The Templar's Legacy (Ancient Enemy) by R. Scott VanKirk

you saw sat. I was veree angry.”
    I tried to wave it off as nothing. “Don’t worry about it. Who is that guy? What did he do to you?”
    She scowled, pursed her lips sensually. “He is Pietro. He was my... boyfriend. He is... why I came here to America. I needed to get away from him, but he is jealous and followed me here.”
    My eyebrows rose. “He flew all the way from France to find you here?”
    She shook her head tightly. “ Non , he flew from Italy.”
    “Wow.” I looked down the sidewalk after him but he was already gone. How could I compete with something like that? Tall, muscular, with chiseled features and thick brooding eyebrows was not something I did. He looked like he should be playing the part of some vampire in Twilight . I was so far out of his league that it wasn’t even the same sport.
    My mind was wrenched back to Colette when she put her hand up to my face and guided my attention back to her. Her jaw stuck forward in determination. “You do not have to worry for me. He is a cow-ward and will not bother me again.”
    Her assumption that I was worried about her when I was actually worrying more about how I stacked up to her ex left me feeling embarrassed and lacking.
    I tried to smother my guilt with a smile and a quip. “I’m not worried. You kicked his butt, but good. Remind me not to make you angry.”
    She blushed prettily. “I am so sorry, I was too angry when I saw him. I should not have lost the temper.”
    I smiled more genuinely this time. “Hey, sometimes you have to tackle someone and scrub the sidewalk with their face to make them get the hint.”
    That put a twinkle back in her eyes, and her lips curled up into a smile, which ignited a fire within me, leaving me feeling all fuzzy and warm inside.
    I looked down at knees that sported their own road-rash.
    “You’re bleeding! Come on, we’ll get you cleaned up.”

Appalachian Trail
    Twilight was leaching the color from the lush forest the four of us hiked through. Jim and Dave had planned the trip, and when I told Colette, she was eager to come along. The entire day on the trail had been a literal breath of fresh air to me, and after walking all day, I still felt great. I was in the best shape of my life. Being in shape really made all the difference in the world to me. Apparently, wheezing, feeling like I could vomit, fall over, and die had really interfered with my enjoyment of the great outdoors. Go figure. It also helped that Spring was glorying in the hike as well.
    Because of a late start, we had only gotten as far as Rainbow Lake before we decided to call it quits. We had to follow a small trail around the lake to look for a campsite that wasn’t already taken. We finally found a beautiful little site nestled in a nice grove of trees with a clear view of the lake and plenty of room for our camp.
    After we pitched our tents, I still felt the need to be moving. “Hey guys, I’m going down to the lake, anybody want to come along?”
    Dave looked at me crossly. “Sorry mountain man, I’m too tired. Us mere mortals can’t keep up with you super-hero types.”
    Colette crawled out of her tent. I was sad to see that she had changed out of her hiking shorts and tank top into more sensible, but less intriguing, sweats. When we first saw her on the trail, all our eyes were in danger of popping out of our heads. Though short, she was slender, muscular, and sexy as hell. “I will come with you, Finn.”
    Jim looked up from where he was rummaging through his pack. “While you’re out there, pick up some deadwood for a fire.”
    I saluted. “Aye, aye, Capitan.”
    We walked for a short way through the green trees and riotous undergrowth till we found a nice grassy place to sit on the gentle bank of the lake. We sat down, and the peaceful silence pressed in around us, broken only by the screeching call of the occasional jay. The smooth waters of the lake were unruffled by any waves and reflected the few clouds in the