“Where have you two been?” Lauren asks accusingly when she spots us, and I force Tanner to release my hand, wanting badly to tell her it’s none of her business. But I know this is his job, and I don’t want to jeopardize his or his friends’ reputation.
“There were gunshots,” Parker says, sending a scolding look in Lauren’s direction before he looks between Tanner and me. “One of them was really close.”
“We heard them too,” I tell him.
“What’s in season in terms of hunting?” Oliver asks, looking around.
“Nothing,” Tanner tells him while dipping into the tent and coming out a moment later with the satellite phone.
As he walks off, putting the phone to his ear, I scan the area. I’m sure the sound of gunshots is normal in the mountains, but that doesn’t put me at ease. All it would take is someone shooting in our direction, not knowing we are here, to seriously injure one of us.
“I’d still like to know what you were doing in the woods with Tanner,” Lauren says, and I inwardly groan. I knew her giving up on Tanner and me was too much to ask for.
“You know, Lauren, I’m starting to think you have a thing for Tanner,” Oliver says, and her expression hardens.
“Well, it seems to me that you have a thing for Cybil,” she snaps. “You’re always looking at her and standing up for her.”
“Here we go again,” he says, cutting her off. “Like I’ve told you before, it’s called being a good person. I’m not interested in Cybil.” Then he turns his back on her and slips inside their tent, with her quickly diving in after him. The two of them start to argue like they’re in a room with four walls rather than a fabric tent. I look around and see Jacob and Parker both staring at Oliver and Lauren’s tent with wide eyes as they shout about me, while Grant is nudging Avery, attempting to get her to look away.
“Maverick is going to ride up with Blake,” Tanner says as he steps out of the woods. “Since we’re staying here tonight, they’re going to do a sweep of the area to see if they can find who fired the shots and let them know people are camping here. But since we haven’t heard another shot, my guess is they already left the area.”
“Have you heard shots fired out here before when you’ve been on a guided trip?” I ask, wrapping my arms around my waist, and his gaze comes to me, his jaw hardening as he takes me in.
“It’s not abnormal . . .” His words trail off when Lauren emerges from the tent and screams at him.
“Tanner, I want to go home!”
“Lauren.” Oliver scampers out behind her. “If you leave, we’re over. I’m not doing this anymore.”
Spinning to face him, she shakes her head. “That’s not fair.”
“What’s not fair is you continuing to try to start drama, then getting mad when I point it out.”
“I’m not starting drama. I’m asking questions.” She throws her hands into the air. “We paid for this trip to grow closer as a couple. We didn’t pay for this trip so Cybil and Tanner could spend a week sneaking off and hooking up.”
“Tanner and I are not sneaking off and hooking up,” I say in my defense, unsure if that’s a lie or not, because we did share a kiss this morning after sneaking off, but I don’t think either of us planned on that kiss. At least I know I didn’t.
“Right, your lips are totally swollen.” Lauren rolls her eyes, and I instantly touch my fingers to my mouth and notice that my lips do feel tender.
“I don’t mind if Tanner and Cybil are hooking up,” Avery says, winking at me, and my cheeks instantly warm.
“We don’t care either,” Jacob inserts, and I find him and Parker both sharing the same smug look.
“I don’t mind, either, Cybil,” Oliver says softly while Lauren huffs, crossing her arms over her chest.
“Though I appreciate all your approval, whatever happens between Cybil and me is not up for discussion, as it has no effect on me doing my job or you getting what you need from this trip,” Tanner says, then locks eyes with Lauren. “If you want to leave, Maverick and Blake will take you back to the lodge when they leave. That said, I think you need to think about why you agreed to come on this trip and consider Oliver’s feelings. He obviously wants you here, so maybe you should put all your energy into working through things with him.”
He pulls his gaze off her and looks to everyone. “Now, I know this morning has been crazy, but everyone still needs to get dressed, gather firewood, and have breakfast. We have a four-mile hike down to the river today, and when we get there, each couple will need to catch at least two fish, clean them, and have them ready for dinner.”
“What?” I feel the color drain from my face while nausea turns my stomach. I might be able to fish, as long as I don’t have to touch any worms and I get to let the fish go, but there’s no way I’ll be able to kill or clean a fish.
“I know you don’t eat meat, so I’ll show you different berries and mushrooms you can forage for.”
“Thank God.” I sigh in relief, and he grins at me before glancing toward everyone.
“Get dressed, then hit the woods. We need more firewood if we’re going to eat breakfast, and Blake and Maverick will be here in the next thirty minutes.”
As everyone heads into their tents, I walk toward Tanner, and he turns his full attention on me. Once I’m standing toe to toe with him, I shake my head. “Now I see why you need to go off radar for a few days after one of these trips. Is it always this exciting?”
“Not normally.” His gaze drops to my mouth, and his lips tip up. “But I’m not complaining about this trip.”
“Stop.” I laugh, shoving his shoulder before I start toward the woods. “We need to go gather firewood.”
“Is that code for ‘I want to sneak off with you and make out’?” he asks, following on my heels.
“No, it’s code for ‘I’m hungry,’” I say, then gasp when he takes my hand and spins me to face him.
“So you don’t want to kiss me again?” he asks, his warm breath brushing against my lips while my fingertips dig into his biceps.
“I guess one more kiss won’t hurt,” I whisper, looking into his eyes, sure that I’ll never get enough of his mouth on mine.
Chapter 9
CYBIL
Lost. I’m so freaking lost I spin in a circle as fear causes tears to burn the back of my throat. Tanner told me to stick to the tree line near the shore, so it’s my fault for not paying attention to my surroundings as I wandered with my eyes to the ground, foraging like he taught me to. Stopping in place, I close my eyes and try to listen for the sound of the group, hoping I can hear Lauren arguing with Oliver or Parker and Jacob joking about which one of them is going to catch the bigger fish. Hearing nothing but the sound of birds and squirrels running through the trees, I tip my head back and open my eyes. Through the canopy of trees above me, I notice the sky between the branches is starting to disappear as storm clouds roll in.
“You’ve got this. Just pick a direction.” I look around again, then decide to use the ever-efficient “eeny, meeny, miny, moe” tactic to help me choose which way I should go. I can’t use the branch-in-the-ground trick Tanner taught us, not that it would do much good right now if I did know how, because I don’t know what direction the river is and the trees are blocking out most of the sun. I spin in circles, stopping at four points; then, when I get to the “You are not it” part of the rhyme, I head to the left, since my hand is pointing in that direction.