For the first time in forever, the silence between them thickened with discomfort. He had no right to be anything but supportive of Bryce and his proposal. He obviously wasn’t mistreating her, and she deserved a happy future with all the things most women wanted—children, a loving home, a stable husband—even if she claimed not to want those things. Deep down, he knew she did.
She needed to make a decision free and clear of him, even though it might mean he’d have to give up sharing a bed with her. That didn’t mean his stomach wasn’t twisting into knots and his head wasn’t playing all sorts of tricks on him, making him want to tell her not to marry the guy. But he didn’t want to swap places with Bryce. He loved his single lifestyle, and even though he loved what he and Laney had together, to tell her not to marry anyone was unfair.
He had no doubt in his mind that he was a selfish bastard, because the urge to tell her just that grew stronger with every passing second.
They parked at the entrance to the trail and loaded up with their camping gear. The air was crisp and the sun was bright. Perfect weather for their hike up the mountain. Laney looked cute as hell in her cutoffs and hiking boots, carrying a backpack that looked like it weighed twice as much as she did and sporting a scowl that he knew would eventually wear off. At least he hoped it would. They hadn’t been in this particular situation before, and Jackson had no idea how to navigate this new terrain. But there was one thing he was certain of. No matter what her decision, she needed him right here, right now, and he had no plans to let her down.
“Laney?”
She didn’t respond, and he knew by the way her eyes were trained on the ground that she was lost in thought. She got like that sometimes, tied up in her own head and unaware of what was going on around her.
He stepped in front of her and placed his hands on her shoulders. When she gazed up at him with emotions warring in her eyes, it just about did him in. Seeing Laney sad or worried had always cut him to his core. When her parents had split up, she’d been livid, scared, and sad all at once, and come to think of it, she’d looked very similar to the way she looked now.
“Listen, Laney.” He searched her eyes until they settled on him. “This is a big decision, and whatever you decide, I’m right here. I’m not going anywhere, and you’re not in this alone.”
“Really?” she snapped. “Did he ask you to marry him, too?”
He tried to stifle his smile, because really, adorable didn’t even begin to cover how she looked with her eyes blazing and a half smile, half smirk on her lips, spewing venom with every word.
“In a sense, yes,” he said honestly, wondering why, if she wasn’t happy about the proposal, she didn’t just turn it down. But he wasn’t going to dip his toe in that pond. Laney had her reasons, and chances were, she wasn’t quite clear on what they were yet.
She banged her forehead on his chest, then smiled up at him. “I’m not going to let this ruin our trip. I promise. We’ll have just as much fun as always.”
He brushed a lock of her hair from where it had fallen in front of her eyes and held her gaze. “I’m not worried about having fun, but I am worried about you.”
Chapter Three
WHILE JACKSON SET up the tent, Laney gathered wood for the fires they’d need in the evenings to keep warm. They’d been camping together for so many years that they had a system down pat. She remembered the first time they’d gone camping together. Jackson had been camping a zillion times with his family, but it had been her first time, and she hadn’t really known what to expect. Jackson had been patient with her and was careful to ensure she didn’t do anything that might cause her to be injured. As she’d learned, he’d loosened up, hovering less over her every step and treating her more like an equal than the naive girl who hadn’t known the difference between a square knot and a timber hitch. She smiled with the memory of lying naked in their tent as Jackson taught her how to master knots while they took turns tying each other up, then teasing and taunting until they were both begging for more.
She carried the wood she’d gathered back to the campsite, where she found Jackson putting their gear in the tent.
“Good job. Did you have any trouble?” he asked as he helped her stack the wood by the area he’d cleaned out for their fires. How he managed to get so much done while she was gathering wood used to baffle her, but she’d come to accept that Jackson was simply good at everything he did.
“Nope. No bears, snakes, or strange backwoods freaks anywhere in sight.”
“Well, then, I guess we’re safe.” His lips quirked up. “For now.”
He handed her a fishing pole, then ducked into the tent and came back out with his camera around his neck and the tackle box she’d bought him for his twenty-second birthday.