“You did. Trust me. Some of the people I’ve led on hunts—” He stopped and shook his head. “Let’s just say I’ve been glad there were either other people with us or nothing bad happened.”
“Really?”
“Yes. You’d be surprised at the number of people who’ve never been hunting or at least not in such a remote area. They’renot prepared for what it’s like and don’t know how to handle it. I’m glad you weren’t like them. You’ve actually surprised me. I’m sorry I misjudged you.”
I felt my cheeks heat and looked down, focusing on my food for a moment, then looked up with a wry smile. “It was the heeled boots, wasn’t it?”
He laughed. “Maybe.”
I chuckled, too, and took another bite of my food. “You know, you did good out there too. That was a terrible spot you were in, and you kept it together, fought through the pain, and were able to help me get you out of there. Newsflash, I can’t lift you on my own, so thank you for not being a giant baby about the pain.”
His low chuckle filled the tent. “I wanted to be a giant baby, but that wouldn’t have gotten me out of those rocks.”
“I could tell by the way your jaw was clenched tight enough to crack teeth.”
“Oh, you noticed that, huh?”
“Wedding planner,” I said, pointing at myself. “It’s kind of my job to notice little details.” Tipping my head, I studied him. “Speaking of, you took painkillers, yes?”
Some of the levity left his face at the reminder of his injuries. “Yes. I need to take more ibuprofen. I will after I eat.”
“Has it helped?” Over-the-counter pain medicine wasn’t really meant for freshly broken bones.
He shrugged one shoulder, chewing another bite. “Enough.”
My nose wrinkled. “I’m sorry.” I wished there was something I could do to make it better.
“Don’t be. You aren’t the idiot who lost his footing because he wasn’t paying attention. I’ll live.”
Not knowing what to say to that, I stayed silent. If I kept talking about what happened, he’d just beat himself up more.
We finished eating in silence, and once we’d cleaned up our packets and stashed the trash, I glanced around, looking for the cards Toren said he had.
“Do you want to play cards now?”
“Sure.” He pulled his backpack closer and unzipped one of the front pouches, taking out the deck.
I held out a hand.
“I can deal.”
Heaving a dramatic sigh, I shook my head. “We discussed this, remember. Broken fingers mean you get a pass.”
“Well, what if I want to deal?”
I arched an eyebrow. “Do you?”
“Not really, no,” he said with a quick smile.
Chuckling, I snatched the cards from his hand. “What do you want to play?”
“Something simple. My brain is fried.”
Mine too. “Rummy?”
“Works for me.”
I dealt out our hands, then lifted my cards, arranging them into sets. It didn’t require much brainpower, but it was enough of a distraction from the fact I was sitting in a rather small tent with a rather large and handsome man in a rather remote location.
