Zeke turned to look over his shoulder at his men loading up. “I should go. We have a lot of worried friends back at the hotel. Will you meet me there?”

“Just call me when you’re settled in,” I said, lighting a cigarette.

“Okay. I wanna hear about your trip.”

I breathed out a laugh with the smoke. “You nearly died a horrible death, and you want to know about my day.”

He held my cheeks, grazing his thumb across my lips. “Yes.”

My eyes danced between his as I deliberated, then I leaned up on the balls of my feet, starting my new life by pressing my lips against his. His lips were dry and cracked from his time in the sun and a day without water, but I pulled him closer. The men yelped and catcalled behind us as his hands left my face, and he wrapped his arms tightly around me. He tasted like dirt, smoke, and sweat, and I only wanted more.

He pressed his slick, dirty forehead against mine. “See you soon.”

I nodded, watching him load up in the back of a truck. They all waved to us, keeping eye contact until we couldn’t see them anymore.

I sat on the ATV, exhausted but happy.

“Naomi,” Sloan said. “Tell me I didn’t walk out on a date to save your boyfriend’s ass again.”

“He’s not my boyfriend,” I said, standing.

“You looked pretty cozy to me,” Kitsch said.

“Yet,” I said. “He’s not my boyfriend yet.”

Harbinger and Kitsch chuckled. Martinez and Sloan weren’t amused.

“They wouldn’t have made it out without us,” I said.

“This makes twice,” Martinez said. “Maybe they should find an alternative career if we can do it better than they can.”

I shifted my weight, squaring off with Martinez. “Did you hike miles to that location? Did you dig a fire line all fucking day? Then shut the fuck up.”

“I didn’t realize how soft men made you,” Martinez said.

Kitsch only used Martinez’s first name—Othello—when he wanted him to listen the first time. “O, you’re going to get your ass kicked,” he warned.

I glowered at him. “You’ve been bitching for weeks that you were bored. We go do something for once, and you’re whining and insinuating I made a decision based on emotion?”

“Well, yeah,” Martinez said.

Kitsch handed me a cigarette and a lighter. “Take it easy, Nomes,” he warned.