Despite everything—the panic, the fear, the emotional rollercoaster that had derailed her entire night and left her mascara looking like a crime scene—Sierra felt her lips twitch into something dangerously close to a smile.
"That was almost romantic."
"I'm trying here. You caught me completely off guard with the whole 'mobilizing a search party' thing."
"You guys did ALL that?" His voice shifted again—something raw threading through the teasing, like he'd been punched in a spot he didn't know was vulnerable. Touched. Genuinely surprised in a way he almost never allowed himself to be. "For me?"
"Of course we did, you idiot."
"Sierra... Maya..."
"Don't." Sierra was NOT going to cry again. Not over this. "Don't be sweet right now. I'm still furious with you."
"Noted. Can you be furious at me in person? Preferably while naked?"
"PHEI!"
"I'm KIDDING. Mostly. Come home."
