***TRICIA***

I hated how grateful I felt. I really did. But the moment Blake pushed open the wooden door of the abandoned shed he’d dragged us into—right before the blizzard swallowed the entire mountain—something in me eased in a way I didn’t expect.

“Good sense,” I muttered, rubbing my arms as the last of the icy wind shrieked outside. “You… actually saved us back there.”

Blake looked at me with that stupid innocent smile. Soft. Simple. Almost boyish. It hit me harder ...