Slowly shaking her head, she clears her throat. “Is it true you had opponents leave on stretchers after fighting you?”

Do I want the upper hand? Do I need it?

“Yes.” My toothy grin does nothing to bring color back to her face—except her lips. Whatever the hell she put on her lips still shimmers red.

Keeping her gaze locked to mine, she wraps her hand around the canteen, just above mine, and pulls it to her mouth.

Gulp. Gulp. Gulp.

After draining the rest of it, she steps back, breathless, with a drop of water running down her chin. “Did you feel bad?”

“No. Well … maybe in the beginning. But I learned to let those emotions go.”

“Why?”

I shrug. “I didn’t jump those men in an alley and beat the shit out of them. It’s a sport. There are winners and losers. One of us was going to end up facedown. That’s just how it works.”

“Do you still do that?”

I shake my head while rubbing my thumb along her wet chin. Avery pulls back, rolling her lips together and feathering her fingers over the spot where my thumb touched her face.

“Can I be honest with you?” She bats her eyelashes.

Bats her eyelashes. What the …

“No. Swarley, let’s go.” Turning, I let Swarley lead the way down the hill.

“You don’t even know what I’m going to say.” Avery chases after us.

“I do.” I pick up my pace.

“Jake!”

“Nope.”

“But Jake—”

“Not happening.”

“My feet hurt!”

“Not happening.”

Her shoes skid against the lose rock behind me.

Flip flop flip flop.

“I’ll pay you!”

I stop, turning slowly. “How much?”

She hops on one foot while rubbing the other, then changes feet. “Twenty dollars.”

I grunt a laugh. “Twenty dollars? To carry you a mile? I bet you spent at least fifty dollars on those stupid shoes.”

She murmurs a quick response. I don’t hear it clearly, but I’m fairly certain she said, “Two hundred.”

“I’ll carry you half the way for one hundred dollars.”

Avery traps the corner of her lower lip between her teeth, nose wrinkled. “Twenty is my limit.”

“Your limit, huh? Don’t even get me started on my limits.” With a quick whistle, I bring Swarley back onto the trail.

“At the end of the day, don’t you want to be able to say that you helped someone?”

“Princess?” I keep walking. “Do you have a steering wheel stuck around your neck? No? Well, then I think I already did my helpful deed for the day. I will sleep just fine tonight.”

“Until you wake up dead!”

I chuckle. “Aw, yes … until that. There’s nothing worse than waking up dead.”

By the time we make it to the campsite, she’s fuming. “You are not a gentleman!”