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Couldn’t I?

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

BRYN

We stopped in a small clearing surrounded by dense woods to make camp after our second day of riding.

By tomorrow night, we’d reach the next portal.

Like the evening before, we each found a section of soft grass to roll our sleeping packs out on, while Sigrid started a fire at the center of our camp. Using only her hands.

Fire was One’s magical element she could channel, and I was grateful for it. Even though it was summer, the nights were chilled.

I had barely said a word to anyone since we’d left the first guard station. I knew Leo was keeping something from me, by the way he ended our last conversation, but I couldn’t find it in me to care enough to question him more. I was too busy feeling sorry for myself, and was content with the space everyone had given me.

However, Leo must’ve thought I’d moped long enough because he currently loomed over me from where I knelt, setting up my spot to sleep, a shiny object dangling over his shoulder, fastened to a rope held in his hand.

He offered up a smile. “I’m going to catch dinner. Care to join?”

No thanks, I’d rather continue feeling sorry for myself didn’t seem like a respectable response, especially since I’d been depending on everyone else in our group for food rations and warmth. So I nodded, following him down a path, through a thicket, arriving at a small lake.

Leo set down the shiny object on the lake’s muddy bank and rolled up his sleeves.

The object appeared to be some kind of small chandelier, but where crystals usually dangled off each tier, there were hooks instead.

“We need to dig for worms,” he said, pointing at the mud surrounding us. “Then, we’ll hook them and catch fish with this.” He lifted his contraption, beaming at it with pride.

I smiled—it was hard not to with him.

Rolling up my own sleeves, I got to work, burying my hands deep in the mud, my body humming in delight at the feel of my fingers sifting through the soil’s small stones and silt, quickly finding a handful of slimy invertebrates disgruntled by my disturbance.

I handed them to Leo, our dirty hands brushing as the worms passed from my palms to his.

He hooked them quickly, his swiftness an arguable act of kindness as the sharp hooks penetrated their wiggling forms.

If worms felt pain, he’d at least made it quick for them.

“Do you want to get in the water, or should I?” he asked playfully, already making to get undressed.

I backed away from the water on instinct, the phantom taste of chlorine lingering at the back of my throat.

“You’ve got it,” I said, finding a patch of grass to sit and watch from.

He reached behind his head, grabbing the fabric of his shirt at his back, and pulled it over down in front of him, his arms flexing slightly.

When he began to unbutton his pants, I looked away sheepishly.

I’d never been shy around a naked man before, not that I’d been with many, but enough that I never felt nervous around nakedness.

But Leo was a different breed of man. It felt almost sinful to see his strong body bare.

Once I gathered the courage to look his way again, he was wading into the water, his black briefs tight against his backside. Thankfully, he walked deeper into the water, only stopping once the depth reached his chest, making it easier for me to stop ogling him. Unfortunately, even his exposed pecs and traps were distracting.

I watched as he slowly lowered his hook-contraption under the surface, the water stilling around him.

He stood patiently, looking down at the unmoving water, like he could see what was happening below.

Minutes ticked by, then a few more, before he finally looked up at me, a genuine smile on his face.