Page 53 of Nothing But Air

The compound stretched before them—rustic cabins arranged around the main lodge, carved out of the wilderness at the canyon’s edge. Ponderosa pines towered overhead, their bark glowing orange in the slanting light.

They walked toward the dining hall, boots crunching on gravel. Through the windows, Teague could see people gathering for dinner—the skeleton crew filling the long wooden tables.

And there—at a table near the far window—Eden sat with Sierra and Trey and Kyle.

Teague’s steps slowed.

The warm light caught her blonde hair, turning it to honey and gold. She was laughing at something Sierra had said, hands gesturing wildly. She looked relaxed. Happy. More at ease than he’d seen her all summer.

Kyle sat directly across from her. Leaning forward. Attention focused entirely on Eden.

“Easy.” Liam’s voice was low. “She’s allowed to have friends.”

“I know that.”

“Then stop looking like you want to throw Kyle off a cliff every time you see him.”

“I don’t.” But what was the point in arguing? “Not every time.”

They climbed the steps and pulled open one of the large wooden doors. The quiet of the empty lodge still felt unnatural, the dining hall down to just ten tables being used, and none of them full. The warm smell of roasted chicken and fresh bread filled the air.

Noah waved from a table near the kitchen. Marcus and Xander were already seated, deep in conversation.

Teague grabbed a plate and moved through the serving line on autopilot. Chicken. Potatoes. Green beans. The food looked good, but his appetite had vanished the moment he’d seen Kyle rest his hand on Eden’s arm.

He needed to trust Eden.

Had to trust his team.

Had to trust that loving someone meant letting them climb their own routes—even when it terrified him.

The question was whether his heart would survive what came next.

“You coming?” Liam stood by their team’s table, one eyebrow raised.

Teague forced his gaze away from Eden’s table. Followed his friend. Sat down. Picked up his fork.

But his attention kept drifting back to that table by the window.

To the way Eden’s face lit up when she smiled.

To the way Kyle leaned closer.

To the way his chest tightened every time she looked happier with her old life than she’d ever looked with her new one.

He was in so much trouble.

Stop looking at him. Stop looking at him. Stop?—

Eden’s gaze drifted toward Teague’s table for the fourth time in ten minutes.

Pathetic, Garrison. Truly pathetic.

She forced herself to focus on Sierra’s story. Teague had settled into a seat a few tables away, but facing her direction. The lodge dining hall hummed around them—silverware clinking, low conversation and laughter from most of the tables. Pendant lights cast pools of gold over the room, and the smell of roasted chicken mixed with pine drifting through open windows.

“—so I’m halfway up this off-width crack, completely stuck, when I realize the client below me is taking photos.” Sierra shook her head, her dark pixie cut catching the light. “Not of the view. Of my struggle. Said he wanted to remember the moment his guide looked ‘authentically challenged.’”

Trey grinned. “Please tell me you made him delete them.”