Page 57

“Not really,” she snapped back. “Because neither of you have told me about whatever danger is lurking out there besides being mauled by a bear.”

“Which is a valid concern out here,” Miles stated with a firm nod. “And you’re right, we didn’t talk about that yesterday on the hike up, but we will after you tell us how I’m the reason you’re out here alone, sleeping in a fucking chair.”

Oh, bestie was pissed. If Aspen didn’t have a solid reason for being out here, he was going to wear her ass out.

Hope I got to watch when he did.

“You really want to know?” she hedged, shooting me a worried glance.

Oh fuck.

“Yes,” Miles demanded.

“The noise,” she whispered. “I thought it was an animal or something, so I stepped out of the tent, and that’s when I realized the sound I heard was coming from your tent.”

Miles was now frozen, staring at her with a blank expression on his face.

“You clearly didn’t wake him up or go into his tent, so why didn’t you come back in with me?” I asked frantically, glancing between them.

“He sounded”—she shrugged—“upset or hurt or, I don’t know?—”

“Answer the question, Aspen. Why didn’t you go back to bed once you realized it was me?”

Aspen lifted her chin, meeting his cold dark eyes. “Because I didn’t want to leave you to fight whatever it was you were dealing with alone.”

And there went the rest of my heart. What was left of the shredded organ now belonged wholly to the fierce, adorable, sexy-as-fuck woman in front of me.

“So, you stayed,” Miles stated. Aspen nodded, refusing to drop his stare. “So that even if you weren’t in the tent with me, I wouldn’t be alone.”

“Well, yeah. I mean, I’m kind of tired of doing all this on my own, so I figured you were too. Even if you didn’t know I was out here, it still felt better than just leaving.”

Miles’s nostrils flared, chest ballooning out with a heavy inhale. Before I could get a word out, he scooped Aspen out of the chair and smashed her against his chest in a hold so tight I wondered if she could breathe. Face buried against her neck, he said nothing, letting the emotional hug say it all for him.

One arm wrapped around her waist, Miles pulled back and ran a hand over her wild hair.

“Thank you,” he rasped.

Jubie leaned against his leg, nose tipped up, sniffing Aspen’s side. With a little maneuvering, she finagled an arm free, dropped her hand, and rested it on Jubie’s head.

Knowing the moment was more special than any of us could put into words, I hurried back to the tent, snagged my phone, and snapped a few shots with the early-morning sun rising behind them.

Perfect.

The moment.

Them.

Us.

All of it was almost too perfect to be true.

I just hoped it actually was.

* * *

“And all the male victims…”Aspen trailed off as she stepped out of the truck.

“There are six that we know of in the last year or so that we believe should’ve been labeled as suspicious deaths instead of accidents,” Miles explained.