Sunny couldn’t stifle her smile as her mood lifted. A soft squeal behind her had her turning just in time to see a young couple embrace. An idea popped in her head, one she’d always fantasized about but had never thought would actually happen. But would she have the courage to go through with it?
She looked back at Davis just stepping off the escalator. She bit her bottom lip, then shrugged. What was the point of having a fake relationship if you couldn’t have fun with it? Besides, if any baddies Lena was paranoid about were watching, it was Sunny’s duty to make this relationship believable.
“Here. Hold my purse.” She whacked her purse into Lena’s gut.
“Wait. Where are you going?” Lena fumbled with the purse.
Sunny turned back to her sister, giving a devious lift of her eyebrow. “Why, I’m going to greet my boyfriend I’ve missed desperately.”
She winked then pushed through the crowd.
“Sunny! Don’t do anything embarrassing,” Lena said from behind Sunny
“When have I ever done that?”
“Constantly when we were growing up.”
“I can’t help it that I’m spontaneous and fun and you’re not.” She threw over her shoulder before waving her hand in the air. “Davis!”
Her shout drew the gazes of several around her. She broadened her smile as she saw Davis’s head snap her direction. He looked left and right, his forehead furrowed in confusion, before focusing back on her.
“Davis!” She yelled again, causing an older man to chuckle in front of her.
“Young love.” He laughed.
“Remember when we were like that, dear?” The old man’s wife asked.
Sunny beamed a full-toothed smile at the couple and shrugged. “Sorry.”
“Go get him, sweetie, and don’t let go.” The woman waved Sunny on.
A twinge of regret soured the moment. If only she was rushing toward the love of her life and not just pretending. She shook off the feeling and focused on the fun of doing something so completely wild and carefree.
When the crowd cleared for her like the parting of the Red Sea, she sprinted toward Davis. His stoic face was even more handsome the closer she got. His dark brown eyes widened in shock a moment before she threw herself at him.
His duffle hit the ground with a thump, and he caught her against himself, which was good since she hadn’t considered what would happen if he didn’t. She wrapped her arms and legs around him like she’d seen in countless videos and kissed him. He froze, his fingers tightening around her waist.
The shock must have worn off, because his arms banded around her like he would carry her forever and never let go. His kiss held the same sense of desperation she had in her heart and tried to hide from everyone else. When she slowed the kiss and pulled back slightly, surprise still shone from his eyes.
“Hi. I’m Sunny,” she whispered as she tried to catch her breath.
His lips hitched up on one side, tempting her to kiss them again. “Nice to meet you, Sunny.”
“You two done?” Lena broke in, exasperation so thick in her voice Sunny almost started kissing Davis again just to annoy her sister more.
She did get another peck in before unwrapping her legs from his waist. He reached down with one hand to snag his duffle, saying a terse greeting to Lena. After Lena turned toward the entrance, Davis glanced hesitantly at Sunny before sliding his arm around her waist and pulling her next to him. Her pulse jumped in her throat. She wasn’t sure how fake relationships worked, exactly, but so far, this one beat any real relationship she’d had to date.
Davis’s stomach flew into his throat as he fell. He clawed at the dirt walls, trying to slow down his descent. Sunny flopped into him, and he wrapped his arms around her limp body to protect her as they fell. The slam into the ground shot red-hot pain through his shoulder and ripped the air from his lungs.
He couldn’t breathe. Letting Sunny roll off of him to the ground, he sat up and jerked off his pack, taking deep breaths through his mouth and pushing his stomach out to get his diaphragm to calm down. He kept his hand wrapped around Sunny’s strap, just in case the earth took them on another wild ride.
When his diaphragm stopped spasming, he reached out with his other hand to pull Sunny to him. Sharp pain rushed down his arm, turning his fingers numb. He groaned and gritted his teeth against the agony. Hopefully, his shoulder wasn’t all the way out of socket.
Ignoring his injury, he dragged Sunny to him with his good arm. He checked her vitals, tears blurring his already limited vision. He couldn’t lose her.
Her strong pulse and even breathing released all the tension bundled in his muscles. He bent over her, a tortured sob rending from within. He tried to shut down the cascade of emotions slamming through him, but he’d lost his vise on them. All the pain, guilt, fear, and grief of the last few years tumbled over him in crushing waves. He’d gotten his team killed with his gullibility, had pushed away anyone who ever cared about him, been paranoid and unable to trust to the point of panic, and, even now, in the middle of the Alaskan wilderness with no one around, he’d failed.
The one person who had tempted him from his darkness lay crumpled and unconscious in some godforsaken pit. He should’ve noticed the unstable ground. If he’d been alert and led instead of being mesmerized by the sway in Sunny’s dark ponytail, remembering the silky feel of it between his fingers, he would have taken them around the area.