I Fed My Ex To Grizzlies Chapter 2

Zach stared at the paper. His eyes flickered with a brief, uneasy hesitation.

"Darcy, what is this?" he muttered. "Drawing lines like this... are you seriously still pretending to be my girlfriend?"

I shrugged. "Even married couples keep their finances separate these days, Zach. Jed has a family to feed. It’s not fair to ruin his livelihood just because you guys want to play National Geographic."

Dave scoffed from the sidelines, taking a noisy sip of his soup. "Man, Darcy, you really know how to play the accountant, don't you? Just looking out for your own skin and your own wallet, huh?"

Luke let out a dry laugh. "Modern romance. Zach, looks like your girl doesn't want to carry even an ounce of risk for you."

Lexie’s eyes darted between us, her expression shifting instantly into one of deep, wounded victimization.

"Darcy, if you're still mad at me, just say so," she whimpered, her voice trembling. "If you don't want to lend us the drone, you don't have to make this passive-aggressive point to humiliate Zach. Forget it. I won't go."

She made a show of turning around to walk back to her tent.

Zach caught her by the wrist. "No, we're going."

He whipped around, glaring at me with pure venom, and snatched the paper and pen from my hand.

"You want a waiver? Fine! I’ll sign the damn thing!"

He scribbled his signature with aggressive, slashing strokes. Then he shoved the pen into Lexie’s hand.

"Sign it, Lexie. When this video hits a million views, she isn't getting a single cent of the ad revenue."

Lexie hesitated for a fraction of a second. But with Zach pressuring her and the rest of the hikers watching, she had no choice but to bite her lip and sign her name.

I took the paper back, satisfied. I folded it carefully and slid it deep into the zippered inner pocket of my sports bra.

Jed looked at me, slowly shaking his head. "Kid, you're playing with fire," he muttered, turning on his heel to check the guylines on the cook tent. Since the liability waiver was signed, he wasn't going to waste his breath. If these city slickers wanted to serve themselves up as grizzly chow, let them.

"Well, the paperwork's done," Lexie said, her meek, fragile persona evaporating the second Jed walked away. She strutted over to me, her eyes scanning me from head to toe.

"Since you're being so LexiesupportiveLexie now, Darcy, a drone isn't going to be enough." She pointed directly at my Arc'teryx alpine parka. "The wind is picking up, and my jacket is way too thin. Let me wear yours."

I raised an eyebrow.

The parka was a top-tier mountaineering shell I’d bought specifically for this trip. It had cost me nearly a thousand dollars.

Zach immediately chimed in. "Yeah, Darcy, you’ve got a thick build anyway. You're just staying in camp; you won't freeze. Lexie has asthma; she can't handle the cold. Take it off and give it to her."

He reached out his hand, entirely entitled, as if demanding a tax payment.

"And give us your satellite phone, too. Just in case there’s no service back there and we need to check in."

I looked at the two of them. In my chest, there wasn't even a spark of anger left. Just a cold, dead vacuum.

"Sure," I said.

I unzipped the parka, slipped it off, and handed it over along with the Garmin inReach satellite communicator from the sleeve pocket.

Lexie couldn't grab them fast enough. She threw the parka over her shoulders. The sleeves were a bit too long for her petite frame, so she rolled up the cuffs with a smug little giggle.

"Thanks, babe," she chirped, before turning her attention to my heavy-duty Osprey pack resting on the camp table. "Let me see what else you’ve got in here."

She unzipped the main compartment without asking, rummaging through my personal belongings like she was picking through a thrift store bin. Zach stood beside her, watching with quiet approval.

Suddenly, Lexie’s hand paused. She pulled a heavy, matte-black aluminum canister from the side sleeve. It was emblazoned with a bright orange safety label.

"Ooh, what’s this?" Lexie tossed it lightly in the air. "Bear spray?"

She let out a loud, mocking laugh. "Darcy, you actually believed that old mountain man's garbage? Who even carries this junk? You think spraying some hot sauce in a grizzly’s face is going to stop it? You think they're vegan?"

Before I could stop her, she flicked off the plastic safety clip and pressed down on the nozzle.

A sharp, orange cloud of aerosolized capsaicin burst into the air.

"Cough—cough!"

The wind caught the edge of the mist, blowing it right back into Lexie’s face. She gagged, her eyes watering instantly as she fell into a violent coughing fit.

Zach rushed to her side, frantically patting her back. "Lexie! Are you okay?"

He whipped his head around to glare at me, his face twisted in fury. "Darcy, are you insane? Why do you have hazardous materials just sitting in your bag? Are you trying to kill her?"

Lexie was hacking so hard tears streamed down her cheeks. Humiliated and furious, she snatched the canister from the table and slammed it onto the gravel.

She lifted her heavy hiking boot and brought it down hard on the plastic nozzle mechanism.

LexieCrack.Lexie

The plastic collar shattered. The pressurized canister hissed weakly, venting its chemical load into the dirt until it went completely flat.

"Trash," Lexie wheezed, spitting on the ground. "Taking up space for nothing."

I looked down at the ruined canister of bear spray. It was the only thing standing between them and a violent death.

And she had just crushed it under her own heel.

"Good call," I said, looking at Lexie. My voice was entirely sincere. "It was taking up space anyway."