“Turns out hiking is just walking but a tiny bit harder.” She rested her cheek against her knee. “You were very patient. Thanks for making today fun.”
He spoke without thinking. “Making you happy makes me happy.”
He heard her soft intake of breath, and something close to panic seized him. The ease that had kept him aloft all day was nowhere to be found as Faith sat in his tent, looking up at him with that soft look on her face. The only thing he could feel right now waswant, which meant he needed to retreat.
When they’d agreed to work together in August, he’d sworn to himself that he’d keep his distance from her. He wouldn’t let himself forget that she was a Fox, which meant she was entirely capable of destroying him all over again. Collaborating on the grant was one thing, but sharing unguarded emotion like that was absolutely not allowed. Or at least it shouldn’t be. He knew it, and so did she.
“Anyway, I’m sleeping outside.”
Although his words were almost defiant, her only reaction was a tightening of her lips. The universe though? The universe wasted no time in punishing him for thinking he’d be able to keep away from this woman. They’d had a few hours of clear weather after the deluge, but thunder rolled across the sky the instant the words were out of his mouth, and fat drops of rain began to patter against the trees overhead.
“Give it up, Morales.” She uncrossed her legs and started unlacing her boots. “Even you can’t prefer the wet ground to my company.”
His shoulders dropped in defeat. Whatever the opposite of a cockblock was, that’s what was happening here. Every single thing leading up to this moment had maneuvered him into that tiny tent with her. And goddammit, part of him was elated.
Faith had shucked her boots and climbed all the way inside, giving him room to duck into the tent before it started raining in earnest. He kept his back to her as he unlaced and tugged off his own boots, setting them next to hers under the tent’s small awning. Then he took a deep breath and turned to meet his fate. His Faith.
She was sitting cross-legged on the ground, with her hands folded in her lap. “What now?”
A million ways he could answer that, but the safest one was to treat this like any other overnight in the woods. Which it was, or it would be if he could just keep his shit together.
“Now we feed ourselves and get ready for bed.”
“It’s, what, five o’clock?” But she yawned as she said it, giggling as her mouth snapped shut. “Okay, yeah, food and bed.”
Leo started the settling-in process, grabbing a lightweight LED lantern from his backpack and hanging it from a hook at the top of the tent, flipping it on to illuminate everything under the red dome.
“You did get too much sun.” He resisted the urge to touch the tip of her pink nose.
Faith shrugged and continued pulling off her flannel. “It was inevitable. You’ll just have to slather me up before we head out tomorrow.”
He swallowed hard. “Okay.”
He grabbed their boots and placed them in a waterproof bag in the corner of the tent, safe from the rain. Then he zipped up the entrance, shutting out the rest of the world. Shutting him inside, with her.
He worked in silence to pull out the jerky and applesauce packets and trail mix, things they could eat without messing with the camping stove.
“Keep hydrated.” He handed her a bottle, and she obediently drank. A little too enthusiastically though; some of it trickled down her chin to wet the neck of her shirt.
“Damn.” She patted at it as she handed back the bottle. “Actually, do you mind if I change? It’s cold, and I’m dying to get out of this b-bra.”
She stumbled over the word. They both heard it. They both ignored it. “Sure. I’ll just…” He pivoted so his back was to her and he was facing the tent wall. He occupied himself with unpacking his sleeping pad and bag, hoping like hell that the noise he was making would drown out the sound of Faith undressing.
It did not. He was excruciatingly aware of the slide of fabric against skin, the hiss of a zipper, fabric hitting the ground, a soft exhale.
He wasn’t going to survive the night.
Determined to stick with the plan to treat this like any other sleepover, he shifted to unfurl the pad that would keep him from sleeping directly on the hard ground, but when he started to unroll the sleeping bag that would go on top, his heart sank.
“Dammit!”
“Oh God, what?”
“I…” His back still facing her, he gestured helplessly at the bag he’d tossed to the corner of the tent. “It’s wet. A corner must’ve been sitting in a puddle during the rain.”
He let his head fall forward. Of course there’d be one more thing. Laughter built in his chest until he couldn’t keep it inside.
“What’s so funny?” she asked. “And you can turn around.”
