Chapter 27
OCTOBER 03 – FRIDAY 3:00 PM
R en
“Are you sure you want to do this,” Ivy asked as I laced up my hiking boots. She seemed a lot more worried now than when I first told her I was going away with Liam.
“Do you think this is a bad idea?”
With an exaggerated huff, she sat down on her Care Bear blanketed bed. She said it was her favorite, and she couldn’t sleep without it. The pouting face, coupled with pigtails, really suited the kiddish comforter.
“Every time you leave the property, something bad happens. Sprained ankle, Blake’s OD, shoot out, you name it. It’s not exactly a great track record. What if a poisonous snake bites you or Liam kills you?”
“Wow, that is quite the leap from a snake bite to murder,” I teased, smiling at her. Finished with my boots, I stood up, grabbed my jacket, and shoved my arms through the sleeves. Clearly, Ivy needed some reassurance. Sitting down on the Care Bear comforter, I placed my hand on hers.
“I understand where you’re coming from, but I can’t live my life in constant fear. There are only a few months left, and we’ll all be forced to leave anyway.”
“Can’t I just wrap you in those little bubbles and lock you in an underground armored bunker.”
“Are the guards hot?” I tried not to snort but was unsuccessful. “I need hot guards in that scenario. I mean I have gotten used to being pampered by three men,” I teased, with an exaggerated tone. I fanned at my face and batted my eyes.
She nudged my shoulder, laughing. “Stop it, I’m being serious. I have two whole friends in this world, and you are one of them. If something happened to you….”
Ivy looked at me when I squeezed her hand.
“Nothing is going to happen to me. You saw Liam yesterday. He saved a guy on a rival team because it was the right thing to do. He’s not going to hurt me.”
At least not the way Ivy was envisioning. The rest…well, that was still questionable based on the lessons from Myles and Blake. I had to tell them to knock it off before I killed them both.
“I really wish I had your courage.”
“Is something more going on?”
Ivy lifted a shoulder and let it drop.
“Zigzag and his new girlfriend were at the meet yesterday. They didn’t see me, but they were kissing by one of the buses.”
“I’m so sorry,” I said, wrapping my arm around her. Ivy laid her head on my shoulder. “So what do you want to do? Do you want me and Liam to take him with us so we can leave his body in the woods?” That made her laugh. “I’ll do it.”
“I’m sure you would, but no. I just don’t get it. No one has ever been interested in me except for him, and we couldn’t even make it a whole semester. And don’t you dare say, ‘It’s not you, it’s them’.”
“Can I be honest?”
“Oh no, I’m not sure I want to know.”
“I don’t think you’re going to find your person at Wayward. Most of the guys already have arranged marriages. You know what happened to Myles when he refused his father’s pick. He was beaten so badly that he had to hide in his room for a week. I know not everyone is like Owen, but you get what I mean. From what I can tell, people are just having fun, nothing serious.”
“Except you.”
Well, I couldn’t argue with that.
“We all know I’m an oddball. Don’t compare yourself with me.”
“Zigzag and I just clicked, or I thought we did, until he found a preppy, rich girl. You know he got in because he was thrown into juvey for hacking the Defense Department’s servers. And I’m here because my dad…well, you know my dad. But you’re right. Everyone here is from a rich, powerful family, and I have nothing to offer. Hell, my father is not even Sheriff anymore. I’m just a freeloading nobody.”
“I didn’t mean it like that,” I said.
“I know, but it’s the truth.” She looked so sad, and all I wanted was to wrap her up in a hug and not let go.
“It’s their loss. Money will not buy them happiness. You are beautiful, funny, and sweet. Trust me, Zigzag will regret making that choice one day, and by then, you will have found the right, Mr. Ivy Morrison.”
“I did kind of meet someone.” Ivy blushed as she bit her lip and looked around like there might be cameras in the room. God, I hoped there weren’t any, or they were getting a hell of a show lately.
A sharp knock announced Liam before I could find out more about this mystery guy. Giving Ivy a quick hug, I stood up to answer the door.
“You’re giving me all the details when I get back,” I said, smiling.
Liam leaned against the wall, looking like he just came from a spa instead of spending another whole day in the pool. He was completely decked out in hiking gear and equipment, including the massive pack on his back and a knife in a sheath at his waist. Wow was the only word that came to mind as I stood there stupidly staring at him.
“You ready?”
“Sorry…yeah, can you help me with my pack?”
Nodding, he stepped into the room.
“Wow, you look like one of those survivor guys. You know, the ones they set loose in the wilderness with a few tools and a camera? Are you going to do any rock climbing,” Ivy asked excitedly.
“No, we are not,” I answered for him. “There is no way I’m going up or down a rock face, and you can forget about that insanity of sleeping in a tent on the side of a mountain. That is pure craziness,” I said as Liam lifted the pack and put it on my shoulders.
“Oh, that’s a shame. That was exactly what I had planned for us. I even brought you a piss cup and barf bag.”
“You didn’t…did you?”
Horror filled me as I pictured us suspended hundreds of feet in the air in a swaying tent. I mean, who came up with this stuff? Were two guys super drunk and one guy looked at the other and was like, “ You know what would be super fun? If we didn’t tent on top of the mountain, but on the side of it. Then we can worry about plummeting to our deaths all night long or forgetting and getting out to pee when we’re half asleep. Won’t that be ten times more exciting? ” Like seriously.
Liam smirked. “No, not really. At least not this trip.”
“Well, if he’s talking about another trip, he’s probably not going to kill you,” Ivy said, and I shook my head at her.
“That’s what you think,” he growled at Ivy, and her face paled.
I grabbed Liam’s arm and tugged him toward the door before Ivy decided to send Dean Henry and the Curators after us or something.
“See you in a few days,” I said to Ivy and then promptly closed the door before she could ask anything else.
“This way,” Liam said, heading for the back staircase I’d used a few times.
When we got outside, he picked up a light jog and went straight to the forest. The very narrow path would’ve been nearly impossible to see unless you knew where it was. My bag bounced slightly, and it didn’t take more than ten minutes to wonder why I’d wanted to do this.
“We’ll walk once we reach the main trail,” he said as if reading my mind.
There was no point asking how far that was, because there was no way I was telling him that I was tired and needed to walk.
“Are you going to be good to train on Monday?”
“Do you ever not think about working out?”
“Do you ever stop thinking about schoolwork or beating Theo?”
“Good point,” I said as we popped out of the thick brush and found a crushed gravel path.
Liam slowed to a walk, and I sucked in a deep breath.
“So where are we heading?”
“Worried?” Liam looked down at me with an expression caught between indignant and mischievous.
“No, I just like to know. It’s always good to know. I can guess. We are on the path heading toward the one that I took last year.”
The corner of his mouth tugged up. “Correct.”
“I prefer it out here,” I said, looking around at the tall trees. Blake would be all over the different birds and their calls. It felt like we were walking in a chorus of different birdsongs. “People and I don’t seem to get along.”
“I would have to disagree with you.”
I snorted.
“I don’t dislike or hate you, Ren. I don’t trust that this can work. This could very well destroy friendships. I’m not the enemy. If anything, you’re the enemy coming into my group of friends and my relationship. But….” He put his hands up as if warding off an argument. “There is no blame, it just is what it is. Complicated.” I eyed him suspiciously. It was comments like this that really confused me about Liam. “You don’t look like you believe me.”
“More like you confuse me. You are all over the place. Maybe Theo isn’t the only one struggling and making things…complicated?” I playfully nudged his arm. He grunted at me but didn’t dispute the thought. I was taking that as a win in my column.
We fell into a comfortable silence, our matching footfalls breaking the quiet of the slowly darkening forest. We still had a few hours until we would stop for the night, and that was what worried me. Liam wanted to connect and get to know me, but I didn’t know what to say or do to make that happen. Now that we were out here, I felt pressured to find something to bring us together. Sex wasn’t the answer. Sure, Liam was hot, but physical attraction only went so deep.
Liam returned my playful nudge, and I looked up at him.
“Don’t overthink things. We’re just out here to have a good time. Whatever that looks like.”
“Theo warned me that you have a freaky ability to read minds, but I didn’t believe it.”
Liam’s laugh echoed off the trees, the deep, rich sound blanketing me in a warmth that made me smile.
“Did he now? What else did Theo say? No, wait, let me guess….”
The tension faded like the slowly setting sun. We laughed and teased one another, and I realized that when we put our hypothetical swords away, we weren’t that different. In fact, I felt hope that Liam and I would be more than the rivals we were when we stepped onto the trail to parts unknown.