Page 21 of Close to the Edge

I couldn’t bear that.

Walking fast is the only thing that half blocks out those jangling thoughts—fast enough to get a stitch in my side, thighs burning and arms swinging, as my polo shirt sticks to my sweaty back. My breaths come in short gasps, and my head swims in the heat, and by the time I reach Rowan and Evie’s cabin, I’m redder than a raspberry.

“Rowan,” I call out, leaning hard against the deck railing and squinting through the shadowed windows. My chest heaves, and I swallow a few times before calling out again. “Evie. Ash. Anybody home?”

This is the most visits I’ve ever paid to this cabin in the span of a few short days. At this rate, I’m gonna wear a deep groove along the mountain trail, eroding the path with my sneakers alone.

A rhythmic thud drifts around from the side of the cabin, and I push myself away from the rail with a groan. Chopping logs is one of Rowan’s favorite coping strategies—whenever things get tricky and he needs to burn off some Big Feelings, my brother chops a whole stack of logs. Half the time he ends up selling them in town to local businesses and tourists for some extra cash, because otherwise he and Evie would never get through their stash. They don’t need the money, but at this point Rowan is the official Starlight Ridge log guy, and he’s a lot more mentally healthy for it.

Hey, don’t get me wrong: chopping logs definitely beats hiding away in the hills as a local cryptid like he did before, but that rhythmic thud of the ax always makes me kinda nervous. Is he okay?

Did he somehow find out about what Ash and I did last night?

Does he hate me already?

I clear my throat, suck in another deep breath, and tug my polo shirt straight—then set off around the cabin to face my fate.

Ten

Ash

Christ alive, I need to get the hell off this mountain. Every passing minute I spend here, it gets harder and harder to keep my distance from Tess. My patience is worn thinner than rice paper right now, ready to tear in the smallest breeze, and ever since I trudged back to my hammock yesterday, I can’t think straight.

Because—last night. Fuck me, last night.

The way Tess gasped and moaned at my touch; the hungry way she returned my kisses. The perfect way she fell apart in my arms, shuddering then collapsing against my chest.

Even now, a part of me thinks it must have been a dream. A vivid, magical hallucination borne of loneliness and longing. But it happened, damn it, that happened and blew down my house of cards, because there’s no way I can stay away from her now. It took a small miracle for me to end things last night when I did.

And how can I leave Starlight Ridge when my girl is here?

How can I turn my back on heaven?

We’ll have to figure something out. Break things to Rowan gently, with plenty of warning and Evie nearby to provide support. It’s risky, but we need to do this.

I’m done lying to myself. I can’t stay away from Tess. I won’t.

She’s mine, and I’m hers. End of story.

“If she’ll have you,” I mutter, swinging Rowan’s ax at another log. A growing pile of split wood is on one side of me; a waiting stack of whole logs on the other. And I get it now, I get why Rowan finds this chore so soothing.

It’s meditative and sweaty and it helps out the household. Win-win. Back muscles screaming, I swing down on another log with a tooth-rattling thud.

Besides, ever since walking Tess back to town last night, I have a lot of excess energy to burn off. Been crawling out of my skin all day, jumping at the snap of twigs. Ready to sprint or fight or just howl at the sky.

When Tess rounds the corner of the cabin, I blink hard, shaking my head, and straighten up with the ax dangling from one hand. The evening light is pink-tinged and golden, glinting in her dark hair, and she’s in that black polo shirt from Flint’s, the collar flipped up on one side.

Tess stumbles to a halt when she sees me and stares for a beat.

I stare right back, chest heaving.

Then I’m chopping the ax into a tree stump and leaving it there, striding away from the carnage I’ve made toward her. And Tess is already here, leaping into my arms—she’s kissing me hard, both hands gripping my hair.

Too long. It’s been too long without her, and I can’t do that ever again. Can’t be apart for a full night and day, not when my body cries out for hers every minute and my soul feels frayed when she’s gone and she’s mine, mine, mine.

“Where are Rowan and Evie?” Tess asks between kisses, her legs wrapped around my waist and her ass balanced in my palms. I squeeze her with a growl, kissing her so hard her head tips back.

“Went out for a walk. Only left a few minutes ago, so they should be gone a long while. We’ve got time.”

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