“One more night,” I agree.
She narrows her eyes. She knows I’m lying, even if I’m not saying it out loud.
We don’t argue after that.
She grabs her jacket, slings her bag over her shoulder as armor, and heads for the door with that stubborn little set to her spine that tells me she’s not backing down. She’s just choosing which hill she’ll die on.
I follow.
It’s colder than it was earlier. The street’s quiet in that deceptive late afternoon way, the town’s holding its breath between errands and gossip.
We walk side by side toward the cabin. We keep just enough distance to feel the tension between us, but close enough that I can hear the way her breath catches in the air. Our steps fall into the same rhythm anyway.
“You don’t have to hover,” she says without looking at me.
“I’m not.”
“You are.”
I glance at her. “I’m walking.”
She huffs a laugh. “You’re walking like you’d tackle a bear if it crossed the road.”
“If the bear looked at you wrong,” I say.
She finally looks at me then, lips twitching despite herself. “That’s not reassuring.”
“Wasn’t meant to be.”
The path narrows as we leave the main road. Trees crowd in, branches arching overhead. Her shoulder brushes my arm when the ground dips. Just barely.
It’s enough.
My jaw tightens. Her breath stutters for half a second before she schools it back into calm.
Chemistry’s a stupid word for it. Makes it sound fun. Harmless.
This isn’t.
This is pressure. Awareness. The kind of heat that comes from two people standing too close to something neither of them is ready to name.
The cabin comes into view, exactly where it should be.
I scan the clearing before she even reaches for the key. Looking for tire marks, footprints. There’s nothing obvious.
Doesn’t mean a damn thing.
“Go ahead,” I say. “I’ll be right here.”
She unlocks the door and steps inside. I follow, staying near the entrance, eyes tracking corners, windows, the back door. Everything looks as it should.
That’s when I hear it.
The sharp inhale.
“Zane?” Aurora’s voice wobbles as she calls out to me. “Something’s… wrong.”
I move instantly.
