“Well, I am the expert. You really shouldn’t argue with me.”

“It’s not like we can do anything with everyone’s tents right here,” I whispered.

He lifted a finger. “I put our tent at the far end of the site, by the river. Wanted to make sure we had a little privacy.”

I looked to where he pointed, and he was right. The tent was all by itself.

“Why’d you put it all the way over there when we weren’t even planning to share?”

He let out a snort at that. “Please, Frankie, give me some credit. I was never going to let you sleep on your own.”

I rolled my eyes but my smile widened.

The rest of the evening wound down and soon we were all headed to our designated tents.

The hike and the emotional warfare I’d been having with myself had me absolutely exhausted.

Oliver led me to the tent, my fingers threaded loosely in his. I hadn’t had anything to drink tonight, but I felt buzzed. High on life, or whatever the saying was. I could do this every weekend with him. Getting lost in a new place. Seeing the beauty of nature. I had been all wrong about camping.

The evening got even better when we climbed into the tent and Oliver’s wandering hands slowly traced circles all over my body.

When he kissed my stomach, I gasped, wanting more. Never would I have thought that I’d want to sleep with a man on the ground, but Oliver made this feel like the most comfortable thing in the world. Happiness didn’t even begin to cover it.

We continued exploring each other, slowly stripping ourselves of our layers in the process. When he finally slid inside me and started moving, my hips eagerly went up to meet his. It felt familiar. It felt whole. I had to bite back my moans of pleasure as I wrapped both of my legs around his waist.

I’d never get sick of this—that I was sure of.

After we both tumbled into our shared ecstasy, Oliver rolled over and tucked me into his side. Everything surrounding us was cold, but he was warm as I nestled into his body.

Perfect.

The only word I could think of.

Perfect… and momentary.

Despite the bliss I was in, a hot tear formed in the corner of my eye as Oliver pressed his face against the top of my head and we both drifted off to sleep.

TWENTY-EIGHT

Oliver

“You sure you don’t want to come?” I batted my eyelashes.

Frankie let out a loud, exaggerated laugh. “Me? Rock climbing? I can’t think of anything more disastrous sounding.”

“Come on, it’s not that hard. I could show you how it’s done.”

Bev, who was making a whiskey and Coke next to Frankie, looked between the two of us, amused. “I can give you the rest of the night off if you want,” she said. “It’s pretty slow.”

Frankie’s ears perked up at that. “If you’re serious, that would be great. I’m supposed to hear back about that job any minute now and I’m freaking out. It’s all I’m thinking about.”