Since I was warm enough now, thanks to some good Samaritan—my money was on Matthew, but I had a secret hope it was Dylan—I might even get a few hours of sleep. Shuffling as far as I could under the shelter, I was amazed at how much warmer I was with this extra blanket. Maybe come morning I’d figure out who had saved me, but for now, sleep.
* * *
The moment dawn arrived,a loud horn blasted through the clearing, and I groaned as my rough night caught up to me. My head pounded as I lifted it and peered around blearily to figure out what was happening. Immediately I noticed that the second sleeping bag was gone from me, but I still felt cozily warm since the temperature had leveled out. Not to mention there was now a roaring fire, three times the size of the one last night when we'd arrived.
Disappointment hit me; I had really hoped that I’d find out who’d given me the sleeping bag when they came to collect it this morning. I wanted it to have been Dylan.
I didn't want him to hate me.
Like I'd called him with that thought, he strode into sight, the soft light of the fire showcasing his flawless features. The glare he narrowed on all of us, and especially me, was not a good start to the day, and the odds of him not hating me were slowly dwindling with each second he stared me down.
"On your feet," he commanded, not shouting, because a man like Dylan didn't need to shout to capture attention. Whatever he wished happened, and the rest of us fell in line or got run the fuck over.
As the others dragged themselves up, groaning and bouncing around in the icy morning air, I wiggled out of my sleeping bag, thankful that the snow had stopped. At least for now. The dark clouds hanging in the distance were ominous, but as long as they held out until we got to wherever we were going, I wouldn't complain.
“Last night while you slept, the fire dwindled down to almost nothing,” Dylan said when everyone was on their feet. “Not one of you woke to check on it, top up the logs, or even worry about the chance of attack.”
He strode closer, towering over everyone in the clearing. “I could have killed every single one of you in your sleep.”
A shiver traced along my spine, unease settling in my stomach. Even I had missed someone dropping a blanket on me, and that pissed me off since I was fairly proud of my ability to sleep with one eye open. Blake hadn’t gotten the drop on me in at least three years, but that streak had now been broken by some stranger.
I had to be better tonight.
"Not one of you thought to plan ahead," Dylan continued, starting to pace like a drill sergeant while his staff stood in a uniform line behind him. "Not one of you even considered the need to rotate shifts to keep watch. If this had been a hostile situation, you'd all be nothing but blood smears on the dirt right now."
His sharp green gaze locked on every single camper, one by one, staring them down, and then finally came to rest on me. My stomach flipped, but for the first time around Dylan Grant... it was in fear. This wasn't the man I'd first gotten drunk with eight months ago. The man who'd kissed me senseless in the back of his limo, then worshiped my body until dawn.
The man staring at me from across the campsite was goddamnterrifying.
"Pathetic," he spat. It was for the whole group, but I couldn't help flinching like it was aimed specifically at me. I wasn't stupid enough to think Matthew hadn't filled him in on my profile. Name.Age. Not that it really mattered. I was eighteen and totally legal. Now, anyway. Then? Yeah, I can see how he might object to having fucked me when I was seventeen—exactly why I'd lied in the first place.
Dylan finally broke our stare-down with a glance at his heavy, black watch. "You've got two hours to find your way back to the cabins. Anyone who doesn't make it to the mess hall in time gets sent home. I don't give a fuck how much your daddies paid to send you here, I won't waste my time or resources on lost causes." Another sharp glare went my direction, and the other guys noticed.
My neck burned with a blush as they side-eyed me and snickered. Clearly, they all thought I was going home today. Well, I'd simply have to prove them wrong.
Somehow.
"Well?" Dylan roared. "What the fuck are you waiting for?"
The guys around me scrambled for their shit, throwing their packs on and running out of the clearing. Ben caught my eye, though, and I paused before following my fellow campers. He tipped his head slightly toward the opposite side of the clearing. I frowned in the direction he was indicating, but... I had no freaking idea what he was trying to tell me.
"Are you waiting for one of us to show you the way, Lawson?" Dylan snapped.
I jumped and realized I was the only camper left. It was just me and the guides.
Blinking several times, I tried to find the right words for a snappy comeback. Sometimes I used to dream about being one of those ballsy, confident girls. Like Riley Duboise. She was the definition of a badass chick; it was no freaking wonder Dylan was so in love with her... even if she was his best friend's girl.
Me? I could barely even mumble an excuse as I headed in the direction Ben had indicated. He seemed nice and I wasn't dumb enough to think it was a simple case of returning the way we'd come up, so I was going to take a chance.
"Where do you think you're going, Brooklyn?" Matthew called out before I’d even made it a few paces. I hesitated, looking over at him, and found all the guides watching me with varying degrees of curiosity and interest. "The trail is that way." He jerked his thumb in the direction all the other campers had gone.
Now I was even more confident I needed to follow Ben's hint.
"Okay." I shifted on my feet, uncomfortable with so much attention on me. The weight of Dylan's gaze alone was suffocating. "Dylan didn't say we had to take that trail, just that we needed to get back to the cabins." My gaze flickered over at him, but as I was trying really freaking hard to pretend he wasn't there, I shifted my attention straight back to Matthew. "Do we?"
A small smile pulled at Matthews lips, and stuffing his hands into his pockets, he gave me a nod. "Alright. Good luck then."
I frowned, nervous that I was making a bad decision. No one else spoke, not even Dylan. But from the corner of my eye I caught Ben’s tiny nod, and it gave me confidence.
