He hums. “Getting deep on me, are you?”
I smirk. “Why? Are you afraid to get deep with me?”
“Of course not.” Bash hums as he thinks. “Other than fighting, I used to think I wanted freedom from expectations. From my parents. From anything that tied me down. But now I think I just want something real. Something that isn’t for show.”
His words lodge somewhere in my chest. For a moment, I’m so caught up in his eyes, I don’t realize he’s stopped walking until I hear voices up ahead.
Logan and the kids emerge from a bend in the trail, their faces etched with worry.
“Are you okay?” Logan calls from a few feet away, jogging over with his own group trailing behind.
“She twisted her ankle. We’re taking it slow,” Bash says, but he doesn’t put me down.
Logan eyes us both with amusement but thankfully doesn’t ask questions. Vi nudges Cami and whispers something that makes her giggle.
“We got a little lost. Sorry to leave you two alone so long,” Angelina says with a wide grin, looking not sorry at all.
I bury my face in Bash’s shoulder. “They wanted us to be alone together. They probably think we’re secretly in love.”
He chuckles softly. “Don’t let them get to you. They’re just trying to see you flustered.”
The group gathers around us. Logan takes the lead as we make our way back to camp.
And in Bash’s arms, surrounded by dropping leaves, I try desperately not to fall even harder for him and prove the girls right.
Thankfully, all it takes is some ice and a few hours of sitting for my ankle to feel a little better. Bash insists I should keep resting it, but I glare at him. “I’m not wasting this entire retreat over a twisted ankle.”
“Of course you’re not. We’ve only been here one day. Besides, it’s almost chapel time, and then dinner.” He scans the itinerary,which was printed out and given to each counselor. My group is having their hour of free time, and I can’t deny I’m grateful, because it’s giving me even more time to rest my foot after the hiking catastrophe. The sound of excited voices and laughter drifts into the cabin where Bash and I have spent the entire afternoon. He’s done nothing but bring me ice for my ankle every time it melts and make sure I’m comfortable.
It’s infuriating.
Because every touch, every glance he sends my way makes my heart twist in my chest, and it’s getting harder to ignore.
“I need to stretch,” I say. “I’m tired of sitting.”
He frowns at me. “Your ankle?—”
“It feels much better now.” I stand, ignoring the pain when I shift my weight onto my left foot. “See?”
He eyes me with suspicion. And then I fall right back down.
“I think you should sit here as long as possible,” he says. “I can stay with you if you want.”
“You don’t need to do that. I’ll be fine.”
He sighs, but grins as he sits beside me. “Come on. Admit it. You’d be miserable without me.”
“Either way, I better get used to it, since you’re not staying in Meadow Hills.”
His grin fades. He’s silent for a long moment before he asks, “Does that upset you?”
My heart hammers. “No. Why would it?”
“I don’t know. I guess I thought it was part of the reason you won’t be my girlfriend.”
His words remind me of what I keep trying to forget—that he wants to be my boyfriend. That he likes me and possibly cares about me as much as I care about him.
What happened with Cole isn’t even my reason for fighting my feelings anymore. Now, it’s mostly about maintaining a level of professionalism at my workplace, something I need to do if Iwant my business to succeed. But more than that, I don’t want the long-distance thing. But more than that, I don’t want to ask him to stay. If he wants to be with me as much as he lets on, I want him to choose to stay all on his own.
