As I pet him, while my heart started to settle into a normal rhythm, he continued to kiss my face and snuggle against me, clearly happy to see me.
A few moments later, a familiar human voice broke through the silence of the mountainside.
“Jesus Christ, dogs never do what you tell them to do, especially this one,” Johnathan insisted as he walked through the bushes, holding a bundle of firewood in his arms.
My heart started to pound once again, but this time, it wasn’t from fear. I was relieved and excited to see Jonathan, thankful that he ended up following me. I wasn’t sure what I would’ve done if he had taken my word and decided not to follow me.
Although, I tried to pretend like I wasn’t happy to see him, since I still wasn’t particularly happy with him. Yet, I wasn’t going to be mean enough to make him go away…at least not until after he built a fire.
“So, you just couldn’t stay away, huh?” I asked snidely, crossing my arms over my chest. However, the attitude behind the motion was ruined completely when Jake’s nose nuzzled between my arms, uncrossing them instantly. “You know, I was doing fine without you.”
“No food, no water, no fucking fire? Yeah, Carrie, you’re a regular boyscout,” he insisted, without losing a bit of his sharp tongue and normal roughness.
“I was getting to it,
” I answered, “I was just taking a break, that’s all.”
Dropping the firewood on the ground, he followed it and started to methodically set the wood alight.
“Well, you need to get on that, because if you don’t warm yourself soon, your skinny ass will freeze to death.”
“You have no right to talk about my ass, in any capacity,” I answered, half teasing him.
Johnathan wasn’t amused. I could nearly sense his eyes roll as he continued to work with the tinder.
“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but you do realize that you are in the mountains, not the fucking coast and when you’re in a situation like this, you should put aside your pride and get help. Your pride doesn’t do shit for you if your dead,” he hissed.
“Yeah, well, look who’s talking, Mr. I’d rather be an asshole than have a normal conversation.”
“Well, this is one hell of a thanks for saving my ass,” he retorted as the flames of the growing fire started to lick around the tender. Carefully, Johnathan put the pieces of wood on the flames and watched them devour the smaller twigs almost instantly, before encompassing the whole structure of firewood he created.
“You’re the one who came in here and started doing stuff. I didn’t ask for your help and I don’t need your help,” I insisted and this time, due to the light the fire was giving off, I could see him roll his eyes as his head tilted back in annoyance, “Dammit, Cassie! Is thank you even in your vocabulary?”
“Not when I have no reason to say thank you. Just because you want to act like my knight in shining armor doesn’t mean you get to be it.”
At this, Johnathan laughed, but in a maniacal manner, “Yeah, sorry, but no. I’m no knight. I am…how did you put it before? Pitiful? A coward? A…child hiding under the covers?”
“Oh, so you were paying attention. That’s good to know.”
“I always pay attention, unlike you who seems to think with their stubbornness first and their brain after. Was it really so hard to stay with me? Was I that terrible of a host that you made me come out here and save you?”
Now, it was me who rolled my eyes, “God, Johnathan! It’s always about you, isn’t it? For a loner, you are one of the neediest people I have ever met. You always need to feel justified. Holy crap! You made a fire…do you want a medal? When we get back to civilization, I’ll find you a medal, alright?”
“Ha! Ha! Ha!” Johnathan barked, “If you didn’t need to keep score all the time, I wouldn’t need to remind you of how many times I’m the reason you’re not dead…Or worse.”
As we bantered, Johnathan continued to set up camp skillfully, ensuring that everything was safe, and we were able to even have some shelter.
I wasn’t going to tell him this, but I was impressed by his resourcefulness.
He was even able to find a source of water, which he offered to me first, before giving Jake some and going back to fill up himself.
I continually huffed and puffed as he moved around the campsite, ensuring everything was appropriate. I still wasn’t ready to forgive him for what he said, though I was happy he was here.
I wanted an apology, but I wasn’t sure I was going to get one, so I settled on allowing time to heal the hurt.
When he was finished, Johnathan came over to me and moved toward my leg, as though he wanted to check it but I roughly pulled it out of his grasp.
“I’m still angry with you!” I exclaimed, meeting his narrowed eyes with my angry gaze.