“What are you thinking?”
“Tomorrow, you would have moved anyway. Now you’ll just set up camp in a different location than what was planned.” He hops on the seat behind me. “I’m also going to ask my dad to put some feelers out. Men around here can’t help but to brag when they get a bull elk, and I have no doubt that someone will slip up. For all we know, they’ve already posted a picture on Facebook to show off their kill.”
“I doubt they’d be that stupid,” I mutter as I start the engine.
“They were stupid enough to hunt out of season without a tag and to shoot at you. I wouldn’t put anything past them right now,” he shouts over the noise as I pull back on the throttle, anxious to get back to Cybil.
Chapter 11
CYBIL
“I can’t believe you!” Lauren’s high-pitched cry wakes me suddenly, and I blink my eyes open, finding the tent barely lit with early-morning light and a very grumpy-looking Tanner up on an elbow, glaring at the door.
“You can’t believe me? I can’t believe you,” Oliver hisses back, sounding outraged.
“You haven’t wanted to have sex once since we’ve been here!” Lauren yells, and my eyes widen.
“We’re in a tent, not in a hotel, and neither of us has showered in four days. Of course I don’t want to have sex.”
“Are you saying you think I smell?” she shrieks, and I cringe, because right now, we all kind of stink, so I can’t really blame Oliver for not wanting to be intimate. That doesn’t mean I don’t feel bad for her.
“For the love of God, shut the hell up and go to sleep!” Parker roars, and I quickly cover my mouth with my hand while I wait for Lauren or Oliver to respond, but neither of them does. In fact, the silence that follows is almost deafening.
When Tanner lies down facing me, the humor I see in his gaze makes me giggle. I know I shouldn’t laugh, but it’s hard not to, especially when it’s like neither Lauren nor Oliver remember that people outside their tent can hear them anytime they’re in there.
“Morning,” he mouths, touching his fingers to my cheek, and my eyes slide to half mast as my heart starts to dance inside my chest.
“Morning,” I whisper back, staring into his eyes while his thumb moves to trace my bottom lip.
“Did you sleep okay?”
“Yes,” I say, while leaving out that I wasn’t able to fall asleep until after I heard him come back with Blake. Even knowing he was safe, I was worried about him returning to the same location we had been shot at earlier. Honestly, I didn’t want him to go back at all, but I knew there would be no changing his mind, so I didn’t even bother trying to stop him. “Did you?”
“I would have slept better with a whole lot less fabric between us, but yeah, I slept all right.” His grin and words cause heat to spread up my neck as his eyes roam my face. “It’s cute when you blush.” He reaches up and touches the bridge of my nose and down my cheek.
“I’m not blushing. I’m cold.”
“You can come into my sleeping bag. I’ll warm you up.”
“You just can’t help yourself, can you?” I laugh, rolling to my back, then turn my head to look at him. “What torture do you have planned for us today?”
“Hiking, kayaking, and more hiking.” He smiles when I groan. “I thought you said you’ve been enjoying yourself.”
“I have been, but hiking is not something I’ve fallen in love with, especially when we seem to be going uphill all the time.”
“Today, the hike will be pretty light, and you’ll have cell service where we’ll be stopping for lunch, so you can make a couple of phone calls.”
“Really?” I smile, excited about the idea of talking to Jade. I feel like I have so much to tell her about these last few days—not that I’m going to tell her about yesterday. I don’t want her worrying about me, and I know she will.
“Really.” He gets up on his elbow and smiles down at me before leaning in and brushing his mouth over mine. “I’m going to check the fire and start coffee.”
“I’ll get up and start packing.” I wrap my arms around his neck, wanting another kiss, and he grins, giving me what I want, so I let my arms fall away.
“Do you want coffee?”
“Yes, please.” I sit up as he unzips his sleeping bag.
As he stands, I watch his muscles move under his smooth skin as he grabs his cargo pants to pull them on, then bends to grab a fresh shirt and put it on over his head. Once he’s dressed, he puts on his boots, gives me a smile that makes me feel tingles in a few different places, and ducks out of the tent. When he zips the door closed, I imagine a scenario just like this, only with him leaving me in a big comfy bed while going to a kitchen to make coffee; then I remember that won’t be happening, and my heart sinks into my stomach.
Tomorrow will be my last morning waking up with him, since the final day of our trip will be spent at the lodge, where we’ll be celebrating making it through the week with dinner, a night of relaxing, and sleeping in rooms there. Dropping my face into my hands, I close my eyes. I don’t know how or when, but somewhere along the way, I forgot this situation is temporary. In just a few short days, I’ll be going home, and when I do, things between Tanner and me will end just as quickly as they started.
“Darn.” I sigh, feeling beyond disappointed as I crawl out of my sleeping bag. I really need to be careful over the next couple of days, unless I want to go home with my heart more of a mess than it was when I got here. I just hope I’m not too late, because the truth is I’ve already started falling for Tanner. I like spending time with him, I like the way he makes me feel safe while pushing me to try new things, and in the very short time we’ve known each other, I’ve grown accustomed to the easy affection between us. But if I let things continue on, I won’t know up from down.
Sitting in a kayak, with Oliver in the seat in front of me, I try to ignore the heat I feel coming from my left, where I know Tanner and Lauren are. I decided not to waste any time putting my plan to keep my heart safe into effect this morning. I thought that it would be almost impossible to stay away from Tanner, since he’s my partner, but Oliver and Lauren’s constant fighting gave me the excuse I needed.
Instead of listening to them argue, like I’ve done every day, I suggested that Lauren and I switch partners. Oliver agreed immediately, while Tanner, on the other hand, was less than pleased with the idea, and Lauren looked about ready to scratch my eyes out.
“I was going to guess that, since you asked to switch with Lauren today, things were not working out between you and Tanner. But the contemplative looks he keeps sending your way tell me that’s not the case,” Oliver says quietly, dragging me from my thoughts, and my paddle skips over the top of the water before I adjust my hold so it glides through the surface once more.
“Umm.” I chew my lower lip, not sure how to respond.
“What happened? Did you two have a fight?” he asks, looking at me over his shoulder.
“No, we didn’t fight. Nothing happened. I just thought—”
“Is it your ex?” he says, cutting me off, and I shake my head.