They ate their pizza cuddled together by the fire. Because he was Easton, he made sure to put the pizza box in a bear-proof trash can back at the hospital, leaving her a couple of minutes of solitude to soak up the crackling fire as she relaxed in front of the tent. It wasn’t the same one they’d left on the mountain—that would have to stay there until it was safe to go back next season and retrieve it. But the tent was nice and smelled fresh and clean when she slipped inside.

The handheld had gone with Bree and Jessie, but River didn’t need a video camera to remember tonight. The little pillow he’d brought for them because she’d never loved sleeping without one on the mountain. The simple tin cup to share the bottle of Fireball whisky he’d set next to the sleeping bag. A collapsible sink in the corner of the tent to make her laugh. She’d remember it all.

When Easton ducked back in the tent, River was seated on the sleeping bag with the bottle open.

“What’s the risk of furry animals interrupting us, deep crevasses swallowing us, or freezing cold weather taking us by surprise?” She poured him a shot into the tin cup.

“The cold front passed, or I wouldn’t have you out here,” he murmured, running a thumb over the top of her injured foot as he sat next to her on the bedding.

“Don’t want to lose any more digits?” She waggled her fingers at him playfully. His hand slid up her leg, briefly squeezing her knee before he accepted the drink.

“Trust me, the only interruptions we’re getting are the ones we decide for ourselves.” Easton swallowed the liquor, then slipped his arm around her, drawing her down to lie with him. “River, this doesn’t have to be anything. No pressure. But we started out beneath the stars and I thought…”

He drifted off.

“I know,” River whispered. “It’s a good thought. You should keep thinking it because I’m thinking it too.”

“I don’t want to say goodbye,” he told her. “But since we have to…”

“Might as well make it good?” River gazed at him, chest rising and falling as she breathed deeply, drinking in the air and Alaska and him. He murmured his agreement, eyes drifting.

“I’m up here,” she teased him, even though she didn’t mind one bit. She wanted to see that smile again.

“You’re everywhere,” Easton rumbled softly, dipping his mouth to her ear. “You’ve completely taken me over.”

River knew exactly what he meant, but she didn’t have the right to say it, not when she was the one leaving. Instead, she whispered she loved him, pulling him to her. The alcohol lingered on her tongue, sweetness and fire as his hands traced a different fire over her skin.