Even in the shade of the tree canopy, the air was warm and smelled of moss. Logan Mathews could see the trail restoration team spread out along the hillside. The bark walkway stretched about 30 yards in either direction from him and then turned in a sharp switchback at either end. Huge evergreens towered overhead with ferns and berries around his thighs. Logan was pulling vines and blackberries away from the trail edge, while others from the team worked on the trail above him, higher up the mountain, replacing wooden beams that lined the path.
Logan glanced up as a girl in tank top and cargo shorts walked toward him down the incline of the path. Her strawberry blond hair was swinging in a ponytail, and her breasts seem to gently match the movement beneath the white cotton.
"Hey," he said, glancing at her bare calves and hiking boots.
"Hi," she answered, cracking a small smile. "They're done with the beams and are heading up to a higher elevation. They sent me down here to help you."
"Sure," said Logan as he straightened up, his chest breathing heavily from the work. "What's your name?"
"Sunny," as she pulled off a work glove to shake his hand.
"Really? Wow." Logan gave her a lopsided grin and took the small hand in his. It was soft and warm, and her toned arm flexed a bit as she looked up at him.
"Yeah, I know. Parents from the 60's, blah, blah...," she said sheepishly.
"No, no...um...it's cool," giving her another smile. "I'm Logan. Is this your first restoration? I haven't seen you before."
Sunny took in his broad shoulders and trim waist under the jeans. His green eyes stood out next to the brown t-shirt that was pulling gently across his chest. "Yea, I've done the guided hikes and snowshoe trips, but I have a German Shepard I usually take and they won't let him come on the maintenance stuff. He's with my sister today though..."
"How about I start up there and work my way toward you?" she said, motioning to the hillside 15 yards away from Logan. He nodded, staring at her intently.
Sunny turned, knowing that Logan was staring at her ass as she walked away from him. She glanced back catching his eye before reaching down to cut more vegetation. Logan couldn't resist the moment to watch her bent over, shorts riding up her thighs, as he took a drink from a Nalgene bottle. She was tan, and tight, but it surprised him how quickly his body had responded to her.
He was just about to start working again when he heard a far-away yell and an echo from splitting wood. He knew it was the team higher up the mountain, but something in the sound made him tense. Then a louder crack and the flurry of a bird as it flew up from the forest floor. Logan's body reacted before his brain did, as he dropped his shears and started toward Sunny. The hair on his neck bristled as he lunged forward. Then he saw it -- a 3 foot boulder, careening down the hill from somewhere up above, smashing branches as it gained speed.
Sunny looked up just as Logan yelled her name and came at her in a dead run. She wasn't sure what part of him hit first, but with one arm around her shoulders and the other around her waist, he knocked her off her feet and rolled once, twice and landed to the side of the path half on top of her as the boulder whizzed by her head and continued down the hillside. Her chest heaved as she caught her breath, slowly feeling Logan's body around her...on her. One forearm was under her shoulders, a hand cradling her head. She could feel his mouth along her far cheek. A large thigh resting heavily between her legs. The inhale and exhale of his stomach moved against her ribs. Logan pushed with his other arm and rose above her, concern on his face.
"Are you ok?!" he rasped, his eyes scanning the top half of her body.
"What happ...?" as Sunny gasped and blinked still feeling the jolt of the fall with him.
"It was, uhh, a boulder from the group up above. They must have dislodged....God, the idiots." Logan stared down into her face. "I....." he struggled. "I'm sorry," as he levered up off her.