“Good,” Lauren snaps.

  “That’s ridiculous.” Jacob glares at Lauren.

  “I’ll help you,” Avery says, and Cybil shakes her head.

  “I appreciate that, Avery, but this is not the first time Lauren has implied that I’m getting off easy because I have Tanner as my partner, so hopefully after I do this, she’ll stop bringing it up.”

  “Cybil, you don’t have to do that,” Oliver says quietly.

  “It’s fine.” She moves to where Blake is now standing at my side, watching what’s going down. “Can I please get a tent so I can get this over with?”

  “Sure, babe.” He unties one from the back, and once he hands it to her, he adds, “I also got your camera back from Mav.” He hands that to her as well, and with a lift of her chin, she takes both and stomps off.

  “You’re unbelievable,” Parker hisses to Lauren before he takes a tent from Blake and walks off with Jacob following, and Lauren turns to watch them go. Then she grabs her own tent and Oliver’s hand to drag him off.

  “I really do not like that girl.” Avery sighs, and Grant shakes his head.

  “Leave it, baby.”

  “I am leaving it, Grant, but that doesn’t mean I can’t say I don’t like her.”

  “Right.” He presses his lips together like he’s trying not to laugh, and she narrows her eyes on him.

  “You’d better not even think about laughing right now.”

  “Baby, I see you’re itching for an argument, but how about you put all that energy you have into helping me set up our tent?” he suggests.

  “How about you sleep outside tonight?” she hisses before stomping past Blake to grab her own tent from the back of the four-wheeler and carrying it away.

  “So I’m just gonna put this out there. Maybe you two wanna rethink adding this kind of situation into your future retreats,” Grant says, looking between Blake and me before turning on his heel and following after his wife.

  “So I see Lauren is still adding her special brand of joy to every occasion,” Blake mutters from my side.

  “The woman doesn’t know when to stop,” I grumble back.

  “Well, something tells me that Oliver isn’t going to care how pretty she is, if she isn’t careful,” he says. Then he adds, “Damn, Cybil’s got a lot of pent-up anger.”

  I follow his gaze to where Cybil is and curse under my breath when I see her using a large rock to pound the poles into the ground with a little too much force. “You’re gonna have to replace those stakes tomorrow.”

  “Yeah.” He sighs. “Let’s get dinner on. Hopefully some food will cheer everyone up.”

  For the next hour, I help him get dinner ready over the fire as each couple works on setting up their tent, and I’m proud as fuck to see Cybil is keeping up with everyone else, even on her own. When she finishes, all the other couples have already gathered around the fire and are starting to eat.

  I want to pull her into my arms when she walks over to join us, and it pisses me off that I can’t.

  “I’m not sure our tent will make it through the night, partner,” she tells me quietly as she takes the bowl I hold out to her.

  “That’s okay. I prefer sleeping under the stars anyway.” At my statement, her eyes drift up to meet mine. “I’m fucking proud of you, sunshine.”

  “Thank you.” She drops her gaze to my mouth, and my fingers clench into fists. Every fucking time she does that, it takes all my willpower not to tangle my hand in her hair, tip her head back, and kiss her like I know she wants—like both of us want.

  “You need to eat,” I order softly, and she rubs her lips together before nodding and taking a seat on the log behind us. Sitting next to her, I dig into my bowl of stew, while she eats some broccoli cheddar soup that smelled delicious as I was heating it up. When we both finish, I take our bowls and dump them in the cooler on the back of the four-wheeler, then grab a plate of chicken and corn for myself and the single-size pizza loaded with roasted vegetables for her.

  “I don’t know who your guys’ chef is, but I want to take them home with me,” she tells me after she finishes off half her pizza.

  “That would be Blake’s mom, Janet.” I smile as she rubs her stomach. “When we started running guided trips, she told us that if we wanted to be successful, we needed to offer five-star meals for clients to enjoy at the end of each day. We thought she didn’t know what she was talking about, but we’ve had a lot of people come back just because of the food.”

  “That doesn’t surprise me. The meals would be one of the reasons I would want to come back.”

  “What are the other reasons?” I ask curiously.

  “Honestly, everything. I didn’t think I would enjoy this trip, but it’s actually been fun trying new things and pushing myself. Plus, you’re not so bad to hang out with.”

  “Good to know.” I chuckle, and she bounces her shoulder off mine. “Are you done eating?” I ask, eyeing what’s left of her pizza, and she laughs.

  “You want my leftovers, don’t you?”

  “I’ve always been a guy who enjoys meat, but every time you get your food, all I can think is I’m missing out.”

  “You are. Vegetables are delicious.” She passes me her plate, and I take a large bite and groan in approval. “Told you so.”

  “What made you become a vegetarian?” I ask, knowing she implied she didn’t always avoid eating meat as I take another bite.

  Her eyes wander from mine, and she takes a deep breath. “My mom got cancer and wanted to do everything right, so she started eating a strict vegan diet. I wasn’t as disciplined as her, but I never loved meat, so I just stopped eating it. Which made it easier when she was cooking. I guess it just kind of stuck.”

  “Is your mom okay now?” I ask softly, and she shakes her head.

  “She passed away when I was fifteen. She fought for six years before she couldn’t fight anymore.”

  “Jesus, Cybil.” I wrap my arms around her shoulders when I see her eyes start to water, and she burrows her face in my chest. “I’m so fucking sorry, baby.”

  “It’s okay. I’m okay.” She sniffles and pulls away, wiping her cheeks. “I don’t know why I’m crying right now. I think I’m just really tired.”

  I’m sure she is tired, but as she avoids looking at me, I wonder if she’s really dealt with the loss of her mom or if she’s tucked the pain away and built up walls around it to keep from facing what she went through. From experience, I know it seems easier to evade the past when it’s painful, but fuck if those doors you think are locked don’t have a way of opening up when you least expect.

  “You should go try to sleep.”

  “Yeah.” She stands and glances through me. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

  “Night, sunshine,” I say quietly, watching her say good night to everyone else before she heads for our tent. After I watch her disappear, I get up and take our plates to the back of the four-wheeler, then help Blake load up and send him on his way.

  After making sure that camp is secure and the campfire is out, I lie in my sleeping bag and listen to Cybil breathe. Just as I’m beginning to drift off, she rolls in her sleeping bag toward me and presses into my side, just like she did last night. For a long moment, I don’t move, not even taking a breath.

  I should wake her up. I know I should put distance between us, but just like last night, I wait until I know she won’t wake up, then curl around her. I fall asleep, enjoying every fucking second of having her close.

  Chapter 8

  CYBIL

  “Cybil.”

  When I hear my name, my eyes flutter open, and I frown when I see Tanner leaning over me, fully dressed and wearing a headlamp similar to the one I have.

  “Is everything okay?” I look around, noticing it’s still mostly dark, the beige tent letting through just a glimmer of early-morning light.

  “Yeah, I have something to show you. Get dressed and meet me outside.”

  “Are you going to take me into the woods to murder me before everyone else wakes up?”

  “No.” He grins. “Come on. You gotta hurry up, and don’t forget your camera and headlamp.”

  “Okay,” I agree as curiosity and excitement make my pulse quicken. I unzip my bag and climb out as he leaves the tent. It takes me less than five minutes to get dressed in a pair of leggings, a long sweater with my vest over it, boots, and my knit cap. When I get outside, I find Tanner waiting for me with a thermos in one hand.

  “Come on, sunshine,” he whispers again, holding out his hand for me to take, and the moment our palms connect, a tingle travels down my spine and my stomach flutters.

  “Where are we going?” I ask quietly as we walk through the woods with the canopy of trees above us, making it seem darker than it is.

  “You’ll see when we get there.” He gives my fingers a squeeze, and we walk in comfortable silence until I notice that the trees off in the distance open up. As we get closer, I hear the sound of running water and can see the yellow sky above the range. “I found this place during the first trip I guided, and since then, I’ve been back at least a dozen times,” he says quietly as we step out of the trees and onto the bank of a rocky shore at the bottom of a small waterfall that is shooting out the side of the mountain. “I thought you’d like to get some pictures.”

  I hold my breath as I take in the beauty all around me, then tip my head back. The sun is coming up, and the stars are fighting to keep their place in the sky for just a little while longer, creating a picture that feels ethereal.

  “This is beautiful.”

  “It is,” Tanner says softly, and I turn to find him watching me. When I shiver, not from cold but from the look in his eyes, he holds out the thermos he’s been carrying. “I got us some cocoa, but we’ll have to share the cup.”

  I nod and walk to where he is, then take a seat next to him on a large log that’s been half hollowed out.

  “Thank you for bringing me here.” I take the mug of cocoa from his grasp when he hands it to me and blow across the hot liquid, watching steam disappear into the cool morning air. “I’ve seen lots of pictures of places just like this, pictures that I thought were photoshopped. It’s unbelievable to me that I’m sitting here in the middle of perfection and I know that it’s real.”

  “Have you traveled a lot?”

  “No, I . . . I think I’ve gotten a little too comfortable in my safe little bubble. But after this trip I want to change that.”

  “There’s lots of life to experience.”

  “I’m realizing that,” I say; then he leans in close to me.

  “Don’t make a sound or any sudden movement,” he whispers, and my heart stops before it starts to pound as I imagine the grizzly from yesterday walking toward us. “Look to your left, downstream about fifty feet.”

  I slowly turn my head, and that’s when I spot a group of elk working their way across the water, with the male in front sporting a huge set of antlers.

  “Hold this, please.” I hand him the cup so I can lift my camera. As I power it on, the noise it makes seems louder than normal, and the elk all freeze and look in our direction.

  “Hurry, they’re gonna run,” Tanner warns with a smile in his voice, so I quickly lift my camera and hold down the shutter button as they begin to take off into the woods.

  When they all disappear, I slide through the photos I just took and pout when I find that all but a couple are just a blur of movement. “I need a quieter camera.”

  “Let me see.”

  I hand it over and watch him go into my settings to change all of them to silent before he slides through the pictures, reaching the final one of the elk and pressing the button again, which causes the reel to return to the first picture I ever took with my camera. It’s one of my ex with a goofy smile on his boyishly handsome face. Stiffening, I fight the urge to snatch my camera from Tanner’s grasp and toss it into the water, not because seeing Galvin is upsetting but because I don’t want Tanner and my not-so-distant past to meet.

  “Your ex?”

  “Yeah” is all I can seem to get out as his silence makes me squirm.

  “What happened between you two?” he asks, handing my camera to me, and I quickly turn it off and let it fall back against my chest.

  “I’m not sure.” I take the hot cocoa back and take a sip as I look out at the landscape, and I’m thankful for his silence as I pull up the courage to tell him the truth. “Like any couple, we had our share of problems; we broke up a few times but always got back together . . .” I let out a breath. “I knew when he told me that he wanted to end things this time that it was for good, even though he didn’t give me a reason.”

  “He didn’t tell you why he was ending things?”

  “No, he just kept saying it wasn’t me; it was him. Since I’ve been here, I’ve started to wonder if he didn’t find someone else who made him happy.”

  “Cybil.”

  Without looking at him, I shake my head. “We’ve known each other since we were five. He and Jade were always my best friends. Before we were even teenagers, all everyone ever talked about was how he and I would end up together, so when it happened, I thought everyone was right. Now, I don’t think they were.”

  “What do you mean?” he asks, and I look over at him, swallowing hard.

  “Have you ever met someone who made your pulse race to the point of lightheadedness, or someone who made you feel like you were coming out of your skin with one look?”

  “Yeah,” he says with his eyes locked on mine, and jealousy makes my skin prickle as I wonder how many women have given him that feeling.

  “I never felt that until recently. I . . . I didn’t even know those feelings even existed before now.” I grip the cup in my hand tighter as his eyes seem to darken and his jaw twitches.

  “Who made you feel those things?” he asks roughly, and I rub my lips together.

  “You,” I admit, sure that I should keep that information to myself.

  “Come here, Cybil,” he orders, but he doesn’t actually give me a chance to come to him. His hand shoots out, and his fingers wrap around the base of my scalp; then he angles my head just like he wants it and drops his mouth to mine.

  The first brush of his lips makes me dizzy; then his tongue slides across my bottom lip, causing my nipples to tighten and the space between my legs to pulse. My mouth falls open on a gasp, and he takes the opportunity to tangle his tongue with mine. As the kiss deepens, I despise the mug in my hands, because all I want to do is touch him back, to run my fingers through his thick hair and dig my nails into his skin.

  “Jesus, Cybil,” he groans, resting his forehead against mine, and I whimper in agreement, not sure I’ll be able to take much more, not without dropping hot cocoa all over us.

  I moan when he leans in to nip my bottom lip and whimper as he places a soft kiss and a swipe of his tongue against my abused mouth. “Wow.” My eyes flutter open, and I find him watching me like I’m the most fascinating thing he’s ever seen in his life, when I know that’s far from the truth, given the life he’s lived.

  “Are you okay?”

  Am I okay? I’m not sure. I feel like I’ve stepped into a raging river while attached to a live wire, and all my nerve endings are standing at attention like they’re waiting to see what will happen next.

  “I’ve wanted to do that since you told me off at the bar.” He smirks at the memory as he smooths the tips of his fingers over my cheek. “And a dozen times since then.” His eyes focus on his fingers as they tuck my hair behind my ear.

  “Really?” I ask, and he tips his head down until his gaze locks with mine. When I see the look he gives me, my pulse that had slowed speeds right back up.

  “You’ve tested my control these last few days, sunshine.”

  “Oh.” I lick my lips, liking that he wants me as much as I want him, that I’m not the only one who’s been fighting all these feelings. “I’ve wanted to kiss you too.” I smile while adding, “Though when we first met, I really wanted to kick you.”

  Laughing, he leans back, taking the mug of cocoa from my grasp. “I guessed that when you brushed me off.”

  “You deserved it.”

  “Yeah,” he says softly, putting the lid on the thermos and wrapping his arm around my shoulders to pull me into his side. I lean into him with a smile on my face, then jump a mile when a loud bang echoes through the quiet morning air, causing the birds in the nearby trees to take flight.

  “What was that?” I ask as he bolts to his feet and looks around.

  “Gunshot. My guess, a twelve gauge.” He spins in a full circle, scanning the tree line before facing me. “Come on.” He reaches for my hand, and as he pulls me up off the log, there’s another shot, this one sounding closer. “Let’s get back to camp.”

  Without another word, he tucks me into his side and leads me quickly back through the forest. As soon as we make it to camp, we find that everyone is up and standing outside their tents, looking sleepy but concerned.

  “Where have you two been?” Lauren asks accusingly when she spots us, and I force Tanner to release my hand, wanting badly to tell her it’s none of her business. But I know this is his job, and I don’t want to jeopardize his or his friends’ reputation.

  “There were gunshots,” Parker says, sending a scolding look in Lauren’s direction before he looks between Tanner and me. “One of them was really close.”

  “We heard them too,” I tell him.

  “What’s in season in terms of hunting?” Oliver asks, looking around.

  “Nothing,” Tanner tells him while dipping into the tent and coming out a moment later with the satellite phone.

  As he walks off, putting the phone to his ear, I scan the area. I’m sure the sound of gunshots is normal in the mountains, but that doesn’t put me at ease. All it would take is someone shooting in our direction, not knowing we are here, to seriously injure one of us.

  “I’d still like to know what you were doing in the woods with Tanner,” Lauren says, and I inwardly groan. I knew her giving up on Tanner and me was too much to ask for.