“Everything is fine!” Derek shouts amid all the noise and wild flashlights, and I wonder if he’s saying that to me or Hunter. I should really go check on everyone, but curiosity keeps me planted in my chair. Waiting to see what he’ll do. “Scorpions are nocturnal, so we should all stay inside our tents until morning. Hey! No, don’t pick it up! Hunter! It’s fine!” Those last two words come out strangled.
I sigh and get to my feet. If the bodyguard is going to be stupid and try to touch a scorpion, it’s time to intervene. I only make it two stepstoward the tents when Derek comes into view and the cause of the strangling sound becomes clear.
Actual strangling, in fact.
Morgan has jumped onto Derek’s back, her arms around his neck, and Hunter is attempting to pry her off his boss while Maverick assures the other women that they’re fine. Morgan’s holding tight—I’m assuming whatever is in Maverick’s cupped hands is the source of her terrified expression—and Derek looks just as scared as the woman clinging to him.
Maverick tosses his handful of sand into the bushes, prompting more screams from the girls, and rolls his eyes. “There,” he grumbles. “It’s gone. Can we go to bed now?” He claps a pale Cody on his bare chest and slips into his tent.
“Off,” Hunter commands in a grunt, and Morgan finally relents, letting him pull her from Derek’s back.
Derek chokes in a breath, looking around at the people surrounding him. “Everyone good?” he gasps.
Everyone nods, a few people mumble things, and slowly they all climb into their tents. Including Derek and Hunter, who give each other weighty looks before disappearing into the tent they barely fit inside. Flashlights turn off one by one.
And I’m over here grinning like a fool becausewhat in the world did I just witness?And why did it make me realize I might actually be starting to like Derek?
That’s a bad idea.
Chapter Twelve
Derek
Idon’tknowwhattime it is. I don’twantto know what time it is. It’s late, and it’s dark, and this really isn’t the time for me to test out the toilet situation. But when nature calls… It’s not like I was sleeping anyway.
Dragging a sweatshirt over my head like some kind of armor, I tug my water sandals onto my feet and grab the headlamp I left within reach in case this happened. It’s a lot of steps to take for a bathroom break, and I can’t help thinking about my bathroom back home, with its motion sensor nightlights and bidet. Comforts that I always miss whenever I’m away from home.
So…all the time.
By the time I make it outside the tent and zip it up behind me, careful not to catch Hunter’s toes in the zipper because he’s tootall for the tent, I make a vow to use the Hopperbeforebed for the rest of the trip because I’m not dealing with this process again. Too much work.
There’s enough moonlight that I don’t need the headlamp, so I stuff it in my pocket and head for the trail, yawning the whole way and hoping it’s closer to midnight than dawn so I have a chance of getting at least a few hours of sleep. Regardless, it’s too late to take the sleep aids I forgot in all the scorpion chaos, so the next day on the river should be fun.
I pause near the hand wash station when I notice the paddle is missing, and then I catch sight of the flashlight through the bushes. The Hopper is occupied.
I sigh. Of course it is.
I can either be awake on my cot or be awake under the stars, so I tuck my hands into my sweatshirt pocket and settle in to wait, taking in my surroundings.
It’s so quiet. Aside from the gentle sound of the river lapping on the shore and against the rafts, the world is silent in a way I haven’t experienced since I was a kid. There’s always something, no matter where I go. The whir of an appliance. A plane overhead. The distant rumble of cars on the highway.
Though silence is usually dangerous, I close my eyes and let it settle over me, trying to sense what Donovan loves about being out here. She said her soul is tied to the earth, and I didn’t realize how much I ached for a feeling like that until she said she had it. I’ve never been tethered to anything. Not to a place, or a person, or even to my job. It’s always been about the next thing, constantly moving forward as if the world can’t catch me if I never stop.
I stop now, taking a long, slow breath and focusing on the silence of the canyon. To my surprise, my mind starts to match the stillness around me. Slowing down. Growing quiet.
I’m not sure I’ve ever been this still in my life.
“Derek?”
I yelp and stumble back a step. “Donovan!” Cursing, I press a hand over my heart while I try to catch my breath. “You scared me.”
She bites her lip, eyes sparkling in the moonlight as she leans on the Hopper paddle she just brought back. “Yeah, I noticed. Now I’m wondering if it was you who squealed over the scorpion tonight.”
“Ha!” Oh, she’s serious. As she starts washing her hands at the wash station, my face turns hot, and I’m grateful that the moon only provides so much light so I can hide my embarrassment. “No, that was Cody.” I tug my hands from my sweatshirt pocket and fold my arms, hoping that will do something to calm the agitation in my body that isn’t fading. “Can’t sleep?”
She pats her hands dry on her pajama shorts and looks up at the sky speckled with bright stars. As she smiles wide, her face is wholly unguarded for the first time. She’s… I curse under my breath. She’s completely beautiful, and I can’t look away.
“Haven’t tried,” she says, almost reverent. “I was busy admiring the view.”
