I shrugged my shoulders and pursed my lips into a tight grimace. “I haven’t been the best at picking out the truth from fiction lately, but I would bet my yearly bonus that neither one of those guys is who they say they are.”

“Something ain’t right.” Lane’s voice was hard and sharp.

“There is something going on there we are not a part of for sure.” I was fully aware that some of the puzzle pieces to this big picture were still in the box and not dumped out on the table waiting to be sorted through.

“Hard to hide anything that isn’t real out here. Lies and make-believe can get you killed real quick in the backcountry.” Lane sounded tired and there was a thread of worry in his tone. I nodded and moved to the entrance of the tent where Emrys had her head poking out and was watching me with sleepy eyes.

I stopped when he said my name. “And, Leo . . .” I turned to look at him over my shoulder and noticed his trademark grin locked firmly back in place on his ruggedly good-looking face. “You really do stink. Tell Em if she wants to bunk with me in my tent, I have room.”

Considering he was so big on saying what he meant and standing behind his words, I had no doubts that he would welcome my best friend with open arms. However, that would mean he would be putting his sullen and surly older brother out and I wasn’t about to offer up the limited space in my tent to him if Em took his place. Especially not when I could smell myself and the fumes made my nose twitch. Initially, I thought the offensive odor would be a good way to keep Cy and my rebellious fascination with him at bay. The truth of the matter is, I was far less keen on the idea of keeping the man at bay than I should be. I wanted him close and I didn’t want anything about me to put him off from getting closer than close. Emrys was just going to have to tough it out until we got to the camp showers that were promised.

I maneuvered past Em and threw myself down on the sleeping bag as she asked me, “What was that all about? Was that fireworks?”

“Not fireworks. It was a gunshot. Cy took off to see if he could find out where it was coming from.”

I heard rustling as she maneuvered her way back into her sleeping bag. There was a long pause before she muttered, “Not quite as alone out here as I thought we were going to be.”

“No, we’re definitely not alone.” And for the first time in my life I was okay with that. The truth was it took a lot of energy and effort to keep everyone out. Surrounded by these strangers, all of us scrambling to find our footing in an unfamiliar place, I was finding I liked how easy it was to let the right people in.

Not So Squeaky Clean

The next day, there was no mistaking the tension radiating off the brothers and the barely concealed suspicion they had toward the two other men on the ride. Just like the day before, the older man and the younger man stayed mostly silent, unless they spoke to each other. Even the normally oblivious mom and dad seemed to pick up on the thick undercurrents working throughout the rest of the group. Meghan wrangled her mouthy offspring and made them ride between her and her husband, who I noticed smelled almost as badly as I did. He must not have been accustomed to being in the saddle all day either but waited until Em and I turned in for the night before he did something about it. The man was ridiculous and I made sure that I put myself between him and my friend so that she didn’t have to waste another day fending off his oily advances.

Cy didn’t say a word about his trek into the dark, so I assumed his search didn’t turn up anything either harmless or dangerous. I found myself off guard at how ridiculously happy I was that he had returned to the camp uninjured. Even though I was exhausted, I hadn’t been able to sleep until I heard booted footsteps and his deep voice growling at Lane when he got back last night. I didn’t want to spend too much time thinking about my reaction or what it might mean, so instead I spent the rest of the day reminiscing with Em and enjoying the ride, now that my backside was slightly more accustomed to the jarring bounce.

The second day’s agenda included a nature hike and rock climbing that both the kids seemed ecstatic about. I didn’t mind the hike but heights weren’t my favorite. I was nervous about doing something I’d never done before, something I’d never even thought about doing. I’d promised Em I would embrace the experience, so instead of grumbling about dangling in the air from a rope like I typically would, I worried myself sick about taking on something new. I was cataloging everything that could go wrong and mentally planning my funeral. I forced a smile I knew she didn’t buy for a single second but there was relief on her face that I wasn’t trying to drag her down into my ocean of fear and hesitation.

When it came time to strap into the harness I balked when Cy moved toward me with the contraption. I told him I wanted Lane to be the one who strapped me in. I couldn’t formulate an explanation, one that didn’t admit to him that I didn’t want him within touching, or rather smelling distance while I was gross and stinky.

He gave me a dark look. “Who do you think taught Lane and Sutton how to do any of this shit?” I opened my mouth to try and make peace but he wasn’t done proving that he really was Mr. Personality and a man not afraid to speak his mind. “You’re annoying and mouthy, but I’m not going to let anything happen to you, Sunshine.”

I opened and closed my mouth like a beached fish while I tried to figure out how to respond to his rude assessment of my character. I crossed my arms over my heaving breasts and stamped my foot on the ground, counting backwards from ten as I worked at keeping my temper and sharp tongue in check. This man riled me up and lit my fuse faster than anyone else ever had. “I am not annoying; you’re just impatient and far too accustomed to people doing whatever you say.”