Chapter 16
SIXTEEN
“I’m going to need a long, cold shower when I get in,” I mumbled as we waited on the platform for the shuttle.
Hayden rolled his neck. “I’ve got something better in mind than a shower,” he muttered.
I shot him a look. “Such as?”
He didn’t answer immediately—just shrugged, gaze flicking over me with that inscrutable air. “It’s a bit of a secret.”
I blew out. “Don’t be mysterious. I’ve had enough surprises for one day.”
He slipped his hands into his pockets, as if considering for a moment. “Well… it’s on the way back. I could show you, if you’re up for it.”
I found myself nodding, curiosity outweighing my fatigue. “Lead the way, then.”
The shuttle pulled in and we boarded. It rumbled out of the mountain and across the valley floor, evening light gilding the fields beyond the window.
When we began to descend from the ridge and level out, Hayden stood and gestured for me to follow.
A few moments later, the shuttle slowed and the doors slid open at a small, quiet station.
Hayden stepped out, and I trailed after him, blinking at the scene: a broad valley, endless orange groves glowing gold in the low sun.
“This is the main entrance to the agricultural estate,” Hayden said, nodding toward a row of ring scanners by the platform. “At least for the workers. But that’s not why we’re here.”
He set off at a brisk pace, his stride eating up the platform. I hurried after him, down a flight of stone steps that spilled onto a wide dirt path cutting straight through the orange orchard.
At the bottom, we paused. The world felt different here. Calmer, scented with heavy citrus and earth. The shuttle’s distant rumble faded, leaving only birdsong and the hush of wind moving through glossy leaves. Shafts of sunlight dappled the ground, flickering across our feet as we moved forward.
It felt almost sacred, this hush. I slid off my boots, needing to ground myself in something real. Grit and cool soil pressed against my skin. I let out a soft, involuntary sigh.
Hayden glanced over, one eyebrow raised. “Didn’t take much to impress you.”
I laughed, running my hand through the leaves of a low branch. “It’s been too long since I’ve felt anything like this.”
He just nodded, gaze drifting toward the sunlit trees. “Same reason I come out here. When I can.”
We walked on, no hurry for once. When the main path forked, Hayden led left through rows of lemon trees, then across a couple more orchards, the air turning sharper with each step. Eventually, the trees gave way to a rocky clearing pressed up against the mountain wall.
There, half-hidden in shadow, was a blue pool: small, perfect, catching the last of the sunlight. Hayden’s mouth twitched in a rare smile.
“This your secret?” I asked.
He nodded, dropping his pack on the stony bank. The moment was quiet, charged with something gentle. I started to follow, only to pause as reality caught up: I didn’t have a change of clothes, or even a towel.
That second worry vanished fast when Hayden rummaged in his bag and tossed me a towel. “Figured we’d end up here,” he said. “I always pack extra. Those cheap things barely dry your hands, let alone a person.”
I caught the towel, trying not to look too relieved.
But my other hesitation lingered—until Hayden turned away, undisturbed, and stripped down to the white undershirt and black boxers I’d glimpsed earlier.
He pulled off his shirt in one slow sweep, baring a back carved with lean muscle, skin still flushed from the heat of the day.
The sight made my thoughts scatter. Then he dove, all quiet power, slicing into the water as if it belonged to him.
I let out a breath I didn’t realize I’d been holding. Guess we’re really doing this.
I moved to the water’s edge, set my backpack beside his, and stared into the clear blue.
Now that it was my turn, the prospect of stripping down to my underwear suddenly made me self-conscious…
even though it was no skimpier than a bikini.
Hayden surfaced, running a hand through his hair, then noticed me standing there like an idiot.
He grinned, a little crooked. “You coming in, or just here to supervise?”
I felt my cheeks flush. “Only if you turn around.”
His smirk lingered as he turned to face the rocks, then slipped beneath the surface with an easy push, leaving nothing but ripples in his wake.
That gave me the opening I needed. I shimmied out of my uniform, perched on the edge, and slipped in, the cold biting and delicious.
Goosebumps chased up my arms, but it felt good—clean, fresh, like renewal.
Like something I’d been missing for months even though I’d been here weeks.
The world shrank to water, stone, and the hush of leaves. For the first time in ages, I let myself just float.
“You can turn around now,” I called when I noticed Hayden had surfaced across the pond.
He turned, treading water, eyebrows lifting ever so slightly as he glanced my way.
“What?” I asked, trying not to sound as self-conscious as I felt.
He gave a nonchalant shrug, a trace of a smirk tugging at his mouth. “Nothing. Didn’t peg you for bashful.”
I rolled my eyes. “I’m not. It’s just… different.”
He let it drop, drifting a little closer but not pushing. “Fair enough. Change of topic. It’s my birthday on Sunday.”
“Oh, is it?” I said, surprised. “Big plans?”
He snorted softly. “Not really. I’ll be twenty-two. Might come back here, actually.”
Something about that made me smile. “Not a bad tradition.”
I swam a slow circle. “So, how’d you find this place?”
He slicked his hair back, water trickling down his neck. “One of the orchard jobs. Wandered off on a break and ended up here...” He went quiet for a second, watching me, then nodded toward my strokes. “You swim better than I figured.”
I arched an eyebrow. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
He shrugged. “You grew up in a jungle. I figured you’d be climbing trees, not swimming in lakes.”
“Shows what you know,” I shot back, letting a faint smile tug at my lips. “We had water.” Well, some. Most was unswimmable.
He gave another shrug, half turning to float on his back. “Good. Makes this less awkward if you don’t drown.”
I splashed a little water in his direction, half tempted to dunk him.
“Are you sure we’re actually allowed to hang around here?” I asked, continuing to swim. “Seems kind of low security for something they sell. What if we started pocketing fruit?”
He didn’t answer. I realized his ears were under water.
Suppressing a sigh, I swam closer, arms cutting through the cool water.
Hayden jerked upright at my approach, and for a second we were face to face, only a few feet apart.
The water between us felt thin, hardly enough to count as real distance.
I caught the way his eyes flicked down, a sharp flash of blue tracing the shape of my body underwater before he snapped his gaze back up, a bit too quickly.
For half a heartbeat, neither of us said anything.
I felt the heat rise in my cheeks, the kind of awkward, electric awareness that had nothing to do with the sun or the swim.
It was so at odds with how much of the last few hours had been spent scraping by, parched and exhausted.
Here, for a second, everything narrowed to the space between his gaze and mine—uncertain, a little charged, the world holding its breath.
Hayden cleared his throat, as if to cover it, water dripping down his face.
I managed a small, self-conscious laugh and glanced away, suddenly preoccupied with smoothing my wet hair back.
But in the corner of my eye, something caught: a thick, purplish scar slashing across Hayden’s upper chest. My gaze snapped back to him before I could stop it.
There were other scars too, smaller and older, faded against his skin, but that big one looked recent.
Probably not more than a couple of months old.
It stood out, raw and impossible to ignore.
Hayden’s eyes flicked down, tracking my stare.
“That? Oh, it’s nothing,” he muttered, suddenly closed off. He ducked under the water and surfaced several feet farther off.
“Um, nothing?” I wasn’t blind. I’d seen my share of scars in the jungle—none quite like that. “Did you get it on a job?” I asked.
He shook his head, not meeting my eyes. “Not exactly. Did something stupid.”
“What do you mean, stu—?”
But he ducked beneath the surface again, leaving my question floating unanswered.
Annoyance prickled through me, but I let it go. For now. If there was anything I’d gleaned about Hayden, it was that he was his own island, complete with his own weather system. One minute seeming close to open, next minute completely shuttered. Are all men like this?
When he finally resurfaced, I tried my earlier question instead, still unsettled by what I’d seen.
“So we’re really allowed to be in the valley like this?”
Hayden nodded, swiping water from his face with one hand. “As far as I know. No rules against it. We didn’t hop any fences, it’s all open from the station.” He paused, voice dropping lower. “As for taking anything? I wouldn’t. And as your employment officer, I’d definitely advise you against it.”
The way he said it—light, but not completely—made me pause. There was a seriousness in his gaze, like a warning half-wrapped in a joke.
“As my employment officer,” I repeated, rolling the words on my tongue as I observed him. “Is this something employment officers do: go swimming in their underwear with the employees?”
I was glad to see his smirk flicker back. “Only upon request.”