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“Damn it, where the hell am I?” I groused, as I looked every which way to find nothing but trees and thickets.
I know I shouldn’t have wandered off from the group. But, I’d been bursting to pee, and I didn’t want an audience.
Besides, I also wanted to hide from Ben.
I hadn’t meant to get caught staring, but I was inexplicably drawn by Ben’s whole profile. From across a room, he was good looking. Yet, up close, Ben was damn-near an Adonis.
It was hard for me not to stare at him.
Still, I hadn’t even meant to walk that far off. It was just a few steps — or a half dozen. But now I couldn’t find that damned trail path again.
And I know Ben told us that there were no bears in these woods. But that’s little comfort when your lost in the thickest part of a forest.
“Fuck!’” I yelled out, partly in frustration, partly in growing panic. Knowing my luck, I was probably going to die out here having been eaten by very aggressive beavers or something.
“Case?”
I halted, my body frozen by the hope that I’d heard someone say my name. “Hello?” I shouted out in reply.
“Case, it’s Ben! Just keep talking, and I’ll find you!”
Relief flooded my system. It filled me with a euphoric warmth that melted away all the tension and escalating panic I’d felt for the past half hour.
“Ben! I’m here!” I yelled, as I spun around in an attempt to spot him. I continued babbling loudly, “I’m over here. I got lost! I’m over here!”
“Yeah, I figured,” Ben yelled back. His voice now sounded near enough that I could pinpoint his direction.
Peering through the trees, I found Ben making his way towards me. I waved at him, and he half-waved back.
“Your friend Janet said you’d gone missing,” Ben told me as he neared, and I fought back the unmanly like urge to collapse with relief into his arms. “She said you’d gone to take a leak.” Ben paused to look around the deep forest. “Not sure why you felt you had to walk off this far though.”
“I know, I know. It was stupid of me to split off like that. But, you’ve found me now, so.” I waved in the direction he’d come from, “shall we get back?”
“Yes, of course, Case. It was absolutely no problem finding you,” Ben’s voice was heavy with sarcasm. “No need to thank me.”
I had the good grace to look sheepish at that. “Thanks. Seriously, thanks so much for finding me.” I glanced around the woods. “I was sure I was gonna get eaten by beavers.”
I was caught by surprise when Ben let loose a short laugh, a genuine honest to goodness sound of laughter, punctuated by a half smile.
“So, you can smile,” I said, not bothering to hide my wide grin. “No, no, too late,” I continued, as Ben fixed his face, returning to his more familiar scowl. “Way too late, I saw it. Now I’m going to tell everyone that you are actually capable of cracking a grin,” I said with a laugh.
Ben rolled his eyes. “Let’s get back,” he said shortly before stomping off at my chuckles. Snapping a stern look over his shoulder, he tried to glare the smirk off my face.
It didn’t work.
“Yep,” I enjoyed his clear annoyance a little too much, “you’re all warm and fuzzy.” Trailing after him, I attempted to hop over a log in our path, but I misjudged the distance, and I caught my foot.
I already knew it was much too late to try and right myself, and I squeezed my eyes shut. Yet, as I prepared my face for impact, I felt Ben quickly slip his arms around my waist.
He had moved startlingly fast, fast enough to keep me upright. I, on the other hand, fell face first into Ben’s broad chest, and our bodies now stood uncomfortably flush against one another.
My heart quickened when I leaned back to peer up at him. And I found his hazel orbs gazing right back at me.
We stayed like that for a long while, as I observed Ben's enlarged pupils. And it took me a few more moments to finally notice that a certain part of my body was also becoming enlarged.
In mortified panic, I rushed to get my feet under me. All the while, my shaft continued to thicken with excitement.
It was like it was reacting with a mind of its own, drawn by the heat radiating off Ben’s body.
I took a couple of hurried steps back, keeping my eyes fixed to the ground, as I made a show of righting my clothes.
But I wanted the excuse of fussing with my jacket zipper, so that I could surreptitiously adjust my pants to hide my erection!
Thankfully, Ben said nothing while I fretted about with my clothes. Yet, once I finally dared to meet his gaze, I found him staring intently right back with a knowing look.
‘Crap! Did he see me adjusting myself?’ I thought with growing alarm.
I rushed to try and think of a plausible excuse to explain things away. But, when I opened my mouth to say something, Ben spoke first.
“Let’s keep going, shall we?” And with that, Ben spun round to continue walking.
And, without another word, I meekly followed.