My skin crawls, but I force myself to ignore him and focus on everyone else. To my surprise, everyone is packed up and ready to go. Only a couple more hours; it will be all over.
I can’t wait.
Ican’twait.
If I tell myself over and over, I will believe it.
My gaze lands on Rory, who is leaning on a tree, his arms crossed over his chest, watching me. He looks tired, but I don’t think anyone else would notice.
Did he stay up all night making sure nothing happened?
I lift my hand and press it over my chest that feels suddenly too tight. Why am I getting butterflies? Why am I unable to look away from him? It’s over. Theymight not know it yet, but our time together is done. Today is the last day; we are hours from the cabin.
After today, I won’t see them again.
Don’t cry, please, don’t cry.
He pushes off the tree and advances on me slowly. Giving me plenty of time to get away. I don’t even try. Maybe the fall scrambled my brain, but he’s just so damn beautiful.
How can I walk away from them?
They need to walk away from me. That’s the trick to my survival.
He touches his knuckle to just under my chin and adds just the smallest amount of pressure. I tilt my chin up, looking into his incredibly green eyes.
“Are you feeling better now?”
“I am. Thank you.”
“You don’t need to thank us.”
“I do, though, you-” I cut off because we’re drawing attention.
“I was worried.”
“You were?” That surprises me. He surprises me.
“Of course.”
This is the strangest conversation I’ve ever had with him. It’s like we’re back to awkward acquaintances again, and we can’t say what we really want to say.
He inhales, catches sight of something over my shoulder, and reluctantly drops his hand and backs off.
I shake it off and go and take care of business, finding the hidden spring, where I fill up my water bottle before bringing everyone over to fill up theirs.
Rojer growls.
“Where’s your pack?” I ask him.
“Missing!” he snaps.
I stare at him, wondering how much closer to the edge we need to push him before he does something really unforgivable. Did he grab my wrist on purpose, or was it a reflex?
Does it really matter? He almost killed me.
I go back into my tent and pack up the belongings I’ve borrowed from other members. But under the sleeping bag, my hand touches paper. I fish around andstare when I find an envelope. I don’t know what it is, but I don’t have time, so I put it in my pocket and roll up Cyn’s sleeping bag. It takes me a couple of minutes to get everything packed back up into the pack.
I crawl out of the tent, and Cyn takes me by the upper arms, moving me out of the way while Rory and Vale take the tent down in a remarkably short amount of time.
