Page 111 of Shared By the Mountain Men

“Yeah,” he admitted with a sigh. “I fucked up bad.”

“Asking a girl to move to a new city, a newstate, after having sex once?”

He smirked over at me. “We had sex a lot more than once.”

I snorted. “True. But you know what I mean.”

Jack nodded. “It was a world-class fuck up.”

“You probably blew it.”

He glanced sideways at me. “Probably? Not definitely?”

“That remains to be seen. But I need you to know how badly you fucked up.”

“Trust me: I know,” he muttered. “I’ve lost sleep over it.”

I blinked. “Really?”

“I didn’tplanon asking you to stay,” he explained. “I hadn’t thought that far ahead at all, honestly. I was trying to enjoy my time with you without overthinking it. But you were standing there that morning, and the sunlight was playing in your hair and you had this pure smile on your face. And the words just came out. I don’t think I’ve had a good night’s sleep since then. It’s given me a lot of time to think, though.”

We kept walking along the trail. “And have you come to any big revelations?”

“A few.”

He didn’t elaborate, and I didn’t push him.

Our camp that night was just southwest of Denver. The light pollution from the city lit up the night sky, a tantalizing sign of just how close I was to the finish. It almost seemed like a waste to camp at all, that I should heft my pack onto my shoulders and hike through the night and get it done.

But I made myself go through my normal routine. I used Jack’s hatchet to collect firewood, then cooked Noah’s last freeze-dried meal. The campfire gave Jack’s handsome face a grim cast while we enjoyed our meals, not really eatingtogetherso much as eating adjacent to one another.

“Get some sleep,” Jack said when we started to turn in. “Big day tomorrow.”

“Big day,” I agreed, unzipping my tent.

But I couldn’t stand it anymore. I’d managed to hold back with Noah and Ash, but there was something irresistible about Jack that had gotten under my skin. It was driving me crazy, and I wouldn’t be able to sleep unless I scratched the itch.

I crossed the space between us in three long steps and kissed him.

He wasn’t prepared for it, and his body was stiff. I ended the kiss before he could react. “Goodnight, Jack.”

“Night, Mel,” he replied.

I guess the marking on the hatchetwasa nickname. I liked it.

As I climbed into my sleeping bag and closed my eyes, I had a feeling I knew what would happen the next day. I would wake up, and all three of them would be sitting around the campfire together. Jack, Noah, and Ash would then hike the final stretch with me into Denver, all of us together.

It felt nice. It felt right. I fell asleep with the same kind of excited anticipation as a kid on Christmas Eve.

But when I woke up the next morning and eagerly threw open my tent flap, I wasn’t greeted by the three of them. I wasn’t even rewarded with Jack making breakfast. In fact, there was only a dark spot on the ground where his tent had been.

I was all alone.

52

Melissa

It was what I had wanted originally. To complete this hike all on my own, without anyone helping or accompanying me. That was the entirepointof this ridiculous trip.

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