He surprised me by reaching out and pressing his hand to my forehead. I almost jumped out of my skin. "You do feel a touch warm," he said, his fingers lingering longer than needed to test my temperature. "Just do your best to keep up today, and if you feel worse, wave me over."
"Thanks," I said.
Even though we were outside, Dylan still took a second to brush his hand across my lower back in an almost caring gesture. My heart pounded hard, and I was so much more invested in him than I had ever admitted to before. It had been six weeks of trying to forget and move past this relationship, and now I was back to the beginning. Or worse.
"Is this kinda weird to you?" I asked, drawing his full attention. "This place we're existing in? What do you want from me, Dylan?"
And how much would you freak out to have a baby on the way? Asking for a friend, of course.
Up ahead, the others had come into view, and I could hear Matthew giving out instructions. But my focus was solely on the man beside me.
"I don't have answers for you, Brooke, but I can tell you this... We have something here to explore. I think we owe it to ourselves to at least give that a shot. Don't you think?"
A shuddered breath escaped me. "I'm afraid of getting hurt."
Why I was being so honest, I had no idea. Could I blame that on the maybe baby, too?
He stopped me, hand cupping my face as his thumb stroked across my lips. "No risk, no reward."
Then he pressed his lips to mine, and before my head could stop spinning, he was gone, long-ass legs eating up the distance between us and the main group. No one was looking our way, thankfully, so I was able to stumble along as well and join the back of them without anyone noticing.
"If you're in a survival situation, learning what you can eat and how to build a fire and hunt can save your life," Matthew continued. "So today, you will work in teams of two, each with a supervisor." He clapped his hands together. "Grab a pack; it will have the basic essentials so we can get started."
The guys, chatting loudly, moved toward where the bags must be stacked. I couldn't see anything from my spot, and since I didn’t have a single friend in this group, outside of a couple guides, I figured I'd just wait and team up with whoever was left.
Only it turned out there wasn't an even number of us here still, with more than a few having failed out and been sent home. So, by the time the guys were teamed up, there was only one pack left. Mine. And no one to team up with.
"Looks like you're with me, B," Ben said, popping up beside me. Dude was stealthy, which was probably the reason he was a guide here.
Crossing my arms, I shook my head. "Am I supposed to have the help of a guide? Are you giving me special treatment because I'm a chick?"
He held both hands up on either side of him, face drawn in mock horror. "How dare you suggest such a thing. We are a professional establishment. You're going to find it's even harder since you'll be doing ninety percent of everything yourself."
His lips twitched, and a small laugh burst from me. "You're an idiot."
He gave a shallow bow like he was proud of his new title. Then he waved his hand toward the remaining backpack. "Ladies first."
I let loose another snort of laughter, surprised that I actually felt a little better. My stomach wasn't churning as I started to walk across the rocky ground, and it wasn't until I caught sight of Dylan's broad shoulders that I remembered the possible shitshow of my life.
Like he felt my eyes on him, his gaze snapped in my direction. Then he saw Ben right at my side, and at the look on his face, I knew I was about to be reassigned a new partner.
"Ben!" Dylan bit out, waving him over. "You're needed with another group."
"Fuck," Ben muttered under his breath, forcing a smile. "Looks like we'll need a raincheck, princess. Don't die on me out there."
I wrinkled my nose at him. "Seriously, dude? Not cool. You don't just put my death out in the universe. It needs no challenge, trust me."
He patted me on the head. "You'll be fine. Looks like you've drawn the attention of the big bad, and trust me, he's the best fucking guy to have at your back. Never seen anyone as good at this survival stuff as Dylan, and I've been in the game for most of my life."
He shot a worried look thebig bad's way before he said a quick "bye" and hurried off to his new assignment. I didn't bother to rush, because what was the point? I was going to be yelled at either way.
Hauling the backpack up, I groaned at the weight. What the fuck was in here? Bricks?
"Come on, Brooklyn," Dylan said, his face somewhat amused now that Ben was nowhere near me. "You have some surviving to do."
I snarled at him, in no mood for his bullshit. "You better sleep with one eye open, dude. You're starting to piss me off."
He chuckled and swept an arm around me to get me moving along the path, straight into the wilderness. "No plans for sleeping when I get you into bed," he said softly, right near my ear, and just like that, my anger turned into horniness. One point to Dylan.
