When Curtis reaches his dorm, he swings the door wide. “You’re in here, Milla.”

It’s not a question. I limp inside. And turn to look at Heather. “I don’t think Heather should be alone right now.”

“I’ll stay with her,” Brent says.

I glance at Curtis. Imagine if Dale turns up in the night and catches them together.

Or does Brent know full well that Dale isn’t going to turn up? I glance down at the axe in Brent’s grasp.

“All right.” Curtis shuts and locks the door behind us and stands there with his back to the wood. In his eyes: guilt, frustration, misery. He’s taking all this on his shoulders, blaming himself for bringing us here. Bringing me here in particular. I want to reach for him and relieve him of some of the burden, but the set of his jaw makes me hang back. I’ll give him time to cool down.

Minutes pass. At last he lifts his gaze. “Where do you want to sleep?” He gestures to the far bunk. “Over there? Or with me?”

And just like that, the outside world doesn’t exist anymore. There’s only me and him.

The hurt of his betrayal is creeping back up, but the answer is easy. “With you.”

Curtis considers the bunks for a moment, then lifts two of the narrow mattresses from the wooden bases to the floor. Side by side they take up the entire width of the room.

He looks at me. “We should probably get some sleep.”

I step up to him. “Are you telling me to keep my hands off you?”

For the first time all night, a flicker of a smile crosses his face. “Maybe.”

“You should know by now that I don’t take orders from you.”

His smile makes a reappearance. “Oh, I know.” He takes the flashlight from my hand and sets it on the floor in the corner, still on. “Lie down.”

I peel off my sweaters and ease myself to the mattress.

Curtis sinks down beside me. Pulls the duvets over us, then clicks off the flashlight. “Save the battery.”

I reach into the blackness to touch his face.

“Milla.”

“What?”

His voice is raw. “You don’t want me like this.”

I grope my way down his body until I locate his hands, one by one, and lift them above his head, pinning him down like he pinned me down earlier. To provoke him. Because that’s the only obvious way to reach him now. Curtis isn’t the sort of guy who will allow himself to be pinned. I just hope I can handle his response.

“I’m warning you, Milla.”

Ignoring him, I slide my free hand down his chest to his waistband, still holding him down with my other, and burrow under the layers of clothing to the smooth, bare skin of his stomach.