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Carson worked in silence in the next tent over.

And yet everything between us was loud.

The fire crackled outside, and the wind whistled.

Somewhere far off, a lone owl called.

And under all that, my heartbeat climbed faster than it ever should.

When I finally zipped my sleeping bag halfway and crawled in for a test, I heard him doing the same a few feet away.

Close.

Too close.

I squeezed my eyes shut.

This was supposed to be professional.

It was supposed to be straightforward.

It was supposed to be adry run.

But after the bears and the wolves, I didn’t exactly want my own tent thirty feet away from his.

And now?

Now the forest felt too still.

The night was too intimate, and Carson was too near.

And me?

I was too alive.

Too aware.

Too terrified of what would happen if this continued.

I swallowed hard and whispered into the cold air:

“This is fine. Totally fine. Everything is perfectly—”

A deep voice cut through the dark.

“Sienna.”

My breath caught.

“Yes?” I whispered.

A beat.

Then another, and in a tone that hit every nerve in my body.

“We need to talk.”

Chapter Fourteen