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I laugh softly, shaking my head. “Me neither, Char. Lee. Charlee.” I’m glad she can’t see my face burning red.
“If I recall, you did promise me a camping date once, so if this was all a ploy to get to it, bravo, Oli. I walked right into it.”
Her voice is light and teasing for once, but I whip my head in her direction all the same, my eyes flashing to her face. Maybe it’s the nickname she always used for me on her lips right now, or maybe it’s her breaking her own rule and bringing up our past, and the many promises I made to her back then about that first date night. Either way, it catches me off guard.
She looks so small wearing my shirt. It reaches her knees, and she looks so cozy, so soft. So inviting. My eyes flare when they do a double take at her knees . . .
Her bare knees.
I ball my fingers into iron-tight fists at my sides. She’s not wearing anything underneath.
It’s okay. It’s fine.
The thought is unbearable.
I force my mind to stay on course, to not venture into places I can’t allow it to go, but one reminder works better than any cold shower ever could: You’re wearing fucking thermal tights, for god’s sake.
The last thing I need is for her to think I’m a creep. So I train my eyes on hers, not allowing—or trusting—myself to look anywhere else.
“I did promise that, didn’t I? This isn’t quite how I imagined it, though. If my memory serves me right, there was a lake involved.”
Charlee chuckles, shaking her bangs into place. “Don’t push your luck.”
I sit on the opposite end of the mat, tucking my legs under me. “If you ask me, it wouldn’t have mattered what we did on that date. As long as I had the chance to spend it with you.”
Her breath catches, but her eyes show nothing that could betray the relaxed mask she wears. To anyone else, at least. Not to me.
“You can’t say shit like that anymore,” she whispers.
I bring my knees under my chin, curling my arms around my legs. “I’m sorry. It’s just hard sometimes, around you.”
“That’s what he said.”
My eyes widen, and we burst into laughter.
“I can’t believe you just said that.”
“What?” she asks, still laughing. “You gave it to me so easily.”
My laugh dies in my throat, and so does hers. I cock an eyebrow, a silent challenge.
She chuckles, breaking the tension. “Yeah, okay, I heard it.”
Outside, the rain intensifies, splattering harder on the waterproof material of the tent.
Charlee pinches her lips together. “Doesn’t look like we’ll be on our way soon. Should we call the lodge?”
I shake my head. “They won’t send someone in this weather. We’re not in a dangerous situation, so there’s no need to alarm anybody.”
She hums and stretches her left leg, hissing as her ankle grazes the ground.
“How are you feeling?”
It looks like the swelling has gone down, though the bruising has worsened.
“It hurts like hell. But I’ll manage. I consider myself lucky to have come out of that with only a broken ankle.”
“We don’t know if it’s broken yet,” I retort.
