“What about me?”
Everything.
The way she shields children before herself.
The way she almost died and still worried about everyone else first.
The way she melts against me in her sleep like her body trusts me before her mind does.
But none of that leaves my mouth.
“Trying to figure you out,” I say instead.
A faint tired smile touches her lips. “Good luck.”
“Same problem with you.”
Her shoulder brushes mine lightly when she shifts.
Neither of us moves away from it.
“You don’t want to figure me out,” I tell her quietly.
“Why not?”
Because there’s nothing good under the surface.
Because people close to me tend to end up buried.
Because I already know losing her would ruin me.
I stare back toward the valley instead of answering.
Olivia watches me for another second before asking softly—
“What happened to you?”
There it is.
The question I avoid better than bullets.
My jaw tightens automatically.
“Not now.”
I hear the disappointment in the silence that follows.
Small.
Quiet.
Still enough to bother me.
Damn it.
I drag a hand across my face hard enough to scrape over stubble.
Then before I can stop myself—
