Jack walks over to Brandon’s body, reaching into his pockets and patting him down, looking for a phone. “It’s not on him.”
That would have been too convenient, I guess. I push myself up to stand, Jack’s eyes tracking my movements as he continues to question Chad.
“You never told me what you’re doing off-trail.”
“Brandon said things didn’t go as planned with thisartifactwe were supposed to transport. Again, he made everything sound like an adventure.” Chad rubs a hand roughly over his face, letting his head fall back.
“Two little rich boys,” Jack mutters, scoffing. “What’s the bet I’d find a long list of things daddy’s money has made disappear?”
Scorn lights Chad’s eyes as he scowls back. “You’ve done your research.”
“Did you see anything else that could be useful,” Jack continues, ignoring his insinuation. “Anyone he acted strangely toward?”
Chad’s excuses are drowned out by my own thoughts bouncing around frantically in my head. How the hell did I get myself into this mess? Chad thinks we killed Brandon, which means the police will at the very least hold us for questioning.
Talk about wanting adventure—I found it on a grand scale. My parents are going to love gettingthatcall when I’m in a jail cell.
This is really bad.
My gaze flickers to Jack, whose eyes haven’t left me. That beautiful frown holds a new edge of concern, and I wonder if he’s this intense in regular things like board games or watching sports. And then another thought flingsitself at me.
“Jack, I don’t look good in prison orange.” My eyes widen. “It’s just as bad as gray, and it’snotthe new black. Not everyone looks good in black, anyway. Do you think they’ll let me order my own uniform in prison? In a softer orange, maybe more peach?—”
“Hey…” Jack is in front of me, interrupting my rambling and grounding me with the weight of his hands on my shoulders. “You’re not going to jail. You didn’t do anything.”
“Buthethinks I did.” I toss a glare at Chad before bringing my gaze back to Jack. “Maybe…maybe I should tap out. You can call a helicopter or something. I’ll hand myself over and tell the police everything.”
Just walk away, Willow. Get out before you fail again.
His mouth arches in a tiny grin. “I don’t think Uber does helicopters yet. And you’re forgetting you’re with a man of the law who knows you’re innocent in all this.”
Maybe that’s my problem, though. I’ve skirted around it, but let’s be real, Jack is the hero of this story. I’m the laughable sidekick that he humors because she’s cute and helpless.
“Do you think I’m useless, too? That I haven’t done anything to call this hike a success?”
My thoughts are spiralling, yelling at me to retreat.
“Willow, look at me!”
“I should leave. This is too much. I’ll try a different hike. This one is clearly a write-off. I mean, look at what’s happened—threatening notes…bullets…a dead body!”
“Hey.” He dips lower, trapping my gaze. “Whoever is behind this killed Brandon. That means they’ll do worse to protect themselves. You stay close to me. We’re finishing this hike, and we’re solving this thingtogether.You will finish this hike the way you wanted to, with your head held high.”
“But—”
“If you quit now, you’ll never know what you’re capable of.”
Chad is still cowering against the rock wall as Jack’s handsslide up from my shoulders to cup my jaw, and I grip his shirt, aching to nestle into his arms and the safety they promise. I inhale a shuddering breath. He’s right.
Ugh, why is my default instinct to run?
But Jack is right. This is just one more bump in the road. I’m not letting another challenge chase me away from accomplishing something big.
He pulls me into his chest, curling himself around me and welding pieces of myself to him. This man has me yearning for long-term things like never before. Every other relationship has felt like a chore, like I had to prove my worth to keep them interested, or it was just a mutually beneficial arrangement until it no longer served both parties. But this? This is like falling into a cloud and landing in something that can only be described as safety.
He’ssafe.I can be myself with him. And I don’t know if I’ll recover if he decides I’m not worth it by the end of this. These revelations could not have happened in weirder circumstances. This scenario is completely wild and ridiculous, and not what I had planned for my life.
“What about me?” Chad questions, breaking the silky bubble wrapped around us.
