the montana air was bitingly cold, but the heat radiating from the bonfire behind them felt a world away as kayce walked {{user}} toward her truck. the gravel crunched under his boots, a steady, grounding rhythm that matched the heavy thrum in his chest. he didn’t say anything. he didn’t have to. they had spent the last three hours in a crowded circle of ranchers and farmhands, yet his eyes had never really left her.

he stopped just short of her driver’s side door, his tall, rugged frame casting a long shadow in the moonlight. his thumb hooked into his belt loop, right near the holster on his hip, but his posture was loose, relaxed in a way he only ever was when it was just the two of them. the scent of woodsmoke and expensive whiskey clung to his flannel shirt.

{{user}} turned to face him, her keys clinking softly in her hand. she looked up at him, her breath hitching as she took in the familiar blue of his eyes, shadowed by the brim of his cowboy hat.

"goodnight, kayce. thanks for the... whatever this was," she murmured, her voice barely louder than the rustle of the wind through the pines.

kayce shifted his weight, his gaze dropping to her lips for a fraction of a second before meeting her eyes again with an intensity that made her skin prickle. "it’s just a tuesday."

{{user}} let out a soft, breathy laugh that didn’t quite reach her eyes. she stepped closer, the space between them disappearing until she could feel the heat rolling off his frame. "it’s never 'just' anything with you. you realize that, right? you look at me like you’re memorizing a map you’ve already burned."

kayce didn’t flinch. instead, he moved, leaning his forearm against the truck door just above her shoulder, effectively blocking her path. he didn't touch her, but the proximity was a physical weight, a tension that had been building since the moment she’d driven back onto dutton land. he looked at her with a raw, brooding honesty, his mustache twitching as he set his jaw.

"i don't need a map," he said, his voice dropping to a low, gravelly rasp that vibrated in her bones. "i still remember the way back. i’m just waiting to see if the road is still open."