Too long.
I can hear gravel crunch beneath his boots.
Hear the low murmur of voices farther down the ridge.
Nobody inside the crevice moves.
Nobody breathes.
Olivia presses closer without realizing it, her forehead brushing briefly against my jaw.
The contact shoots straight through me.
The scout turns slightly toward the rocks.
My grip tightens around Olivia instinctively.
If he looks up—
We’re done.
Then finally—
The footsteps move again.
Voices fade slowly down the canyon.
One second.
Two.
Five.
Nobody relaxes until Lucas gives a tiny nod from the front.
Clear.
The air leaves my lungs slowly.
Olivia still hasn’t let go of my shirt.
And I still haven’t moved my hand from her waist.
Bad idea.
Worse that I notice exactly how perfectly she fits against me.
“You okay?” I murmur quietly.
“Yeah.”
Lie.
I hear it in the tremor under the word.
Feel it in the way her fingers tighten again.
Her head tips slightly upward.
