Twilight: Bay City Paranormal Investigations, Book 3

began flipping through the pictures he’d taken. “I got some great shots on the way up, though. That’s a hell of a view from the trail.”
    “Wait till you see the view from Sunset Rock.” Lex patted Dean’s shoulder, then strode forward. “Come on, not far now.”
    As they walked, Bo drifted back to Sam’s side. “That was quite a hike,” he said, smiling at Sam. “Probably nothing to you, though, as much running as you do.”
    “Yeah, but I try to avoid running five miles up steep, rocky mountains. I have a feeling I’m going to be sore later.”
    “I can promise you will be,” Bo said, with an evil grin.
Sam let out a yip of surprise when Bo grabbed his ass and squeezed. He turned to Bo, intent on teasing, and frowned when he noticed Bo favoring his right leg. That leg still bore scars from poisoned needle teeth and emergency surgery.
“Bo, is your leg bothering you?” Sam murmured.
Bo grimaced. “It hurts, yes. But it’s not that bad. I’m sure it’ll settle down after I get a chance to rest it.”
“I’m sorry. I should’ve known this climb would be too much for your leg.”
“I told you, it’s fine. I just need to rest it a bit.”
“You should stay at the Lodge and let Dean and me check out the property.”
“I don’t think that’ll be necessary.” With a frustrated sigh, Bo leaned against Sam’s shoulder. “I have to admit, I never considered how the hike might affect my leg. It never bothers me at home, and it really didn’t bother me when we went for that hike in Pisgah Forest when we first arrived in Asheville.”
“Don’t worry. You know Dean and I can do anything you can’t. We’ll make sure the investigation doesn’t suffer.”
“I know. I can always count on y’all to take care of things.” Bo glanced ahead. Lex and Dean were out of sight around a bend in the path. With no one to see, he hooked a hand around the back of Sam’s neck, pulled his face down and planted a hard, swift kiss on his mouth. “I’m a lucky man, Sam.”
Sam licked his lips, wishing he could sweep Bo into his arms and devour his mouth. “So am I.”
They walked along in silence for a moment. When they rounded the next turn, Dean and Lex were there waiting for them. Dean lifted the camera and snapped a picture of them. “That’s a good one, y’all. Remind me to show you later.”
Shaking his head, Sam slipped an arm between the frame of Bo’s pack and the small of his back. “Lean on me.”
Bo nestled into the curve of Sam’s arm, and in that moment, life for Sam was perfect.
A couple minute’s walk brought them to a slight rise in the path. On the other side of the rise, the trail wound downhill and took a sharp turn to the right. Sam let out a soft “oh” as they rounded the curve and walked out of the trees into the open. “Wow. Look at this.”
“Yeah.” Pulling away from Sam, Bo limped over to a steep drop-off ahead and to the left. “Beautiful.”
Sam went to stand beside Bo, gazing out at the slopes rising into the hazy distance. The mountainside fell away practically at their feet and tumbled into a wide valley far below. To their right, a large, rambling structure of wood perched at the edge of the drop. Its narrow porch overlooked the valley. The clouds had scattered and the sunshine felt wonderful, though Sam figured it still wasn’t above thirty-five degrees here.
“Hey, come on, y’all!” Dean called, bounding up to them. “We have to check in and get our key, and Lex says there’s coffee and hot chocolate in the dining hall. That’s the building right there on the edge of the damn cliff.”
Chuckling, Bo turned around to face Dean. “We’re coming. I just had to get a good look at this view.”
“Yeah, well, you can see it even better from the deck outside the office.” Cocking his head, Dean frowned. “Bo, you’re limping.”
Bo made a face. “Yes, my leg’s hurting some. It’ll be okay.”
“Aw, damn. Here, let me get your pack. I left mine up at the office.”
Before Bo could object, Dean had sidled around behind him and was working the heavy pack off Bo’s shoulders. Sam laughed at the mix of amusement and irritation on Bo’s face. “Give it up. You know you can’t talk Dean out of something he’s set his mind to.”
“What Sam said.” Dean wrestled the pack onto his own back. “Oof. Damn, no wonder your leg hurts. This is really heavy.”
“Yes, well, since we had to carry everything in and you insisted on having the equipment