We eventually peel ourselves off the couch because both of us are overheated, sweaty, and completely useless for anything other than staring at each other like fools.
Sadie pads toward the bathroom first, my shirt clutched to her front, her rounded ass and legs bare. She glances over her shoulder once—just once—but it’s enough to wipe out what little restraint I have left. I nearly follow her, but she gives me a soft, warning smile.
Your shoulder’s still sore,that look says.Behave.
I behave for exactly ten minutes—long enough to tug on my clothes and for her to shower.
When she comes back into the living room, her cheeks are flushed from the hot water, her damp hair curling at her jaw. She looks soft and undone and freshly rebuilt all at once, and I’m pretty sure I forget how to breathe.
“Tea?” I ask because my brain has rebooted to caveman simplicity.
She takes the mug, wraps her fingers around it, and tucks her feet under her on the couch. Maisie hops up beside her, planting herself like a furry bodyguard. Sadie strokes her ears absently.
Her gaze lifts to mine. “Wyatt… do you ever get scared?”
The question catches me off guard. Not because it’s strange, but because of the way she asks it. Small. Honest. Not fragile, just uncloaked.
I sit beside her, one arm draped behind her shoulders. “Yeah,” I answer truthfully. “More now than I used to.”
She turns her head slightly, studying me. “Because of me?”
I slide my hand into her damp hair and tuck a strand behind her ear. “Because I have something to lose.”
Her breath trembles. “Tex is still tracking?”
“Yeah. Tex is sweeping west every night. Tank is running extra perimeter checks around his cabin and putting cameras higher up the ridge.”
Her brows lift slowly. “All of this… for me?”
“No,” I correct softly. “For us.”
Her eyes flash with fragile hope, blooming like warmth under frost.
Before she can respond, my phone buzzes on the table.
Tex:Saint. Update. Drone picked up a scrape line behind east tree line. Boot print. New.
Someone was definitely there last night. Alone. Moving light. We’re on it.
I clench my teeth and slide the phone facedown.
Sadie’s fingers drift to mine. “Tell me.”
“Someone’s been scouting the tree line again.” I run my thumb along her knuckles. “But they’re not getting close. We’re tightening the net.”
She inhales slowly. “Wyatt… I don’t want people getting hurt because of me.”
“That’s what men like us are for,” I say simply. “Keeping the danger aimed at us instead of you. It’s not a burden, Dove. It’s what we do.”
“But—”
“No.” I cup her face gently. “Listen to me. You’re not a weight. You’re not a problem to solve. You’re someone worth protecting.”
Her lashes tremble. She leans forward until her forehead touches mine. “I still don’t understand how you do that.”
“Do what?”
“Make fear feel survivable.”
