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“You.”I seethe through my teeth.
Gone. It’s all gone.
My heart pounds against my skull. My chest rises and falls with quick, heavy breaths.
Nolan’s gaze sears into mine, boring deep, like he can reach in and claw the words tripping me up free. There’s an air of aggression to him that is unmistakable—a warning in his firm grip that should have me pulling back, cowering, and stuttering through profuse apologies.
It’s what I’ve done my whole life. Over and over and over again. I explode—sweep in like a tidal wave—and then I retreat. Slinking back to where I came from, deep, deep into the bottomless black where no one can find me. Tongue-tied and forgotten.
Invisible.
But that’s not what happens this time, and I don’t look too closely as to why that is, or how it’s possible. Especially with him looking at me the way he is now—like it would take nothing at all to snap my fingers or throttle my neck.
And yet I’m not looking away….
“You have no idea.” The words fall heavy, quiet, and foreign from my lips. The only thing I’m capable of saying.
Nolan’s frown deepens, his gaze sweeping over me, almost like he’s seeing me for the first time. Like he’s trying to figure something out.
Emotion scalds the back of my eyes and I fall back onto my heels, shaking my head.
“I just…I got nervous,” I say quietly. I swallow, and it’s a slow, lumpy kind of swallow that seems to take forever. I stare down at our joined hands.He’s still touching me.“I didn’t even realize I drank all my water. I didn’t mean to. And…and I’m worried we’re going to get stranded out here, or-or in trouble for wandering. I don’t even know what time it is. I—” My rambling comes to a halt and I flit my gaze up to his warily. “I’m sorry I pushed you.”
His dark brows droop low and furrowed over his green eyes. In the shade of the jungle, his irises look darker than ever, almost black.
My mouth dries, and my pulse is suddenly all I can hear.
Fingers clench against mine, reminding me—and him—we’re still touching.
Releasing me abruptly, he takes a step back. As if his hold on me was tied directly to the vice on my lungs, a sharp gust of air punches out of me.
Wrapping my arms around my middle, I look away, craning my head over my shoulder. Willing the heat in my cheeks to dissipate.
I hear him mutter something and I shift my gaze ahead once more. His back’s to me, and he’s running his hands through his hair.
“What was that?”
He grunts and shakes his head before peering over his shoulder at me. “Don’t be sorry,” he says. His mouth tightens at the corners. “I was being a dick.”
I say nothing to that. What could I? It’s true. He’s being a dick.
Sighing, he waves me on. “This way.”
We get about ten steps before we hear it.
A thud, followed by a groan.
My eyes widen and I swing my gaze around.
The groan cuts off with a gasp, and my eyes widen right when I see it. Just up ahead, a break in the trees reveals two guys—two halfnakedguys—going at it against a tree.
What…
My mouth parts, but a hand comes down, sealing over my lips.
Hot breaths dance along my ear, and I’m frozen. Stock-still. Unable to actually believe what I’m seeing, out here, in the middle of the jungle. Between twomen.
Nolan walks me forward suddenly, spinning me, and shoving my back against a wide tree. All the while his hand stays plastered over the bottom half of my face.
