Page 131 of Bones
“This one is perfect.” He grinned at me.
“What can I do?” I asked, shivering.
“You want to dig out some of this snow to make the clear space a little bigger while I go cut some wood?”
I nodded and shrugged off my pack before sliding down the small incline to the base of the boulder. Both of us worked quietly for a while and soon I had a larger space cleared out and Trey had wood for a campfire. He peeled off strips of wood with a large knife to make a small pile of kindling.
“So I’m guessin’ you don’t have a bedroll,” Trey said.
I flushed slightly. “No.”
He smiled slightly down at the wood. “Lemme guess, you were planning on surviving the cold out of pure stubbornness?”
“I woulda been fine,” I grumbled.
“Sure,” he teased, “if by ‘fine’ you mean ‘frozen to death.’”
“I have a blanket. And I know how to build a fire.” I glared at him.
"Then why am I doin' all the work?" He lifted his head, grinning at me.
“Isn’t this why you came?” I raised an eyebrow. “To help?”
His grin widened into that sunshine smile. “You actually accepting help for once?”
“I accept help all the time!”
He laughed out loud. “That’s the most ridiculous lie you’ve told yet.”
I rolled my eyes and grabbed a couple of skinny sticks to break into pieces as he coaxed a spark into a fire. He'd taken off his gloves, placing them on the ground beside him as he fed small pieces of wood into the fire.
“Gimme your gloves,” I said, holding out my hand.
He handed them over, watching as I put them on my sticks and stuck them in the snow close to the fire so they could dry out.
“Thanks.” He smiled that sweet soft smile he seemed to save for me, and my heart did another stupid little skip.
I did the same thing with my gloves, then held my cold fingers over the flames, trying to warm them up as he built up the fire. After a while, he had me take over. I fed the flames and watched as Trey stabbed some pieces of wood into the snow on the sides of the rock to create makeshift walls and that blocked the wind a little and gave us at least some protection from predators. The heat bounced off the rock that leaned over us, making a nice warm bubble.
Trey broke larger fallen pieces of wood by sticking one end between two trees close together and pushing on the other end until the wood broke with a loud crack that made me jump.
“Sorry!” he called, smiling.
An answering smile curled around my lips in response. Things felt…different between us. Maybe because we were outside the hold. Maybe because I’d been honest with him about the danger, and he still stayed. Maybe because he’d told me he loved me. Or maybe Trey had gotten into my heart and put down roots a long time ago and if I was honest, there was no way of fully ripping him out. I couldn’t deny I was sogladhe came. Godsdamnit, I liked him so much it terrified me. He'd taken off his coat and the sweater under it as he worked, leaving him in just a T-shirt as he built up a small woodpile, and I couldn't help but admire him, the muscles in his arms as he pushed the logs until they broke, the way his wavy brown hair fell against his face.
Gods, I wanted to kiss him again and run my fingers through that hair. Why hadn’t I done that the first time?
He glanced over and caught me staring, one side of his mouth lifting in a slight smirk. My face warmed and I went back to concentrating on the fire. I’d cleared enough room at the bottom of the rock for both of us. I glanced at Trey’s bedroll. He would try to make me take it. I’d bet anything on it. I glanced at our little shelter again. Howwerewe gonna do this? I sure as hell wasn’t gonna take his bedroll and make him sleep in the cold.
What was the point of still pushing him away? He knew about the danger. He was here. He'd been honest about how he felt. Was he right and just my fear stood between us?
My heart pounded, but gods, I didn’t want to fight this anymore.
“I’ll be right back!” Trey called, unaware of the mental battle I waged.
I listened to his boots crunching away. I wasn’t sure if it was a testament to Trey’s persistence or to how weak my defenses had become that we’d only been out here for a day and I’d given up.
Don’t—Wolf tried to snap.
