When I returned to the living room with her tucked under my arm, I checked Oz’s temperature again and was happy to see it coming up a little. I quickly warmed up a can of soup and forced him to take several bites of it before he steadfastly refused to take another.
“I just want to sleep. Thank you for helping me, but you don’t need to stay. I’m sure I’ve wasted enough of your time.”
His tone was sincere–not snarky at all, and it nearly broke my heart. Did he really think I was going to leave him after this?
“You’re stuck with me, I’m afraid. I promised you some skin-to-skin time, too, remember? Let’s go get you into bed. I think it’s warm enough in there now.”
Oz studied me for a minute with those tired baby blues. “Really? You’ll stay and cuddle me for a little while?”
My chest was tight with emotion, and I wanted to claw at it to relieve the pressure. Instead, I brushed my thumb across one of his pale cheekbones. He looked tired and frail, and all I could think about was the fact that none of this would have happened if I’d invited him into my cabin the night before. If he’d been with me when Boo had run off, he would have told me he was going to look for her, and I could have helped him.
Half of me was devastated at how bad it could have been, but the other half was giddy with relief it hadn’t been.
“I will stay and cuddle you as long as you want, Oz,” I murmured. “Come to bed, sweetheart.”
Chapter 11
Oz
I awoke snuggled in a cocoon of warmth. Boo was pressed under my chin, but it seemed like I felt her wiry body hair against my legs too. Weird.
“Mm, baby bear, you’re warm,” I murmured to her.
A deep chuckle caused me to jump. “You too, shnookums,” the sleepy voice teased.
I opened my eyes to find myself curled into Jake’s bare chest with two very strong, very warm arms wrapped tightly around me. Our legs were pretzeled, and I realized quite quickly how close my morning wood was to his.
We were both in nothing but our underwear–he in black boxer-briefs and me in a pair of skimpy, barely there leopard print briefs I definitely had not been wearing when I went into the woods.
I looked up and narrowed my eyes at him. “Care to explain the underwear situation?”
Jake’s normally serious gaze was downright sheepish, and I couldn’t help but notice how fucking adorable he was with sleepy eyes and messed-up hair. Memories of getting lost and found began clicking together in my head.
“The woods,” I said faintly while I tried to piece it all together.
He nodded.
The fear returned as I was instantly transported back to the darkness of the forest as I’d searched for Boo. The relief when I’d found her had been nothing like I’d ever known before, but it hadn’t lasted long as I’d realized I couldn’t see the cabin anymore, not even the plume of smoke rising from the chimney. The snow had been so blinding that I hadn’t even been able to make out my own footprints. I’d tried to reassure myself and Boo that it would take just a few minutes to get back to the cabin, but the cold had leeched all the energy from my body within a matter of steps. There’d been nothing but darkness and the howling wind and Boo’s cold body pressed against my chest, and I’d been so fucking scared…
I’d fallen to my knees many times as I’d trudged through the deep snow in one direction or another, but I’d managed to get up each time. But that last time, my body had refused to obey, and I’d whispered to Boo through the collar of my coat that I was sorry. Then I’d sent a silent apology to Jake, because despite how rough things had been between us, I’d known he cared about me and he’d mourn the loss.
Just like I’d mourned the loss of what could have been. Maybe if I’d tried harder to talk to him… maybe if I hadn’t walked away the night before…
But I’d been too much of a coward. So I’d just closed my eyes and settled all of my weight into the snow. I had no clue how long I’d sat there like that before I’d heard my name whispered on the wind. Certain I’d imagined it, I hadn’t moved or even tried to make my tired body respond. But then I’d heard it again.
And again…
“It’s been dark outside for a while. I think you slept for a good ten hours. Gonna be up all night.”
Jake’s words brought me back to the present, though I still had a hard time processing what he was saying.