Misinformation and Lies
I tried not to think about the fact that we were stuck in the middle of nowhere.
And worse with the man who I had sworn that I never wanted to see in my life.
The man who ruined me. Yet I still was here with him. Ever since he survived that accident, he felt like a bone in my throat and it refused to go away.
I shook my head, staying calm. Well trying to.
There was no nee being frenzied over situations that I can't control.
I worked the herbs into a paste, carefully applying it to Rowan’s wound. His muscles tensed under my touch, but he didn’t make a sound.
“You know to answer your question,” I muttered, focusing on the mixture, “this isn’t my first time dealing with survival situations.”
Rowan raised a brow. “Oh?”
I nodded. “We had a survival class in med school. Part of the emergency trauma training. Claire pushed me into taking it.”
He smirked. “Pushed?”
I rolled my eyes. “Forced might be a better word. She signed me up before I could say no.”
Rowan let out a low chuckle. “Smart woman.”
“Annoying woman,” I corrected. “She knew I hated camping. But she said, ‘Remi, you’re going to be a doctor. One day, you might be in a situation where you need these skills. So suck it up.’” I mimicked Claire’s firm, no-nonsense tone.
Rowan smirked. “And now look at you. Stuck in the wilderness with me.”
I scoffed. “Yeah, lucky me.”
His smirk didn’t fade.
I continued working in silence for a moment, then he spoke again.
“Tell me about her.”
I glanced at him. “Claire?”
He nodded.
I hesitated. “Why are you so curious?”
He exhaled, shifting slightly. “I don’t know. I guess… I just want to understand the people who matter to you.”
My hands paused for a second.
I wasn’t sure how to respond to that, so I focused on the herbs again.
After a beat, I started talking.
“Claire is… everything I’m not,” I admitted. “Loud. Fearless. The kind of person who walks into a room and owns it. She was the first real friend I ever had.”
Rowan listened, silent.
“She took me in when I had nowhere else to go,” I continued. “She helped me with the kids when I had nothing. No money, no security. Just a dream and desperation.”
Something tightened in Rowan’s expression, but he said nothing.
I swallowed, my fingers pressing against his skin as I finished applying the paste. “She never judged me. Never asked for anything in return. Just… believed in me.”
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
Then Rowan murmured, “She sounds incredible.”
“She is and always will be.”
His eyes searched mine, something unreadable in his gaze.
I suddenly became aware of how close we were.
Too close.
His breath was warm against my cheek, his face just inches from mine. My hands were still on his skin, my body leaning toward him without realizing it.
The fire flickered, casting shadows across his sharp features.
His gaze dropped to my lips.
I forgot how to breathe.
For a second just a second I thought he might kiss me.
And worse… I wasn’t sure if I would stop him.
But then—
I snapped out of it.
“Sorry,” I blurted, pulling back so fast I nearly fell over.
Rowan blinked, as if coming back to himself.
I cleared my throat, my face burning. “Uh—excuse me. I should check the meat.”
I turned, practically fleeing to the fire, my heart pounding.
What the hell was that?
I poked at the meat, flipping it over, trying to focus on anything but the way Rowan had looked at me. The way my body had reacted, the way my lips had almost—
Stop.
I grabbed a large leaf and carefully lifted the roasted bear meat off the fire. “It’s ready.”
Rowan shifted, wincing slightly as he sat up straighter. “Finally. I was starting to think you were going to make me starve to death out here.”
I rolled my eyes and handed him a portion. “You’re welcome.”
He took a bite, chewing slowly.
Silence stretched between us as we ate. The fire crackled, the night settling around us like a thick blanket.
Then, out of nowhere, Rowan let out a humorless chuckle.
“You know,” he murmured, “death attracts to me like a magnet.”
I frowned, looking up. “What?”
He leaned back against the cave wall, exhaling. “First the accident. Now this.”
I hesitated before asking, “Do you remember how the accident happened?”
His brows pulled together. “Not exactly. It’s… fragmented.”
I set my food down. “Tell me what you do remember.”
Rowan stared at the fire for a long moment before speaking.
“I remember driving. Gigi was there.” His voice was slow, careful. “She was in the passenger seat. Talking about something, but I wasn’t really listening.”
I tensed. “Then what?”
His fingers curled slightly. “Then she wasn’t there.”
A chill crawled up my spine. “What do you mean?”
“I mean… she was just there. Then she wasn’t. I don’t remember her getting out. I don’t remember stopping the car. One second, she was talking, and the next—” His jaw tightened. “The crash.”
My stomach twisted.
That didn’t make sense.
Gigi had told the press that she was in the car when the accident happened. That she barely survived but my some miracle she did.
But then she didn't look as if she was in an accident that day.
But Rowan was saying she wasn’t there when it happened.
But also was there.
Was he misremembering? Or was she lying?
“There is… one thing though,” Rowan added.
I frowned. “What?”
He exhaled, staring into the fire. “Right before the crash, I remember seeing something in the rearview mirror.”
I waited, my fingers gripping the leaf that held my food. “What did you see?”
His brows furrowed, frustration flickering in his gaze. “Red lights. Another car, maybe? I don’t know. It’s blurry, like it was there and then… gone.”
I swallowed. “You think someone was following you?”
Rowan’s jaw tightened. “I don’t know. But something feels off. I keep trying to piece it together, but it’s like my brain won’t let me.”
I hesitated before speaking. “And Gigi? You said she was there… then she wasn’t?”
He nodded slowly. “Exactly. I can’t explain it, but something isn’t right.”
A shiver ran down my spine.
Gigi had been acting desperate lately. Clinging to Rowan. Lying about things.
Could she have been involved in the accident?
I didn’t say it aloud. Not yet.
Instead, I shifted closer, watching him carefully. “Do you want to remember?”
“About?”
“Everything about you, would you like to remember?”
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