“Thankfully, Desta here has gallantly offered me his room. I, of course, accepted before he could take it back, but now he’s roomless. Can he bunk with you? I think you got one of the doubles when we reserved, right? It’ll be tight, but—”

Before she could finish, Elias shrugged and said with the most nonchalant face I had ever seen, “Sure.” Then he turned to me and asked, “Is it fine for you, Desta?”

I swallowed hard, twice. I nodded, trying not to let my panic show as I walked to the door of the lodge. The only thing that came out of my mouth was, “I’ll get my stuff.”

Chapter 22

I walked into Elias’s room and immediately noticed it had one big bed with a smaller cot to the side. At least it appeared like two people could sleep here. I looked back at him as he leaned against the door, his arms crossed in front of his chest, but he was not offering any conversation at the moment.

The room was…small. I knew Abraham, Yohannes, and some of the other staff had decided to stay in cheaper lodgings so they could save some of their per diem. Elias had opted to stay here, though. Now I wondered if he’d done it to be closer to me, just to have me act like a brat toward him all week.

We stood there, unable to bridge the distance my actions had put between us. I hated myself for starting this. After I put down my bag by the bathroom door, I turned and tried to school my face into a friendly expression. “So! This is awkward.”

He didn’t even crack a smile. He moved to the bigger bed, sat on the edge, and said in a distant but clear tone, “I can go into town and get a room there. I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”

His voice completely lacked inflection, like he’d stripped all emotion from anything he had to say to me. He didn’t look hurt. He didn’t even look angry. He was simply indifferent, and that was so much worse.

“I’m not uncomfortable with you. I know I’ve been a little distant this week—”

He scoffed as if saying understatement of the year, and I couldn’t blame him. I had done a complete one-eighty on him. Had changed my mind so fast I had given myself whiplash.

I sighed and sat on the floor in front of his spot on the bed. “This is so stupid, Elias. I’m sorry I’ve been such an asshole this week. Now that I’m here sitting with you after this afternoon, when I once again saw the kind of man you obviously are, I feel so frivolous and ridiculous for shutting you out because of my own insecurities.”