I stared up at the underside of Max’s mattress, gripping my blankets tight. I listened to his even breathing. Heavy. Deep. Max would never hurt me. I knew that. He was the only one who made me feel safe.
Jackson’s snapping was inevitable. If I gave myself to Max, if I let this happen, I knew I’d never escape it alive. Jackson would probably kill me. I didn’t deserve someone like Max—not after everything that had happened. He was too good, and I was already too broken. I had watched my Dad murder people. That alone had shattered my soul.
I closed my eyes briefly, and the darkness closed in aroundme. Suddenly, I wasn’t in the cabin anymore. I was back inside my burning house in New York. Smoke clawed down my throat. Sirens wailed in the distance, but they were far, faint things.
“God, I dropped her,”Agent West’s voice echoed.
Then the growl of a motorcycle engine, growing louder, closer, until a voice cut through the flames.
“Mackenzie.”
I turned, and there was Max, standing inside the fire like he belonged to it. But he wasn’t the Max of today. It was him at twelve. His sunburnt cheeks, his baseball cap. His voice cracked, boyish and sure all at once.
“Wake up. Wake up, please.”
I shot up in my bunk, lungs clawing for air. My sheets had twisted to the floor, sweat drenching my skin. Big, steady, grounding hands were on my shoulders.
“Trouble. Jesus, are you okay?” Max’s voice was hoarse with panic. His face was pale, drained, his boxer briefs clinging to his hips. His eyes scanned me like he could find the source of my fear and rip it out.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” I lied, rubbing my eyes. “Just a nightmare.” My smile felt brittle, but he didn’t call me out.
He bent, scooping the sheets from the floor, and tucking them back around me with a tenderness that made my chest ache. He hesitated, chewing on his lower lip, before climbing into the narrow bunk with me. The mattress dipped under his weight, and I nearly fell off.
“What are you doing?” I whispered, my voice shaking with relief.
He slid closer, his body radiating warmth and comfort as he cocooned me next to him.
“That was one hell of a nightmare,” he murmured. “I’m sleeping with you.”
His heartbeat drummed steadily against my back, soothing the terror still rattling in my bones.
“It’s okay, Max. I think I’m fine now.”
But he didn’t move.
“Well, I’m comfy,” he said after a beat. “So, you’re shit out of luck if you think I’m going back up to my bunk.”
I huffed. “What about everyone else?” I nodded towards the front of the cabin. I couldn’t see anything out there. The darkness closed in through the open doorway, and the panic crawled up my throat.
“I don’t give a fuck,” he said simply. “No one can see us back here.”
He shifted, finally letting his hand rest on my waist. His other arm wrapped fully around me. The contact was grounding. I inhaled his scent, a mix of lake water, smoke, and that sweetness that was justhim.
It instantly comforted me. It was as if it had been made just for me. I was discreetly trying to catch a whiff of him when his voice broke through the silence.
“You were screaming my name,” he whispered. I stilled, and he felt it. His hand tightened on my hip.
“I was?”
“Yeah,” he said, his voice breaking a little. “You said my name a lot. You sounded… terrified.”
“I don’t know why I did that,” I lied, forcing a laugh. “But thanks for waking me up.”
He stayed quiet, holding me, his front to my back.
“You know you can tell me anything,” he said softly.
I knew that. But he didn’t need the weight of this. I was terrified that if I opened up my mouth, I would spill my secret.
