“Only the section you two fell on was loose.” Ben offered Easton an apologetic look. “Sorry, man. You must be exhausted, but we don’t want to bivouac up here if we don’t have to.”

No, they definitely didn’t want to stay above the Veil without anything other than the gear on their backs.

Rising to his feet, Easton tried very hard not to let his emotions show as he went over to where River sat wedged in between Jessie and Bree. Both looked worried and defensive, but all three had been involved in the utterly brilliant idea of filming the Veil. He’d never been so mad at a client in his life.

“Are you okay?” he asked River quietly.

“Yeah. Easton—”

Cutting her off, Easton lifted his eyes toward the ice canyon. “We need to go back to camp. Sorry, I know it’s tough after what happened. The adrenaline dump will make you feel like crap, but staying out here without cover tonight will be worse.”

“We should talk about this.”

A muscle in his jaw twitched. “I’m going to get everyone back to camp safely. Then we can talk. The good news is the wind will be at our back, but the bad news is it makes the descent more dangerous. Most falls happen on the way back through.”

Not adding a pointed “usually” took every ounce of Easton’s self-control. The muscle in his jaw twitched again, and only then did he realize his teeth were grinding together.

“Make sure you hydrate,” he told all three. Easton turned and walked back to the entrance to the Veil. “Ben, you’re on point.”

“Sure, East. Whatever you want.” Ben hesitated, then added quietly, “You’d tell me if you got banged up in there.”

“Banged up but not hurt.” Easton spat on the ground. “So mad at her, I can’t see straight.”

“Unclipping for the camera was a bad call, but any of them would have done it. They’re rabid about this movie, man.”

In that moment, Easton couldn’t have given two craps about their documentary. “Set a strong pace. River might be on the bad side of an adrenaline dump, but she’s a fast climber.”

Ben nodded, eyes flickering beyond Easton’s shoulder. Sure enough, she had followed.

“Umm, I’ll go do…the thing.”

Snorting at Ben’s inability to be subtle if his life depended on it, Easton ignored River.

River was great at many things. Being ignored was not one of those things. She lasted all of three seconds of standing at the corner of his eyeline before stepping directly in front of him. “You really aren’t going to talk to me.”

“Nope.” Not until he knew he wouldn’t start yelling.

“Then fine,” River snapped. “Because I have some things to say to you, Easton Random-Middle-Name Lockett.”

Jaw dropping in sheer astonishment, Easton turned to her, incredulous. “You’re mad at me?”

“Yes.”