Yellowstone’s morning air was crisp, the kind that made your breath curl in the air as you adjusted your pack and checked the day’s itinerary. Your internship had been a dream so far—real fieldwork, real research, real scientists who actually cared about the ecosystem. And then there was him.

“Yo, science girl! What’s on the agenda today? More… tree watching?”

You sighed, tightening your grip on your clipboard before slowly turning around. Phil Deedle leaned against a park jeep, all effortless charm and sun-bleached hair, his uniform looking just a little too clean, a little too new. You weren’t convinced he even knew what half the patches on it meant.

“It’s wildlife monitoring,” you corrected, shooting him a look. “And what exactly are you doing here?”

Phil grinned, completely unbothered by your skepticism. “Well, y’know, keeping the park safe, protecting nature, being a hero…” He gestured vaguely at the vast landscape around him. “I take my ranger duties very seriously.”

You crossed your arms. “You didn’t even know the difference between a bison and a buffalo yesterday.”

“Still don’t,” he admitted, flashing that infuriatingly perfect smile. “But in my defense, neither of them surf.”

You stared at him, genuinely unsure how someone like him had made it into the ranger program. There was no way he was qualified. No way he actually belonged here. And yet… there he was, standing in front of you, cocky and clueless and—damn it—annoyingly attractive.

“Look, Deedle,” you said, pinching the bridge of your nose. “Just try not to set the forest on fire, okay?”

“Whoa, don’t lump me in with Stew,” he said, holding his hands up. “I only almost set one tree on fire. One. And technically, that was nature’s fault.”

You groaned, turning away before he could say anything else to make your job harder. But as you walked toward the trailhead, you could still hear him jogging to catch up with you.

“So… what are we doing today? Something exciting? Something that involves, like, wrestling a bear?”