Page 45 of My Fearless Fake Fling

As I didn’t understand what he meant by that, I ignored it. I think both of us wanted to partake in some post-‘I almost died’ nookie, but my injuries kept him from acting on his urges.

Len gave my wounds a thorough looking over when he changed the wrap to apply antibiotic spray. Consensus: I wouldn’t need stitches. The gashes scabbed over nicely.

Since I continued to heal, I managed to talk him out of us leaving so soon. As long as no infection set in, why not stay? I had ibuprofen in my purse for any lingering pain. Len took it upon himself to make sure infection wouldn’t worm its way in. And honestly, being up here away from civilization, every moment getting to know Len more, at least the things he was willing to talk about meant a lot to me. The man was seriously guarded when it came to talking about his brother. That was a conversation ender, so I stayed safely away from that topic. It came at a great cost to my heart. I would whittle him down, though. Eventually he’d spill his guts and smile while doing it. At least I hoped he would.

The problem with so much one-on-one time, though, was that I came to the realization at the end of the week when we started packing up our campsite that my serious crush had taken a bad, bad turn.

Somehow, well, I’d managed to let myself fall—I mean it wasn’t that hard. He was a great guy, treated me like I mattered—I’d fallen pretty hard for Len.

Spending almost half a month with someone continuously at your side, these things happened. How did I expect to make it through our six months abroad now? Watching him woo other women with a screaming crush would’ve been bad enough. But doing it in love with the guy? In unrequited love with the guy?

“You truly are fearless, Kams,” he said, packing up the last of our gear we’d hiked down to the truck. “You almost died, yet stayed up on that mountain with me. I’m so proud of you.”

His words felt more profound for me now and my skin blushed from the compliment. “I love—” I gasped. What did I almost say?

“What?” he asked.

“I was going to say that I actually love camping.” I covered.Phew. “Never thought I would, but up here, despite the nearly fatal mishap, I loved it.”

“Yeah,despitethat.”

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