But AK turned his back and exited the cabin. “Nothing like that,” he said quietly, under his breath, but I heard it. He turned back to me, lit by the early sun, and nudged his head in the direction of the trees. “Come on. You’ll like this.”

Excited by his promise, I followed him outside and took his hand. AK stilled and looked down at our fingers, seeming surprised by the gesture. I was surprised I had done it too, but I had felt a sudden need to hold on to him. I could see there was a heavy kind of sadness that lived within him, a sadness I felt compelled to take away. AK took a deep breath and turned us toward the trees. I looked back over my shoulder. The boots were still sitting by the door. His sadness was linked to those boots somehow, it had to be. I just did not know why.

It seemed I was not the only one with hidden secrets.

“AK,” I whispered, overcome by the sight before me. “It is beautiful.” We stood on top of a high rock, looking down upon a waterfall that cascaded into a small, bright-blue pool. No one was here in this sanctuary but us. Birds were singing, and the sun’s rays glistened off the turquoise surface of the water.

“AK,” I said breathlessly. “I have never seen a waterfall in real life before. I have seen them in books, read about them. But this . . .” I shook my head in disbelief. “I can barely believe the incredible beauty before me.”

“Yeah,” he said. “It’s pretty fucking good.”

AK sat down on the edge of the rock and took a drink from his water bottle. We had hiked all the way here. The excursion was exhausting to my still-aching muscles. AK, however, barely seemed to break into a sweat. His fitness was astounding.

Tearing myself away from the sight, I sat down beside him. I lifted my hair, trying to get some air to my overheated neck, but it was clinging to my sweating skin. AK smirked at me fighting a losing battle to get the bright-red strands off my face. Silently, he slid the tie from his hair and handed it to me. His dark hair fell forward over his cheeks, but I caught his smile. I brought my long hair into a bun that resembled the one he often wore.

“I have never seen anything so magical in my life.” I watched in a trance as the waterfall bubbled into the crystal pool. “What is all of this, AK? The lodge, the hiking, the shooting, the waterfall?” I shook my head. “It is like being in another world. One I believed only existed in my dreams.”

“It fucking is another world,” he said and laughed a single rough laugh. “At least it’s miles away from the ones that we come from.” He finished his bottle of water and I took a sip from mine. “It’s a hunting lodge. I grew up coming here. Used to practice shooting, hike every day and just get away from the world for a while.”

I smiled, trying to imagine AK here as a youngster. “It sounds as if you had a very different childhood than my own,” I said with a nervous laugh. AK looked directly at me and I saw the humor fade from his face.

“But a not-so-dissimilar adulthood.” He looked away.

I was about to push him, to ask him what he meant by that, when I noticed a tattoo on his arm. I glanced down at the tank that I wore and realized it was the same image. Reaching out, I stroked my fingers over the American flag on his arm. “This emblem,” I said and pointed at the shirt. “They are the same.” AK’s muscles tensed. “What does it mean?”

“Shit to me anymore,” he said harshly. He got to his feet and began to descend down the side of the rock. The muddy path was steep. He glanced over his shoulder. “Come on. It ain’t so bad. I’ll help you.” I didn’t hesitate to take his hand and follow. As we made our way down the path, I realized that I trusted him.

I trusted a male.

I had never doubted he would keep me safe. Not even for a single second.

We arrived at the edge of the pool. AK bent down and refilled his water bottle. He held out his hand for my bottle too. I passed it to him and took a closer look at the waterfall beside us. The crashing fall of the water was loud from this proximity, and it was just as beautiful as it had been from the top of the rock.

“Here.” AK held out my bottle for me to take. Too busy watching the waterfall, I had not realized that the cap of the bottle was not in place. So when AK pulled his hand back and threw the contents of the bottle in my face, I screamed aloud in shock. I jumped as the cold water sprayed my face and body. I stood, motionless, until I looked at AK. And he was laughing. Not just smiling, but laughing heartily, the deep sound causing a lightness to flood my chest.

“AK!” I shrieked and lost my footing. My feet slid into the water and I fell back until I hit the mud, my bottom hitting the earth with a thud. When I lifted my hands they were covered in mud. AK laughed even harder behind me. My entire bottom half was drenched from the water. And I was covered in wet mud.

AK approached me as I rinsed my hands. “I was fucking with you, Phebe. I didn’t expect you to fucking fall in.” I scowled at him as he came closer, still laughing and not apologetic in the slightest. I waited until he held out his hand for me to take, as I knew he would. I scooped up as much water as possible in my hands and threw it in his face.

“Bitch!” AK shouted as he stepped back, the water dripping from his long hair. But there was no malice in his tone. His dark eyes that had been so dull and sad since the night he had cleaned the boots were full of light. Then he was coming at me. I scrambled forward until I was submerged into the water, hoping to escape any retaliation. My chest and arms sank into the cool liquid. But arms wrapped around me from behind and lifted me into the air. “No!” I called out, laughing as he threw me into the air. I landed in the water with a splash and scrambled to stand, brushing the water from my face. “I cannot swim!” I said and thankfully found my footing. I cast my eyes around the water. I could not see AK anywhere. And then he burst from the water right in front of me, and my heart almost swelled out of my chest.

AK’s arms wrapped around my waist. I slapped his bare arm as he smiled. “That’ll teach you to try and fuck with me, Red.”

I shook my head in protest. “Me?” I laughed at the playful look on his face. “You threw the water at me first!”

He shook his head and dropped his laughter. “You looked . . . hot. Thought you needed cooling down.”

I laughed at his smug face, and then slowly, second by second, the smile fell from my lips. My hands on his arms began smoothing over his wet skin. I felt my cheeks flush as AK’s gaze lost its playfulness. He waded us out farther into the pool, so far that my feet no longer felt the bottom. Gasping, panic taking hold of me, I gripped him tighter, and had no choice but to wrap my legs around his waist.