I See You (complete)

Chapter Eight

I guess I had fallen asleep because the next thing I knew, he was whispering my name.

"Rach, we're here."

I opened my eyes and found his face close to mine. I smiled, and he grinned. "You snore when you sleep," he said, his grin getting bigger.

"I do not!" I said, sitting up straight.

But he nodded. "It's pretty cute."

I rolled my eyes and looked around to see where we were. It didn't look like anything special. Just lots of trees all around us. We were parked on the side of an old dirt logging road.

"Where are we?"

"Trust me," he said as he climbed out of the car. He opened his trunk and pulled out a backpack that was bulging. He grabbed a picnic blanket and two towels. I grabbed the towels and the picnic blanket from him to carry and he locked up the car. "Come on," he said over his shoulder as he started walking into the trees. I followed.

Two minutes in, a narrow path emerged, and we kept on it for about ten minutes. It was a bit of an incline but easy to walk. Just as I was about to ask again where the heck we were going, the trees opened up and I couldn't believe my eyes.

In the clearing of the tall trees was a small pool of crystal blue water with a waterfall. It was incredible. Not a soul in sight. And so silent, but for the random call of a bird and the rustling of the breeze in the trees.

"What is this place?" My voice was a hushed whisper. How was this place even real? And how did I not know about it? Or anyone else for that matter?

"It's a secret. Only a few of us know about it."

"How did you find out about it?"

"My uncle loves to hike. He discovered it a few years ago. I think only my family and a few friends know about it."

He started laying out the picnic blanket and I set the towels down. The sun was straight up in the sky and it was pretty hot for a late September day. Not that it was ever that cold in September, but it wasn't usually this hot.

"I can't believe our luck with this weather. I think it's warm enough to swim." Cade kicked off his shoes and pulled off his socks, before peeling off his pants to reveal black swim trunks. He looked over his shoulder at me.

"You coming?" he dared.

"Is it cold?"

"Maybe. But it'll be nice." He grabbed his t-shirt from behind his head and pulled it off. And then he ran and jumped in the water. But not before I saw the scars on his muscled back.

Deep gashes ran on a slant across his back. What could have left scars like that? I wondered if he would tell me if I asked him.

There was so much mystery around Cade Miller. Maybe this was why so many people talked about him? Maybe someone else had seen a glimpse of the scars too? But I'd never heard a word about them from anyone. I had a feeling he was pretty careful with who got to see them. Had he even thought of them when he'd pulled his shirt off? Had he forgotten? Or did he just trust me that much? My heart swelled at that thought.

"Woo!" he yelled when he resurfaced. "Come on!" He waved his arm for me to come into the water.

"It's cold, isn't it?"

He laughed. "Maybe just a smidge. But you'll live. Get in here already!"

"I don't know..."

"If you don't get in here, I'm coming for you," he threatened with a wide grin.