Page 96

“You’re not tired?” Maddie asked.
Saff let out a breath. “The headache makes it hard to fall asleep. Besides, I don’t like sleeping out in the open like this.”
Maddie didn’t like it either. Maybe that was why she was having a tough time sleeping. She didn’t feel safe, especially not after the encounters they’d had that day.
“Yeah,” Maddie said, yawning again. “I think that’s why I can’t sleep. I feel like something could come out of nowhere at any point.”
“I’ll be up watching all night,” Saff replied. “Nothing will get to you.”
Maddie’s chest fluttered slightly. Knowing Saff was there did make her feel safe. But something about the way she’d said it also made her feel something else.
“Do you want me to massage your neck?” Maddie asked. “For your headache.”
“No, that’s okay,” Saff answered quietly. “You should try to sleep.”
“I’d probably sleep easier with you next to me.” The words left her mouth before she realized what she was saying. “I mean—If you laid here next to me, I could massage your neck, and I’d probably fall asleep while doing it. Just—just because—” she stuttered, making her feel a thousand times worse about the slip. “It would take my mind off the hard ground. And the mosquitoes.”
When she finally stopped word vomiting, silence fell painfully between them.
A beat passed before Saff finally replied, “Okay.”
Then before Maddie could say anything else, she heard Saff shuffling quietly. Then her light footsteps came crunching toward her.
“Uh—okay. Yeah.” Maddie shifted slightly, pulling her elbows up and out of the sleeping bag. A few seconds later, she felt Saff’s arm brush against her as she laid down on the ground beside her.
A pang of nerves shot through her stomach, fluttering up into her chest.
She slowly and carefully lifted her right hand, moving it forward until she felt Saff’s arm beneath it. She trailed her hand up onto her shoulder, in a way that felt just a little too intimate as she brushed her hair away.
Her hand trailed along the bare skin on the back of her neck, and she could’ve sworn she felt a small shiver run through Saff’s body.
She pressed her thumb into the tight muscle at the base of her neck and moved it down until it reached her shoulder blade, then repeated the motion.
Another yawn pulled itself from her mouth. “See,” she whispered, “it’s working already.”
Saff chuckled, her body vibrating beneath her hand.
Maddie shifted an inch closer to her. She was probably imagining it, but she thought that she could feel the warmth coming off of her body. It felt nice—comforting in the chilly night air.
She ran her hand down Saff’s neck once again and thought about the events of the day.
It had all gone so differently than she imagined, even starting from the moment she'd woken up. She still couldn't figure out whatever had caused the shift in Saff. And she wasn't sure she ever would. There were some moments where she felt like she could see through her. Like her actions were saying somethingdifferent than her words. Sometimes it was obvious to her. Sometimes it was so obvious, it was almost laughable. But then, other times, she felt like she couldn't read her at all.
“I'm glad you came with us,” Maddie whispered.
Saff was quiet for a few moments before Maddie realized that she wasn't going to get a response. And this was another one of the times she couldn't really figure her out.
“Pretty sure there's a good chance I would have gotten infected today if it weren't for you,” Maddie continued.
Saff made some noise of disagreement. “You could’ve handled it. I just stepped in before you had to.”
That was something she deeply appreciated with Saff. She didn't underestimate her the way most people did.
“Yeah, maybe,” Maddie replied quietly, working her hand into the hairline at the back of her neck. She brushed her fingers through the hair, dragging her nails lightly against her scalp. A shudder ran through Saff’s body at the touch, and it sent a pulse of electricity through Maddie’s core.
Every fiber of her body begged to do it again.
“You and Carter seem close,” Saff muttered.