“Like you?” I taunt.
He shrugs. “Like the both of us.”
I settle deeper into the cushions. He’s still beside me. Not touching but close enough that I can feel his warmth and the glow from the flames.
“You did good today,” he says quietly.
“I fumbled the bear spray twice,” I reply.
“But you stayed.”
He’s right. I did stay. Even though every cell in my body was screaming to get backin the Range Rover and drive straight to Manhattan where the only wildlife is rats and pigeons.
I swallow. “Thanks for. You know. Being patient with me.”
He smiles. “Always.”
The word lands heavier than it should. Like a promise.
Like forever.
We sit in comfortable silence. The kind that only happens when you’ve seen each other naked and also in crisis and also in those weird in-between moments that don’t photograph well but matter more than anything.
Then I hear it.
A sound outside. Something moving through the underbrush.
My whole body goes rigid.
“Just an animal,” Marco says calmly. “Probably a deer.”
“Right,” I agree. “A deer.”
Another sound. Closer this time. A branch snapping.
My heart kicks into overdrive. I’m counting breaths but they’re coming too fast.
One, two, three
Fuck.
One, two, three.
“Jess.” Marco’s voice cuts through the spiral. “Look at me.”
I force my eyes to his. He’s steady. Calm. Completely unbothered by the sounds of nature doing nature things outside.
“It’s just the woods,” he says. “Nothing out there wants to hurt us.”
But he’s wrong. Because the woods do hurt people. The woods turn on you when you least expect it. The woods take little girls and leave them crying by creek beds hoping someone will find them before they die.
“Breathe,” he instructs. “One.”
I inhale shakily.
“Two.”
Another breath. Slightly steadier.
