Carson worked in silence in the next tent over.
And yet everything between us was loud.
The fire crackled outside, and the wind whistled.
Somewhere far off, a lone owl called.
And under all that, my heartbeat climbed faster than it ever should.
When I finally zipped my sleeping bag halfway and crawled in for a test, I heard him doing the same a few feet away.
Close.
Too close.
I squeezed my eyes shut.
This was supposed to be professional.
It was supposed to be straightforward.
It was supposed to be adry run.
But after the bears and the wolves, I didn’t exactly want my own tent thirty feet away from his.
And now?
Now the forest felt too still.
The night was too intimate, and Carson was too near.
And me?
I was too alive.
Too aware.
Too terrified of what would happen if this continued.
I swallowed hard and whispered into the cold air:
“This is fine. Totally fine. Everything is perfectly—”
A deep voice cut through the dark.
“Sienna.”
My breath caught.
“Yes?” I whispered.
A beat.
Then another, and in a tone that hit every nerve in my body.
“We need to talk.”
Chapter Fourteen
