I’D KIND OF HOPED THE others would have gotten bored of waiting for us by the time we left the bathroom. However, after fighting my unwillingness to leave the warmth of the water, or Brook’s body, I opened the bathroom door, and we stepped out to the welcoming richness of lamb roast, and the familiar grumbling chatter of the pack down below.
In my bedroom, grey sweats and a jade-green long-sleeved T had been laid out at the foot of my bed. Though I recognised them as Jem’s, their careful positioning told me she didn’t mind loaning them to Brook. The two of us dressed in near-silence, Brook’s expression holding a reappeared concern I thought our time in the shower had shed.
After tugging on my second sock, I reached for her hand. “Will you quit worrying?” I smoothed a fingertip across the
