“Please tell me there are pictures.”
“No.”
“Coward.”
He glances sideways. “You’re something.”
“What something?”
“Loud,” he says, but it sounds like a compliment now.
“Good. I don’t want to be quiet.”
We drift like that—talk and exchange the occasional glance that feels like a steamy touch.
At some point, my head tips and finds his shoulder. I don’t mean to—it just happens. He goes still, then relaxes into it so slowly I feel every inch. His cheek brushes my hair. His hand finds my knee under the blanket again.
We don’t undo the pause, but we don’t undo the kiss either. It’s there between us, hot and waiting.
I drift, not to sleep, yet not quite awake, tucked against a man who doesn’t like noise and is making my head go quiet.
When the wind lifts and rattles the cabin, he squeezes my knee once. I squeeze back.
We’re breaking the ice, I think, drowsily.Not shattering it.
Later, maybe we’ll dive.
For now, I breathe him in and watch the fire.
Chapter Eight
RED
DAY 5 ~ DECEMBER 28
We make it to the evening like two people pretending not to think about what happened earlier on the couch. We fail.
The storm’s still howling outside, but the power remains off, and the fire keeps the cabin warm. The atmosphere’s different now, and there’s a low hum between us that hasn’t stopped since our kiss. I keep catching her looking at me, and I’m not gonna lie; it feels good.
Bear snores, then decides the rug directly in front of the hearth is his and collapses there like a furry boulder.
She tucks hair behind her ear and tries to look casual. “So, about earlier.”
I go still. “Yeah?”
Here we go…
“I’m just making sure we agree. We paused because of the branch, right? Not because it was a bad idea.”
I look at her and see everything I’ve been trying not to want. Then I nod slowly. “Not because it was a bad idea.”
Her heart’s hammering—I can see it in the pulse at her throat. She wets her lips. I track the movement because I’m only human.
She takes a step toward me, then another. I don’t move, but everything in me goes tight.
“You keep asking if I’m okay,” she whispers.
“Yeah.” My voice comes out all gruff.
