TONY: Slow Burn (Raging Fire Book 1) by Kallypso Masters (the false prince TXT) 📕

Nick went inside the tent and closed the flap, she turned to Shawana at the cookstove. “I’ll take coffee in to them when it’s ready. Thanks for making it.” The fewer people inside, the better off Ryder would be.

“Sure thing. How is he?”

“Hasn’t come out of it yet.”

“Poor man.”

Carm had been taught that pitying someone during or after a PTSD episode wasn’t the right thing to do, but she’d thought the same thing.

Looking up, Carm caught a glimpse of blue sky. “Looks like it might let up soon.” Good. Maybe not hearing the rain any longer would help Tony pull out of it faster. Carm ran to Nick’s nearby tent, wanting to get back to Tony as quickly as possible.

When she returned to her tent, Shawana had two full camp mugs ready for her. “For Tony and Ryder. I’ll pour yours and Nick’s next.”

“I’m fine for now. But thanks for getting Nick’s.”

Inside, she noticed that Ryder had changed clothes, and Tony appeared to be in dry pants as well. Hard to tell under the blanket whether he wore a shirt.

“Here’s a cup of black coffee to warm you up, Ryder.” Carm handed a mug to him. “Nick, Shawana has a mug for you too.” She motioned toward the exit. He seemed to understand that he needed to go, nodded, crawled toward the flap, and left the three of them alone.

Resuming her spot on Tony’s right side, she held the remaining mug in front of his nose. “Tony, would you like to take a sip of some hot coffee?” Carm hoped the scent might jar him out of his stupor. He blinked rapidly a few times and began surveying his surroundings before his gaze settled on her. Carm couldn’t believe it had worked.

The blanket slipped off his shoulders, and he glanced down to find himself shirtless then met her gaze. “What’s going on?”

“We got caught in a downpour soon after we returned to the camp.” Should she say anything more about his episode?

Before she could, Ryder added, “Someone in the campground was wearing a wet Broncos shirt.”

Tony shuddered, as if that held some significance. So it hadn’t been the rain that had triggered him.

“Everyone okay?” Tony seemed to be asking Ryder, but his gaze remained on her.

She nodded. “We’re all warm and dry. Rain’s letting up now.”

Then he did turn to Ryder. “Listen, man. Don’t say anything about this to anybody back home.”

Oh, Tony. Don’t ignore this warning sign. Please talk to someone.

Tony had no memory of seeing the shirt, but combined with the rain, apparently he’d been triggered. Shit. No way did he intend to start cracking up with PTS issues. Last year, one of the rookies had quit when he couldn’t deal with his first bad call. But Rafe had been through several during his early years with the department, and he’d handled them and moved on without having problems or needing to talk to a shrink. So would Tony.

“I won’t—provided you talk to someone when we get home,” Ryder said. “They gave us a list of names at the meeting this morning. Remember?”

Tony nodded but hadn’t kept the list, certain he wouldn’t need help. Maybe if he had another episode, he’d call someone, but this was just a fluke. He didn’t remember a thing since the rain started. How often would he come across a wet Broncos T-shirt?

You live in Colorado, you dumbass.

Ryder handed him a long-sleeved, navy-blue shirt. It fit tight across the chest and shoulders, but all that mattered was that it was dry. He left the hiking-style shirt unzipped to give him a little more breathing room, then thanked Carmella for the coffee she’d brought him.

“Has it stopped raining?”

Carmella nodded.

Good. He turned to Ryder. “When do you think the chopper can come and pick us up?” He wanted out of here in the worst way. He hated having Carmella see him in such a weak-ass state.

Ryder shrugged. “It’s getting dark.”

How long had he been out of it?

Ryder pulled out his phone. “I’ll call in and see where we are in the lineup.” Tony hadn’t heard any rotor sounds since coming to, so he didn’t hold out much hope.

While Ryder made the call, Tony crawled outside to put some distance between Carmella and himself, but she followed. Damn.

The others from her group stood around the cookstove, several of them also drinking coffee and all of them shooting pitying glances his way.

He stared up at the darkened sky to avoid looking around the campground, fearful that he might be triggered again. He doubted the chopper would be back tonight.

Ryder exited the tent and confirmed his suspicions. “Grounded until morning.”

Figured. “Looks like you’re going to have a couple of tent crashers tonight, Carm,” Tony said, remembering she called herself by the nickname inside the tent rather than Carmella. “Hope you don’t mind.”

The worry lines on Carmella’s forehead softened when she smiled. “No problem. We’ve got room. You can sleep in my tent.”

Tony pictured himself sharing a sleeping bag with Carmella. He didn’t feel quite so cold and numb anymore. Tony doubted that anyone had a couple of spare sleeping bags, so thoughts of snuggling up with her tonight weren’t totally unfounded.

However, she dashed his fantasies. “I’ll swap places with some of the guys.”

Too bad. But as Angelina’s sister-in-law, she wasn’t his usual one-night stand.

Nick spoke up. “If you guys are okay with it, Carmella can sleep in my tent, and Roger and I can bunk here with you two.”

Sounded like Tony and Ryder were destined for a long, cold night in a tent shared with two other guys. Pity that. Campfires were prohibited at this elevation, so the best they could do was bundle up in the blankets several from the group offered.

But with four people in there, would these quarters be too tight for Ryder?

Over the next few hours, he didn’t seem to be in any hurry to go inside the tent. He sat at the edge of the group circle while everyone shared stories