Marco shrugs. “Can’t blame him. I did hire a PI to stalk his sister.”
“Yeah, but you’re very sorry about it and also you make really good sandwiches, so it balances out.”
That gets a smile.
I take another bite of my sandwich, and realize I just told Ethan I love him. Over text, admittedly. But I still haven’t told Marco that, have I? Not really. I only said:I might love you.
So yeah, probably should get that over with.
But first... the lingering guilt.
“I should probably tell you something,” I say between bites.
“What’s that?”
“I still feel guilty,” I admit. “About being too slow with the bear spray. About not protecting you better.”
He sets down his sandwich. Takes my hands in his.
“Jess. Listen to me.” His voice is firm. “I don’t even remember. It doesn’t matter. All that matters is, you saved our lives. You put yourself between a grizzly and my daughter. You stayed calm enough to use the satellite phone. If you hadn’t done all of that, we would be dead. Do you understand? Dead.”
“But your face...”
“My face is fine.” He touches the scar almost absently. “Besides, you said it yourself. I look hotter now anyway.”
I smile. “This is true.”
He presses his forehead against mine. “What matters is we’re all alive. All of us. Together.”
I blink rapidly because apparently I’m going to cry in Marco Fiore’s kitchen while wearing his shirt and eating his sandwich.
“I love you,” I whisper.
“I love you, too.”
We finish our snack. Clean up the kitchen. Head back upstairs hand in hand.
When we slide back into bed, I’m already half asleep.
Safe.
Warm.
Loved.
I’m in the woods.The terrifyingly dark woods.
Lost. Can’t find the path. Trees closing in.
No no no.
Then I see Marco.
Relief floods through me.
But behind him, the bear appears. Massive. Charging.
No no no.
