“Fuck ’em.”
She huffed out a laugh, the fire reflecting in her eyes as she looked at me, something like surprise written in their depths. “That’s it?”
“What more is there? No use wastin’ your time worryin’ about what people who don’t matter think of you.”
“No…” She shook her head. “I mean you’re not gonna say anything about the whole droppin’ out of college thing?”
I furrowed my brow, reaching up to scratch my jaw. “What would I say about it? I dropped out too, remember?”
“But you…” She gestured with her hands as if to encompass everything around us. “You went on to serve our country.”
“Yeah, and you went on to become a role model for hundreds of kids who desperately needed one.” I slipped my arm around her waist and tugged her toward me, tucking her into my side. “Sounds like we both did okay.”
She made a hum of acquiescence, but otherwise didn’t say a word.
“Do youwantto tell me why you left?” I glanced down at her, the firelight painting shadows on her face.
She pressed her lips together, her shoulder brushing against my chest in a shrug. “Didn’t really feel like me, I guess.”
I could understand that. After all, it’d been the same reason I’d left, too. I’d tried for a year to make it work, but I hadn’t been able to escape the fire under my skin urging me for something else. According to my momma, Kenna had lasted for two.
“How about now?” I asked, my cheek resting on the crown of her head, my lips just brushing her forehead. “Do you feel like you now?”
She stilled under me, so quiet I wondered if she was holding her breath. Then a log popped in the fire, causing her to startle at my side.
Quietly, she said, “I’m not sure. But I think I might be getting there.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
MAC
I layin my sleeping bag, hands tucked between my thighs as I tried to muffle the sound of my chattering teeth. The cold front the weather app had cautioned about earlier in the day had settled in with a vengeance, and I’d give anything for a hot shower right about now. Even bundled in layers and with a hat covering my head, I felt like a popsicle. I wouldn’t be surprised if my lips were blue.
Thank God we hadn’t been able to get both tents set up, because at least I had Hudson’s body heat in the small space—little as it provided me from where he lay zipped in his own sleeping bag.
It’d been quiet inside the tent for what felt like hours—but was probably more like thirty minutes—and I had no idea how he’d fallen asleep so quickly in this cold. But he was a soldier, probably used to much worse conditions than this. Plus, he had the dog cuddling up to him, helping to keep him warm, and I was over here, shaking like a leaf, my teeth about to break from all the chattering.
“Out of curiosity,” he said, his sudden words in the otherwise quiet night making me jump, “would you actually allow yourself to freeze to death before you told me you were cold?”
“What g-g-gave me away?”
He shifted, his sleeping bag rustling with his movement. “I’ve been listenin’ to your teeth chatter for the past ten minutes.”
“It’s only b-b-been ten minutes?” I asked, horrified.
This was going to be the longest night of my life. I squeezed my eyes shut, willing myself into sleep, because once I awoke, the sun would be up and I’d be able to feel my toes again.
Suddenly, my zipper was yanked down, and I snapped my eyes open at the rush of cold air against me. “What the hell, Hud?”
“C’mon. It’s gonna suck right now, but the faster you get out of there, the faster I can zip our bags together.”
I didn’t stop to think about the possible ramifications of that before I bolted upright, the lure of sharing his body heat too good to pass up. As I knelt in the corner, snuggling up to the still-snoozing dog, Hudson made quick work of zipping our sleeping bags together to make one giant bed for us.
“You ready?” he asked, his nearness startling me again.
It was pitch black in the tent, and I couldn’t see a damn thing, merely relying on my ears to tell me where he was and what he was doing. And my ears now had to be playing tricks on me because it sounded like he was getting naked.
“Hud?”
