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wo and a half weeks of blind bliss passed where the smile never left my face. No hallucinations, no sound distortions, no problems between Ben and me after labeling our relationship, and no nonstop messages spamming my phone.

Of course, the honeymoon phase had to end, and it started with a text from Kolton—or rather, several messages from Kolton who I’d renamed simply as SPAMMER.

I put the hammer down.

“Willa,” my brother snapped. “Come on. Just ignore it. I want to get the tent up before Dad gets back with lunch.”

Unfortunately, at the rate my phone was buzzing, it’d be dead before our camping trip ended, and I’d forgotten my battery bank at home. “Sorry, Nick, just give me two minutes.”

Nick grumbled up a storm, hitting a stake in anger and catching his thumb.

I rolled my eyes.

He’d never learn.

When I opened the messaging app, it was exactly the culprit I’d expected.

SPAMMER: Okay.

SPAMMER: Here’s the thing.

SPAMMER: You’ve lasted longer than I thought.

SPAMMER: I’ll admit that.

SPAMMER: But a tiger doesn’t change its stripes.

SPAMMER: What do you think is going to happen when school starts next week?

SPAMMER: No one knows who you are.

SPAMMER: I asked.

SPAMMER: And Ben and I know a lot of people.

SPAMMER: Do you think it’ll just be smooth sailing?

I bit my lip as his words pierced the blissful joy and slowly injected poison into my thoughts.

Kolton wasn’t wrong.

Would we tell people? I had zero friends to worry about, but Ben was one of the football team’s stars, with a detailed and sordid list of ex-girl—well, I was his first girlfriend as per Kolton’s original freak-out, so flings? Lovers?

There’d be pressure and emotions. What if someone took exception to the fact that a no one like me had the audacity to date a guy like Ben?

While lost in these spiraling thoughts, a sharp pain lanced my brain, whiting out my vision and crippling me as indecipherable whispers bombarded my senses.

Then, something gripped my skull and jerked. I blinked in surprise at the instantaneous loss of sound and pain. The harsh shift left me bereft and uncertain, but when I took in my surroundings, my fear skyrocketed.

Nick and the campsite were gone. It wasn’t even sunny anymore. I climbed to my feet, searching in every direction. Nothing but barren, alien landscape stretched out around me, the horizon desolate as far as the eye could see. Everything blurred, as if I’d been dunked underwater.

“Hello?” I called, but the sound absorbed and dispersed the second it passed my lips. My vocal cords vibrated, but my ears detected nothing.

Chills raced over me, and I felt the urge to turn.

Something was watching me.

The sensation of hair standing up on the nape of my neck urged me to look.

When I turned in the direction I’d come from, my stomach churned. A blurry figure crouched over… me. It was as clear as day, 20/20 technicolor compared to the distorted focus of everything else, including the being inspecting my vulnerable body…

I wasn’t in my body?

Everything was so indistinct, but that was definitely me, lying there on the ground, and I was being inspected like a prized plate at a four-star restaurant.

The fact that I couldn’t tell what it was despite the lack of distance unsettled me terribly.

“No!” I shouted, my efforts futile as not a single sound echoed back, but the figure seemed to hear.

Its head jerked up before it straightened, but I didn’t care. The second I’d started running toward my physical form—to do what, I didn’t know—a tether tugged at my belly and dragged me forward until I slammed home with a jolt that had me sitting upright with a gasp in the midday sun.

“Whoa,” someone murmured. “Easy.”

I blinked rapidly, trying to assimilate the raw fear of seeing my lifeless form in such a vulnerable position and strange environment, with waking up at the camp with… Wait, Ralph Buchanan?

“Ralph?”

He grinned, his teeth bright against his dark skin. “Hey.”

Nick hovered nearby, his brows pinched. The tent lay forgotten behind me, and Ralph wasn’t the only one here. A few men from the neighboring sites also hovered nearby, concern etched into their features.

“What are you doing here?” I asked, giving myself a migraine from the dissonant halves of my brain, where one wanted to forget the entire experience while the other just kept screaming, “What the heck?” in an endless loop.

“Camping. It’s slow right now on the farm, and with school starting soon, Dad let me—hey, hey, maybe you shouldn’t sit up so fast.” His hands landed on my shoulders to steady me when I swayed. “Jesus, you’re freezing.”

As if by pointing it out, my body took notice, because full body shivers racked my muscles.

It was in the upper eighties, and I felt like I’d taken a polar plunge.

A quick glance at my watch read ninety-two degrees.

That… That was low low.

Mom once explained that hypothermia became life threatening as early as ninety. Of course, that was core temperature, and the watch got its readings from my wrist, so I’d probably be okay.

But yeah, Mom would definitely be getting an alert.

Ralph turned to Nick. “Are you sure she didn’t knock her head on anything when she fell?”

“No,” Nick answered, and I did a double take at the wobble in his voice. His eyes were red-rimmed. “She was already kneeling, but—”

My jaw dropped when he choked off. “Nick?”

My brother fixed me with his watery gaze, and I saw the terror in its depths. “Willa, you just grabbed your head and… collapsed. You didn’t move. It was like you were dead, except for your face. It was all scrunched up in pain, and then… it wasn’t.” He scrubbed a furious hand over his eyes. “So I started shouting for help.”

If the experience was half as unsettling as it’d been for me to see myself looking so lifeless…

“It’s okay, Nick. S-Sorry you had to see th-that.” When he continued to stare, I added, “I-I’m o-okay.”

Unsurprisingly, he didn’t buy my words, especially when I couldn’t get them out without my teeth chattering.

What about that entire ordeal had made me so cold?

Some big sister instinct needed to reassure him, but I doubted anything I said would get the job done—not with the shakes firmly settled in.

The shakes are good, Willa. It’d be more concerning if you were this cold and not shivering.

Instead, I opened my arms, and my brother took me up on the offer, almost bowling me over with his fierce hug. If not for Ralph steadying me, we would have toppled backwards. Oh, actually, Nick was warm, and that was nice.

A glance over his shoulder at my watch showed ninety-two point four.

“Wait here,” Ralph murmured.

Like I had a choice. Nick really had been holding back in our rare but memorable spats, and he didn’t seem inclined to allow my lungs a full breath, let alone give me enough space to stand and move.

Not three seconds later, Ralph returned with a granola bar. “Here.”

“W-What… How…”

He grinned. “In all your brother’s ramblings before you regained consciousness, he mentioned food helps.”

“It d-does.” I shifted my grip just a fraction, and Nick flinched, changing my breathing ability from a struggle to an impossibility.

“Okay, Hulk, you have to let up on her,” Ralph teased, helping untangle me from Nick. He gave a tug. “Here. You. Sit. Picnic table. Now.”

My brows lowered in the smallest fraction of a frown, but when I caught sight of Nick’s shaking fists, I nodded.

“Come on, little man,” one of the others called, directing Nick to the collapsed tent. “It looks like your sister is in good hands, so what do you say we get this set up for her? Yeah?”

The picnic table sat near the fire for easier cooking and farther from the tent to lower the risk of stray ashes burning holes through the thin material, so the cheerful voice of the man redirecting Nick to shift his focus to something else faded into the background.

“Here,” Ralph ordered again, holding out the granola when I collapsed on the seat. It was already open.

“W-Want to help me breathe too?” I quipped, only half joking, but I stopped at the look on his face as he rifled through our pile of camping gear. “What?” I mumbled with some alarm around a mouthful of granola.

Ralph didn’t answer until he pulled out Dad’s sleeping bag and rejoined me. “Willa, you weren’t breathing.” He tucked the blanket around my shoulders. “Your brother was already freaking out, and honestly, I was too. I had my hands on your chest to give you CPR when you shot up like a supercharged zombie.”

I glanced at him, enjoying the warmth and being able to speak without my teeth clicking together, despite the occasional shiver. Curiosity urged me to recheck the watch to see if my temperature was still on the rise, but Ralph’s close proximity stayed my hand. “Not a fan of horror movies, huh?”

“Not the slightest.” He studied me a beat before sliding over until the press of his side registered, even if I didn’t get the benefit of feeling his heat through the thermal fluff of the sleeping bag. “So food helps, huh?”

“Most of the time, yeah.”

“Are you diabetic or something?” His doubtful raised brow projected his thoughts loud and clear.

Yeah, this had been pretty dang far from anything I’d read online.

“Kind of. At least that’s the best explanation. My blood sugar doesn’t crash or anything. They’ve run tests.

“And they can’t figure out why it happens?”

“No. It’s as if my body just tanks empty from one heartbeat to the next.” I held my wrist out, showing him the smartwatch. “I can send an alert to my mom if I feel a bad one coming on. She’s a nurse. Usually, there’s more time…”

I frowned, trailing off. The watch had also been programmed to send her an auto-alert when my vitals crashed, but she hadn’t called. Was the thing on the fritz? That wasn’t the first time I’d doubted it was working, and I was starting to get concerned.

Ralph considered my words. “That’s… scary, not knowing why or when something like that could happen. Was this what happened when you rolled your four-wheeler?”

Unease washed over in a heavy wave. Despite being with Ben for over a month, and officially dating for two weeks, we hadn’t discussed the reason behind my healthy appetite beyond him teasing, “I like a girl who can eat.” It vaguely echoed of cheating for Ralph Buchanan to have that personal information before my boyfriend.

Still, it wasn’t Ralph’s fault my body checked out when he was nearby.

“Wait, are you camping here this weekend?” I asked, sidestepping his question. Ben hadn’t mentioned anything, even when I told him about our plans.

“No, unfortunately, the to-do list is never finished on a farm the size of my parents’. We take our vacations in the winter, but I did ask them if I could have the day off to go riding one last time before school started.” He scoffed and leaned harder into my shoulder for a moment before backing off a fraction. “I’m pretty sure they only said yes because it’s senior year.”

“Busy, busy.”

“Yeah.” Ralph glanced over his shoulder, and I followed his line of sight to a large four-wheeler easily double the size of mine. “I just returned to load up when I spotted your brother and you wrestling with that tent.” His dark gaze returned, pinning me with its intensity. “Then you collapsed.”

He seemed to want to ask something but hesitated to press. That worked fine for me, because I didn’t want to answer.

“Too bad we only just arrived then.”

He matched my smile. “Yeah, too bad.”

My phone started going off, and I sighed before pulling it free. A little surprised to see messages rolling in and not a frantic phone call from my mom.

And the messages continued rolling in.

SPAMMER: So now you’re ignoring me.

SPAMMER: You can’t bury your head in the sand and hope for the best.

SPAMMER: Seriously?

SPAMMER: ?

SPAMMER: ???

SPAMMER: We’ve gone over this before.

SPAMMER: I can do this all day.

SPAMMER: Come on, wordsmith.

SPAMMER: Answer.

“Clingy much?” Ralph asked over my shoulder. “Who’s Spammer?”

“Kolton,” I supplied, trying to stay apace of the incoming stream of texts. My interest piqued when I caught Ben’s name, a blip in the nonstop notifications.

Backing out of Kolton’s conversation, I double-checked, and sure enough, Ben had sent me a message.

“Wait, you have Ben’s number too?” Ralph blurted.

“It’s rude to eavesdrop.” A frown marred my features.

BEN: Okay, so I’m pretty sure Kolton has a girlfriend. He keeps furiously texting someone.

My fingers moved across the screen to reply before stilling.

“What’s wrong?” Ralph asked, having obviously clocked my hesitation.

“I thought Ben gave my number to Kolton,” I murmured, scrolling way, way up to the first messages the blond sent.

SPAMMER: Hey.

SPAMMER: This is Kolton.

SPAMMER: I got your number from Ben.

Ralph shrugged. “Does it matter? Knowing Kolton, he probably swiped Ben’s cell when he wasn’t looking. Here, let me put my number in too.” He took my phone to do just that, texting himself from my phone. “Maybe the next time I get some time off, we could plan something.”

I glanced down. He’d saved his information under a first and last name which was generous of him, considering I only had about ten contacts saved in there.

“Your name has two Ls, right?” he checked.

I blinked, my mind split in a dozen different directions. “Yeah?”

A smirk danced on his features as he clicked save and pocketed his phone. “Why does that sound like a question?”

I wanted to ask why he needed my number, but he’d given a valid reason. “No, it’s two Ls, and it matters because Ben’s my boyfriend. I shouldn’t be texting other guys behind his back.”

Ralph stiffened for a minute but then seemed to shrug it off. “Why? Ben doesn’t own you.” He stuffed his hands into his pockets and bounced on the balls of his feet, his tone light. “When did this happen?”

“I don’t know. A while ago. Kolton sent me the first text that said Ben—”

Ralph chuckled, waving me off. “Not Kolton. Ben . You’re dating?”

I frowned, batting off the insecurities that threatened to breach the surface once more. “Yes, I know. Ben doesn’t usually date—”

“Ever,” Ralph corrected. “He never dates.”

“—but he slipped his number in the hoodie he let me borrow after my accident, and we’ve been texting ever since.”

“Hmm.” His expression gave nothing away, except that it was too careful, too blank.

An impatient huff escaped. “Look, I know what you’re thinking—”

“Somehow, I doubt that.”

“—but it’s not just in my head, okay? Ben was the one who asked me to be his girlfriend.” I pulled up an image of the two of us laughing. In the uncropped photo, it showed him cracking up at something my dad said while I smiled at Ben, utterly besotted. Mom had sent it to me, and I hadn’t been brave enough to set it as my background until we clarified our relationship.

Ralph studied the photo before handing it back. “He’s a lucky guy. I hope he appreciates you.”

I nodded quickly. “He does. He… Ben knows I’m new to this, and he’s…”

“Sorry, but I’d rather not hear the byplays.” Ralph looked out at the campsite, a solid presence against my side. “But… you know, it still doesn’t mean you can’t have other friends who are guys, right?”

“It doesn’t?”

“No. So just tell Ben about Kolton. Clear the air. You didn’t know he stole Ben’s phone. I saw the messages. Kolton worded that purposely to make you think Ben gave it up freely. If Ben gets upset about that, then you shouldn’t be dating him.”

That sounded like a big risk. We’d only been dating a couple weeks. Did I really want to rock the boat that hard?

“But—”

“No buts. And text me. I mean it. Tell Ben if you must, but like I said, he doesn’t control you just because you’re his girlfriend. Alright?”

I nodded, my heart split with indecision.

Ralph nudged me. “I’m going to need a verbal confirmation on that one, Willa Walker.”

“I’ll tell Ben.”

He grinned. “Not quite what I was looking for, but I’ll take it. Anyway, I should be going. Are you okay now?”

Did a broken heart count? It felt as if I’d already been dumped. Would Ben believe me over his long-time friend?

“I’m okay.”

Physically.

“Yeah, because that was totally believable.” Ralph turned to walk backwards, reminding me of our first meeting. “Talk to you later, Willa Walker.”

Despite everything, I couldn’t resist his good humor for long, and he winked as he drove off.

Why had his last statement sounded like a promise?