MORE THAN NATURE

Chapter 14

Diana

I went down the lake to check it out and I was quite pleased with what I saw. The water was calm and crystal clear, and the weather today is a bit hotter than normal so I decided to myself to go for an early swim. I took off my jacket and my T-shirt and left my tank top on, I also took off my sneakers and then released my hair out of the loose ponytail before I slowly stepped into the lake. The water felt warmer because of the hot sun and it feels really good to swim in a lake again. Despite with what happened last time I was swimming in a lake, something tells me that this time is different so I have nothing to worry about. But deep inside me, I knew that I can never be so sure about anything that happens in this place. It's always better to be cautious.

I swam back to the part of the lake where the water reaches up to my thighs and I cupped the water in my hands and splashed it on my face, arms and then I ran my fingers through my hair and squeezed it tightly to get rid of the water.

All I can see at the other side of the lake is another thick forest that probably goes on that no one probably knows where it even ends. I wondered what happened to the people or the person that was here before us? Did they stay in that cabin as well and survived out here? But if they didn't, we would've found their bodies somewhere in this forest since we've been going around in circles for days now.

Oh who am I kidding? That stupid coyote must've attacked them too and ate their bodies.

I shivered at the thought. Footsteps came from behind me and i quickly turned around and found parker walking down the hill till he reaches the lake and smiled when he saw me.

"I thought you said you won't take the risk cos you thought there could be water snakes in there?" I smiled back and shrugged.

"I guess I was wrong." He chuckled and starts taking his shirt off and I quickly turned back around.

"What are you doing?" I called out to him.

"It's getting kinda hot, so I'm coming in."

The water made small waves around me as he slowly moves in and stood right by my side and grinning at me.

"Not bad, I thought it would be a little colder." He said while staring down at the water.

"Yeah I thought so too." He moves deeper in the lake till the water is up to his shoulders.

He turned around and smiled back at me before he swam under. I continued what I was doing before and when I looked up, I saw him in the water heading straight towards me and before he could even surprised me by appearing out of the water right in front of me, I cupped my hand with water and splashed it on his face.

"Got you. Thought you could startle me?" I said to him and we started to laugh at each other for no reason.

When our laughter dies down, our eyes automatically locked in this intense eye contact that none of us could even look away. I was trapped in a trance again because of his dark brown eyes deeply penetrating into mine, almost making me to stop breathing. At first I didn't notice it, but when I finally did he was moving so close towards me that our chests are almost touching. I finally snapped myself out of it and moved back a little while looking down.

"I'm done here, so I'll head back." He nods his head and gave me small smile in return.

"Yeah sure, I'll get back after I swim a few laps."

I stepped out of the water and grabbed my clothes from the ground and looked back at him.

"Just don't, swim out too far." He turns around to look back at me and salute at me with two fingers with a wide smile on his face.

"Sure thing boss!" With that being said, he submerged underwater again making me chuckle lowly.

I walked back to the cabin and went inside. The cabin is small that it doesn't even have a room, there's just a living room and the kitchen and that's it. So, I decided to just change in the living room instead. By changing I meant, leaving my tank top on and taking my wet jeans off leaving me standing in the empty room in just my underwear. I looked around and saw the sheets on the floor and a sudden idea popped into my head. I grabbed my half of the sheet and went back into the kitchen, grab the kitchen knife and cut it into another half.

One half I placed it back to my sleeping corner while the other half I tied it around my waist making it look like a sarong wrap. Well, a small one to be exact.

I saw parker coming back from the lake and he sat down on the log that he found and had placed it in front of the fireplace from yesterday. I grabbed my half soaked T-shirt, jacket and jeans and right before I stepped outside, I suddenly hesitated. This is actually the first time I'm wearing something this small and letting a guy see me in it and it kinda makes me feel shy and embarrassed for that reason. Plus, I have a small crush on him, so what the hell am I gonna do now?!

I looked at the pile of clothes in my hand and then looked at the white cloth wrapped around my waist.

Shit, but I have to dry this clothes out in the sun and plus, I have to be out there in the sun too for my tank top to dry as well. Double shit!

I took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly and counted to three before I walked out of the cabin. I couldn't bring myself to look up from the ground, my eyes were only glued on my clothes as I made my way down the steps and walking right past in front of him and spread out my clothes on the other log that's lying just a few feet away from him.

I can literally feel him staring right at me, but I made no move to even glance at him. I just focused on placing my shirts and jeans next to each other right where the sunlight hits. After I was done, I stood up straight and finally looked at him to the side. Our eyes only locked for a few seconds till they lowered right down to my body, taking in everything. His eyes finally snapped back to mine and he must've realized that I was also staring questioningly back at him, so he quickly looks away and cleared his throat.

"My clothes are all wet, so I have to wait till they dry out." His eyes snapped back to me and then he quickly nods.

"That's actually smart, with what you did with the......um.....sheets there." He scratched the back of his head awkwardly before he points at the made up sarong wrapped around my waist.

I nodded quietly and sat down on the other side of the log right next to my clothes, stretched my legs out and tilt my head up to the sun, taking in the heat that was starting to warm up my body. Hopefully, my clothes dries out before it gets dark.

But even with my eyes closed, I can tell he was staring at me again.