Chloe and Brandon

"Damn Chloe, you're fast!" Brandon said. She was already half-way up the hillside path to the summit while Brandon languished several paces behind.

"Soccer team, remember? Fast runners!" She paused to shout back at him so he could catch up, but ran in place while waiting. "Not you big, lumbering football stars."

"Hey, hey, I'm more in shape than some of the team. You ever see our linebacker Dave? He's a sumo wrestler! Need him that way though. Nobody can break through with him."

Chloe rolled her eyes and stopped spot-jogging when Brandon reached her. "Well," she sighed. "We can take a break, see where we are."

"We gotta have covered three miles," Brandon said and reached for his phone. He brought up the GPS app on it and waited for the satellites to respond.

"Gavin give you that?" Chloe asked, looking at the screen.

"Yeah, he caught up with me before we left. Thought it would be good to know where we are."

*Oh Gavin, looking out for me," Chloe thought as she smiled. "So?" she asked.

"I was right!" The phone chirped and "3.1 miles" popped into view on a window.

"Good, you get a prize," Chloe teased. Brandon smiled wryly.

"Though," he thought aloud, "that should be far enough way from the cabin to see other people's houses, no?"

Chloe scanned their surroundings briefly. "No other cabins around here."

"But you are on someone else's property!" came a booming voice. The teens snapped their heads up the hill and saw a tall, broad man heading for them. Brandon instinctively placed himself between the man and Chloe, and she peeked around his shoulder. The man saw their defensive reactions and halted. "Woah, woah, no need for that."

Brandon gave him a once over. Sporting a t-shirt and faded jeans, he had to be at least six feet if not more, allowing Brandon to see him eye to eye. His nearly black eyes conveyed a welcoming demeanor, and his outstretched arms added to that, showing them he had no weapons. His shirt did little to hide his hard muscles, with the outlines of his pectorals pressing into it. His biceps and triceps told a story of hard labor, and the farmer's tan on them said most of that was outside. His brown hair was tussled, and his face was young, looking no more than 25.

"Hey, I'll introduce myself." He bowed a bit, rising his head to smile at Chloe specifically. "Name's Dale Anderson, and technically you two wandered onto my family's property."

"We didn't mean to trespass," Chloe said.

"I know, it's okay. The fence doesn't go around there, and we get some trail walkers who get lost around here at times, like you guys I guess?"

Brandon visibly relaxed and exhaled. "Kinda. We're with a bunch of our friends in a cabin back that way."

"Ravers cabin!" He snapped his fingers. "You guys know Heather?" They nodded and he grinned. "Oh she got me good last time she was here. She was lost in the woods, and she snuck up on me. Didn't mean it of course, she was scared, but I didn't expect anyone around. Man, I jumped higher than a spooked cat!"

Brandon and Chloe grinned at his country drawl.

"Ever since then I come down here, just to check, and I get people here now and then. I keep telling Dad to bring the fence around, but he keeps putting it off." He stopped rambling and turned back to them. "Where are my manners, look come up to the house! It's lunch time, and you can't go back to the cabin that fast for it. Least I can do!"

Brandon and Chloe regarded each other with a shrug and a smirk. Should they go with Dale, or try to head back?