushed him so hard. I’d needed him to get away from me and fast. The feeling had come over me right after he’d pulled me back to my feet. Being close to him was too dangerous. It made me feel suffocated, as though someone was strangling me, similar to the way I’d felt in his apartment but ten times stronger. I’d been convinced he’d do something to me, something bad, really bad.

Bad as in killing me.

I began half running, toward the asphalted road we had driven on to get to the hiking area’s parking lot. How would I get out of there? I needed to get home, crawl under my sheets and stay there until the terrible feeling that had me so tightly enclosed disappeared. But I was several miles away from home, and the last thing I wanted was to walk all the way to West L.A. Besides, there was only one way out of the hiking area, which meant that, were Dylan to come down soon, he’d be driving right by me. The very thought of being close to him again made me pick up my pace. I glanced at the parking lot. Despite the fact there were four other vehicles besides Dylan’s there, it was eerily quiet. If only one of the other hikers would show up… I supposed it was a just matter of time before someone else came by, but who knew how long that would take? Or if they’d want to give me a ride home. I didn’t feel like waiting around to see.

I glanced down my side and discovered the small fanny pack around my hips. Thank God I had attached it despite it being so incredibly ugly. I needed to have my smartphone with me at all times, but my pockets were too small and a tote bag was too big and unwieldy to drag along during a hiking trip that the fanny pack had been my only option. I opened the zipper and found my phone. What time was it? Almost three p.m. That meant Ricki was probably working and couldn’t pick me up. I tried her anyway. As expected, Ricki’s voicemail picked up. Instead of leaving a message, I typed in a text and sent it, telling Ricki to call me when she saw it, that it was urgent.

I tried Nixon next.

“Hi Nina,” he said after a few rings went through.

“Hi. What are you doing? Are you busy?” The words came out in a rush.

“Just reading a book. Why? Is everything okay? You sound totally strung out. You high or something?” I could tell Nixon had meant that last comment as a joke, but I wasn’t in the mood to be joking around. I needed to get the hell out of there and now.

“No,” I said. “Something bad happened. I
really
need your help. Can you come get me?”

“What’s going on? Where are you?” Nixon sounded worried now.

“Right by the parking lot at the bottom of the Santa Monica Mountains, where all the hiking trails meet. You know where that is?”

“Yeah, I think so. How did you end up there without your car?”

“I’ll tell you when you come get me. When can you be here?”

“If I’m lucky with traffic, it shouldn’t take me more than twenty, twenty-five minutes.”

I told him I’d wait for him and to call me when he was close. I could hide from Dylan between the other cars or behind the little cottage with the restrooms until Nixon showed up. One way or another I’d find a way to make sure Dylan didn’t spot me.

Dylan

I wasn’t sure how long I remained by the cliff, staring after a long gone Nina. It must have been several minutes. I felt empty inside, deplete of any emotion. I had searched my mind for what I must have done to upset Nina to such a degree, desperately wanting to find a good-enough reason to clear her from having tried to hurt me like that. But I had come up with nothing and instead found myself forced to admit the simple truth, as sad as it was, that Nina must be crazy. Stark raving mad. There was no other explanation for what she had done. I shouldn’t be too surprised. She was after all from a broken home, a bad family. A lot of people with that background were mentally unstable. She hadn’t even finished college—
community
college. The way she had rushed out of my place that first time should have totally tipped me off that she was a nutcase. I had been way too forgiving.

I started walking slowly down the trek, in no mood to run into her again. I didn’t think I would, though, the way she had been running away from me. It was almost as if she’d thought
I
would do something to hurt
her
. But why the hell would she think that? It made no sense. Well, at least her being a psycho explained why she was so good in bed. I laughed without mirth. I couldn’t believe I had thought I actually loved this girl. I shook my head. It was embarrassing. My dick might have been in love, but that was it.

She was not in the parking lot when I reached it several minutes later. Except for a few other cars and a couple of ladies walking across it, I was the only person or thing there. Still feeling like an empty shell—-so empty it actually hurt—-I jumped into my car and drove off. I had only driven a few minutes when another car, a green Jeep that an ethnic-looking guy occupied, met me, driving a tad too fast for such a narrow road. I barely avoided scratching my car as we passed each other. I cursed the careless driver through gritted teeth as I watched the jeep disappear in the rearview mirror.

I wasn’t in the mood to drive home, so I continued on the 405 highway, in the direction of San Diego. The thought of sitting in my apartment was not appealing. I was sure it would only make me feel worse. Pushing down the gas pedal, I picked up speed as I cruised down the road, zigzagging between cars while listening to really loud alternative rock. The music booming in my ears managed to block out the discomfort that lived within me, and I entered a zone that made me completely numb. I kept driving and driving, only vaguely noticing how the sun was disappearing and the sky darkening.

It took a couple hours before my mind returned to reality. By that time, I had reached San Diego and was just passing through the city border. Realizing what I was doing and that my gas tank was dangerously close to being empty, I took the nearest exit and left the highway. Driving aimlessly served no purpose, not any longer at least. The disappointment at having discovered that I had been right after all—there
was
in fact something wrong with all chicks looking for love online—didn’t feel quite as heavy any longer. I had somehow gotten used to it, accepted the truth for what it was. Nina was crazy, exactly as I had initially suspected, and that was that.

My stomach growled and it dawned on me that I hadn’t eaten since my late breakfast and now it was seven-thirty at night. I should grab a bite before heading back up to L.A. I filled up my tank, then drove into the parking lot of the first restaurant I found and parked there. Two minutes later, I was sitting at the bar inside the dark eating place, which contained few other patrons, and ordered a burger with fries from the bartender.

While I waited for my food to come, I sipped on a Jack and soda. I truly needed this drink to calm my nerves, which were still more frazzled than I had thought when leaving the highway. I decided to call my uncle. It took me a few tries before Victor finally picked up.