“N-no,” I croak, the single syllable cracking on me.
It doesn’t help the believability of my lie. My shoulders shake, and I curl tighter against myself to hide the involuntary movement. For how warm it had been during the day, I didn’t expect the temperature to drop so drastically.
Jett rolls over, and his palm lands on my shoulder. I stifle a sigh as the warmth of his skin seeps into mine.
“Jesus, Sofía, you’re freezing.”
“I’m fine, really.”
The sound of my teeth colliding fills the quiet tent.
He grumbles, almost too low to hear, “Mateo warned me about that awful fucking phrase.”
“What?”
Surprise rips through me when he repeats himself. “That’s a stupid saying. You arenotfine. You are nearing hypothermia.” His voice elevates—not in a way where my pulse skyrockets, but where I know he’s rattled. “I never want to hear those two words again. Now, come here.”
A pocket of space beneath his blanket beckons to me, singing sweet songs of warmth and comfort in his arms.
I do not move.
So what if I’m a little cold? I’ll survive. Morning is only seven hours away. I can make it. He doesn’t need to save me—again.
I’ve never seen a man more exasperated in my life. Cool, calm, go-with-the-flow Jett is gone, and he has the nerve to rub the skin between his brows like he can’t believe he’s having this conversation. Well, he and I both.
“You’ve given me no choice. Remember that.”
“What do you—hey!”
With no warning, his arm darts out and snakes around my waist, dragging me across “coworkers valley” and right into hischest. I wiggle around, trying to escape, but he’s strong, and the heat melts away the last of my fight.
“You need the warmth,” he argues. “You’re shaking. Fuck, why didn’t you say anything?”
“Because I’m—”
“Do not say that fucking word.”
Delicious, lively warmth curls around me, and I shift deeper beneath his blanket and into him. The shivers subside, and when I stuff my fingers between my armpits, the blood flow returns.
Jett’s breathing is deep and even, but his fingers tap against my stomach, a subconscious action I refuse to comment on.
“Are you mad at me?” I finally ask once the tension in the tent has simmered down.
His hold around me tightens. “No. I’m mad you’ve gone this long believing you have to do everything on your own and that someone caring for you is a vulnerability you can’t afford.”
I have nothing to say to that. All the words are stolen from my mouth. He says nothing else either, and I fall into a pitiful sleep with those words replaying in my mind.
Vulnerability you can’t afford.
Chapter 14
jett
I despise awkward silence and how it makes my skin crawl as if there’s an army of ants skittering right beneath the surface.
This morning has been nothing but chunks of awkward silence between Sofía and me, broken up only by necessary questions or chitchat with Doug and Molly.
Sitting beside each other on the plane from Hervey Bay to Airlie Beach? Silence.
