She settles against me. My chest tightens.
“So, how do we get back up?” she asks, face pelted with rain.
“Very carefully,” I manage right as the Jeep settles again with another groan. Sloane’s foot slips, and I brace my forearm against the vehicle to steady her. That’s when it shifts again, and the raw metal snags my forearm, slicing deep.
I grunt hard, pulling it free. But it’s too late. Blood sheets down my forearm almost instantly.
Sloane’s eyes drop to my arm, mouth falling open.
“It’s nothing,” I grumble, eyes still searching the Jeep, figuring out how to hold on to herandrun the line.
Thick curtains of rain slam into us. The mud and rocks give way beneath our feet.
“We have to go back,” Sloane says.
“Youhave to.”
“I’m not leaving you,” she counters, blinking against the rain.
“Not until I get that line.”
I won’t let her down twice.
“Rhys.”
“You head back up. I’ll be right?—”
“Rhys, I’m not leaving you.”
That breaks something loose in my chest. I grimace, swallowing hard. “But you should.”
“No.”
And that’s when it comes tumbling out. The thing I was never supposed to say. “I didn’t leave him either, Sloane. He leftus.”
Her chin trembles, eyes locked on my face. Thunder claps overhead. Lightning follows, closer now, the ground giving way inch by inch beneath us.
“Move,” I order, pushing her forward. Because she won’t leave well enough alone. And I won’t let anything happen to her.
The Jeep slides lower, past us now, almost taking me with it. I drop the line, the time for hesitating done.
We fight for every step, hands and feet working. I tie off the rope every few feet so we don’t lose our progress. My arm burns, the cool rain stinging the jagged gash. But my mind’s still on the Jeep, stealing another glance, stomach churning. We’re about to lose it. Can’t let that happen.
We grip the rope, branches, the mountain sliding and collapsing all around us until I push her ass up over the ledge, and she crawls to her feet.
I’m behind her, still tethered to the tree, blood running dark and fast. Sloane reaches for me, grabs my hand with both of hers, and falls backward, pulling me to safety.
I land on top of her, our bodies slick with mud, breaths racing, just lying there drenched in rainwater for anothermoment. The sky breaks free with another earth-shattering crash and a flash so bright it feels like we’re inside it.
We scramble to our feet, stumbling, dripping, gripping each other for balance all the way to the cabin.
The hinges squeak, and we push inside, boots caked with slippery mud that drops us to the floor.
I’m half on top of her. Sloane’s hand curls into my shirt, holding me tight.
A great boom sounds above us, then another burst of light. She gasps, pulling me even closer. I crawl up her body until we’re face to face, staring at each other, breaths mingling.
Our eyes lock, and that’s when I realize the storm outside has nothing on this.
