I moved closer to Noelle, tilting my head toward the woods. “You still feeling that weird air thing?”
She nodded, slow. “Yeah. It’s like…” She searched for the word. “Like when you walk into a room where people have been fighting, and everything still feels charged.”
My hand found hers again—light at first, but when she didn’t pull away, I curled my fingers around hers andsqueezed.
“I’ve got you,” I said, low enough just for her.
She looked up at me, and that look—wide-eyed, wary, beautiful as hell—just about knocked the wind out of me.
I’d ask her soon. Maybe not tonight. Maybe not in the middle of the goddamn Blair Witch forest. But soon.
“You guys wanna help me set up some trail cams?” Shane asked, swinging his bag over his shoulder.
Whit groaned dramatically and dropped his pack. “Shane, I came here to drink by a fire and see somethin’ spooky. I didn’t sign up for manual labor.”
“You signed up the second Delilah told you to come,” Holden said, already halfway through assembling his tent.
“Exactly,” Delilah replied, not looking up from where she was digging her toiletries out of a canvas bag. “And I told you to be helpful.”
Whit saluted her lazily and wandered over to help Shane with one of the camera rigs, Milo at his heels sniffing the air like he was casing the joint. The tension eased a little as everyone scattered into familiar rhythms: Delilah laying out a picnic blanket and setting up her folding chair like it was a throne, Holden muttering about tent angles, Shane narrating into his mic as he pointed out possible camera placements.
Noelle was still stiff beside me, though, her spine taut with the kind of alertness she couldn’t shake, no matter how casual the vibe turned.
“Hey,” I said, catching her wrist gently and tugging her just behind one of the tents where we were out of view from the others. “Look at me.”
She did. Those big, dark eyes were still shadowed with unease.
“I know you’re freaked out,” I murmured, cupping her hip. “But I need you to understand something.”
She chewed on her lip as I stepped closer, pulling her in. “I’m listening,” she said.
“Later tonight, I’m gonna unzip this tent and drag you inside. You’re gonna be warm and full of whiskey, and I’m gonna make you feel so good you forget what you were even scared of.” My mouth brushed her ear. “I’m gonna get you naked, make you come on my tongue, and then I’m gonna bury myself so deep inside you you’re gonna lose your damn mind.”
She blinked up at me, lips parted.
“And after,” I added, “I’m gonna hold you so close not even the Gloamstrider’ll be able to get between us.”
Noelle let out a slow breath. “Jesus.”
I kissed her jaw, slow and careful. “You in?”
“I mean, I’m still mad we’re in the woods,” she muttered. “But yeah. I’m in.”
I pulled back with a grin. “That’s my girl.”
Behind us, Shane called out, “If you two are gonna start fucking before sundown, can you at least warn me so I don’t record it by accident?”
“Go bother Whit!” Noelle called back.
“You know,” I said, “it wouldn’t take much convincing to get me to skip the trail and just spend the whole damn trip in that tent with you.”
Noelle raised an eyebrow, eyes still bright with that wary edge, but now softened by heat. “Oh yeah? You gonna build a fire, filter water, and scare off whatever cryptid comes snooping around all by yourself?”
I took her face in my hands. “I’d do all that and more. I’d rub your feet. Make you instant coffee with river water. Fight a whole-ass antler demon just to keep you warm at night.”
“You’re ridiculous.”
“You love it.”
