“Both of them.” Ben grimaced. “Bree needs off this mountain. We have to break camp and move. Can you talk to River?”

“River made her decision. She’s going to stick with it.”

“I mean, you and her have been a thing this whole trip. You can’t…” Ben drifted off, waggling his eyebrows.

“You think I can seduce her into not summiting?”

“You could try.” A quick grin, because Ben never stayed down for long. “Take your hair down. Bree says River has a thing for your hair. Flex your biceps, quote some poetry. Work your magic, man.”

To Easton’s knowledge, he’d never actually successfully worked his magic. But he supposed he could try. Easton didn’t have the ability to drag River down against her will. If there was anything the Old Man stole without remorse, it was one’s strength, one’s speed, and one’s ability to convince fiery redheads to give up.

“I’m not sure she has any quit in her.” If he didn’t respect her so much, he’d be furious with her for agreeing. “I’ll try to talk to her, but I don’t think it’s going to do any good.”

River had started to break down Easton’s tent when he returned. “I think we need to abandon the dining tent,” she told him. “Bree can’t carry any weight, and Jessie looks exhausted. He should have as little as possible. We can fit two in your tent and two in Ben’s.”

“River…”

With no other choice, Easton did it. He pulled out his hair tie, and he let his hair fall down his shoulders.

Now, for the record, none of them had showered since stepping foot on the mountain, which did not make for a good hair day. But River paused midsentence, staring at him.

“You really do go in slow motion,” she mumbled. “Can you do that again?”

“If you’ll go back down with me, I’ll do a strip tease for you every time we stop to hydrate.”

River laughed, a soft, breathy sound that he loved. It had only been a couple of hours since they’d curled up in his tent, tangled together. Too bad they weren’t still there, acclimating for a summit instead of trying to get an injured climber off the mountain.

After a moment, River turned back to her task. “The weather is as good as it’s going to be,” River told him. “You need to leave. I’ll summit tomorrow, and then come back down after you.”

“River, you don’t know the way.” Hunkering down next to her, Easton took her hand, silently asking her to pause in her work to focus on him. “The only safe way up is along the southeastern spine, and it’s a sheer drop on both sides. You need to be with me.”

“I’ll be careful.”