“Good. We need to strip out of these soggy things.” His words shouldn’t make her blush, especially with how used to close quarters she was with her treks up Mount Denali with mostly men, but it did. “I covered a section behind me so our clothes can dry out overnight. Well, at least not be soaked.”
She nodded, hoping he couldn’t see her blush in the dim light. When he cleared his throat, she glanced up from digging in her pack. His ears burned red, and his eyes darted to her, then away.
“I’ll just turn around.” He shifted in the small space so his back was to her.
Her cheeks hurt from her smile. How could this warrior be embarrassed over something like this? She bit her lip, turned her back to him, and quickly swapped clothes.
She really wasn’t sure what to do with him, with the words he’d confessed. Sure, they hadn’t been in a relationship or anything, but him ghosting her had hurt. She figured it was because of her, but, if she could believe what he said earlier, his reason for not contacting her soothed her bruised heart.
“Done?” He cleared his throat again.
“Yeah.” She zipped up her fleece jacket, glad she’d had it in her pack.
“Hand me your clothes.”
Their fingers brushed, and she shivered at the contact. His eyebrows V-ed on his forehead, and his lips pressed tightly together. His concern made her smile. She’d led mountaineers up Denali for so long that it’d been a while since someone worried about her. Gunnar had, on their trek to the North Pole, but that was the annoying, overbearing brother kind of worry. Davis’s care wasn’t irritating at all.
“We need to get warm.” He hung the clothes from branches, his back to her as he mumbled, “The last thing we need is hypothermia along with murderers.”
And just like that, the terror of the day had her teeth chattering. She reached into her pack, her hand quivering, and grabbed her sleeping bag. As she laid it out in the small space, she cringed at the mummy bag. She loved her Mountain Hard Wear Phantom, but it definitely wasn’t meant for two people.
“Did you grab a sleeping bag from your tent?” She glanced at his pack, wondering for the first time what he was able to pack.
He shook his head and huffed out a disgusted grunt. “I only had time to get clothes and the few packaged food items I had in the tent before I heard the footsteps. I stupidly thought the Alaskan wilderness was a place I could finally relax. A place to stop being paranoid that someone was going to jump out of the shadows or that I’d have to bug out. My pack was shoved under my cot, empty, and most of our supplies were in the cabin with the computer.”
“It’s okay. I never thought this would happen here, either.” She swallowed.
“Yeah, well, I should’ve known better.” He clenched his teeth.
A shiver ran through her. “Well, that just means I’ll warm up faster with us sharing. I shouldn’t be this cold, not after the expedition to the North Pole, but I can’t stop shaking.”
“Climb in.” Davis nudged her shoulder. “I’ll take the zipper side.”
The cold side. She nodded and slid into the bag with her back to Davis. Would they both even fit? He turned off her headlamp, plunging them into darkness, and slipped in. He hesitated a moment before his arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her close.
“You know, for a mummy bag, this thing has decent foot space.” He shifted his legs so his feet cradled the bottom of hers.
“It has extra room down there for gear you don’t want to freeze. Worked great on the expedition.” She tried to relax her muscles, but she couldn’t with him so close.
“I enjoyed the videos you posted about the expedition. You made it feel like I was right there with you.” His low words shot through her.
“My camera.” She tried to sit up, but the space was too tight. “I had my GoPro on when I walked into your camp.”
“Leave it for now.”
“But—”
“It’s not going anywhere, and watching it now won’t help us.” He adjusted his position, pulling the sleeping bag closed tighter.
Relief crashed over her. She didn’t think she could handle watching it at the moment, and she hated herself for that weakness. In the morning, she’d watch it, whether or not she could handle it. Justin deserved that much, deserved his murderers brought to justice.
As she slowed her breathing and relaxed a little into Davis’s hold, his words jolted through her again. He’d enjoyed her videos? Why would he even bother when he’d left her hanging?
“You really watched?” she whispered, then held her breath, waiting for his response.
“Yeah. I watched them all.” His swallow was loud in her ear. “I’ve watched all of your videos. Might have even downloaded them to my phone.”
He laughed it off, but she heard the truth of the confession in his tone.