Chapter 12 #2
“We could stick to the roads, then,” she offers with a flirty little tip of her chin. “I don’t care about going onto the trails.”
Dex blows out a long breath, shaking his head. “The thing is, I was kinda looking at this retreat as a break from workouts, you know?” The man is clearly trying to avoid being alone with her, but she’s not taking the hint.
“I just don’t think it’s safe for me to run alone,” she says, her lower lip poking out. I guess appealing to the protective side of Dexter was her next logical move. “And Caroline isn’t a runner. So …”
Something bubbles up in my chest. The desire to step in and help Dexter out. I know he’s not interested in dating Tori or anyone, and we’re supposed to be collaborating as a team after this retreat.
“I’ll run with you,” I say.
Dexter’s brows practically hit the ceiling. “You?”
He’s right to be surprised. I absolutely do not run. In fact, I can barely jog. My cardiovascular capacity is more suited to speed-eating ice cream. Still, I level my gaze at him and arch a brow. A silent signal that I’m offering an assist here.
“Sure. Why not?”
A wave of understanding slowly dawns across his face. “No, I mean, that’s … fantastic,” he says. “While you two are out on the trail, I can catch up on some work.”
“Then everyone’s happy.” I press my mouth into a tight smile and nod toward the bathroom. Another silent message. “And weren’t you about to hop in the shower? I think we agreed I’d wait for my turn in the morning.”
He stares at me for another long moment. Come on, Dexter. Catch on.
“Otherwise, I’ll shower tonight,” I say. “And you can just stay here and talk to—”
“Shower!” he says. “Right. Yeah. I hate smelling like campfire.” He quickly rummages in his duffel bag again, pulling out a pair of shorts, a long-sleeved T-shirt, and a toiletries kit.
When the scent of his body wash or cologne, or something even more delicious, sweeps across the room, I shift my focus back to Tori. “I’ll just walk you back to your cabin then.”
“I can make it on my own,” she says. “I’m right next door.”
“Yes, but.” I scrunch up my nose, lowering my voice. “I just want to give Dex some privacy.”
“I won’t be long,” he says, already moving toward the bathroom.
“Take your time,” I tell him, slipping my feet back into my boots. I leave the laces untied and don’t bother with socks since I’ve got Band-Aids on the blisters now. “Let’s go.”
I follow Tori across the porch, my loose boots clomping down the stairs, as she tells me about the trail run she expects us to go on tomorrow morning.
“It’s only three miles,” she says.
Only.
I reach for her elbow. “Tori.”
She stops and turns to face me, squinting in the dark. “What’s the matter?”
“The thing is—” I gulp—“I don’t actually run.”
“Ah.” She nods, her gaze quickly dipping up and down my body. “I’m not surprised. You didn’t exactly strike me as the running type.”
Terrific.
“It’s that obvious?”
Instead of answering, she lets out a long sigh. “I can totally skip a day or two of cardio. I was just trying to figure out a way to get some time alone with—” She darts her eyes back at our cabin.
“Dexter?” I widen my eyes like this is news to me. “Really? I had no idea!”
“Good,” she says. “Because I’m trying to be low-key about my interest.”
“Totally.” I bite back a smile, nodding.
After all, I’m about to lie to this woman, and for that, I feel bad enough already.
“But here’s the thing.” I lower my voice like I’m about to reveal a big secret.
And I am. In fact, what I’m about to tell her is so secret, it isn’t even true. “Can I trust you?”
“Of course.” She glances around, her eyes popping wide. “With what?”
“You see …” I whisper, “there actually is something going on between Dexter and me.”
“What?” she squawks. “But you said—”
“I know what I told you,” I interrupt. “But that’s only because Dex and I don’t want Bob and Hildy to know we’re together.”
“Ooooh.” She bobs her head. “Is that why you made such a big deal about not wanting to share a cabin with him?”
Oof. Right. I did do that.
“Exactly.” I nod solemnly.
“But … why?”
“Because.” I swallow, stalling for time.
Yeah. Why, Sayla? “Because … our boss back at Stony Peak is expecting a report on our progress here, and he doesn’t know about our relationship.
” For that matter, neither does Dexter. “No one at school knows about us,” I add.
“And we’re afraid of the repercussions if the administration finds out. ”
“Oh, wow.” She puffs out a laugh, shaking her head. “I’m sorry, Sayla. I feel so stupid.”
“Don’t. Please.” I’m the dumb one, going off script here. “You just believed what I said. And since we’d only just met you, we weren’t sure we could trust you yet.”
“But you trust me now?” She lays a hand over her heart. “That means a lot.”
A ribbon of guilt unspools in me, but I remind myself this little white lie is a mercy. Dex isn’t interested in Tori. I’m just saving her from future rejection.
“After what we all went through at the retreat today, of course I trust you now.” The shift in pronoun from we to I is a subtle one, but I should probably update Dex on this situation before I lump him in any further.
Tori peeks at our cabin again. “Now that you told me, I completely respect the boundaries. Like I said before, I’m a girl’s girl. I only shot my shot because I thought Dex was single. But I get why my usual moves didn’t work. The man clearly adores you.”
I’m sorry, what?
“It’s so obvious now,” she continues, like all this evidence is suddenly unfurling before her.
“Every time I tried to get close to him today, he’d put a little extra distance between us.
And his eyes were glued to you the whole time.
Like, everywhere you went, everything we did, he was watching you.
But in a sweet, protective way,” she adds.
“You’re so lucky to have a man like that. ”
“I sure am,” I say, and my pulse picks up, almost like my heart wishes this were true. But Tori’s observations are colored by what I told her about Dex and me. Not reality. And anyway, I don’t actually want him to want me.
Nothing good could come from that.
“Well, thanks for having my back,” I say.
She puts a hand on my shoulder and offers me a smile that’s almost painfully sincere. “We girls need to stick together.” She starts for her cabin again, then spins back around. “So to clarify, we’re not running tomorrow?”
I cringe. “If you’re okay with that.”
She grins. “I’ll see you and Dex for pancakes instead.”
As she skips up the steps to her cabin and disappears inside, I make a mental note of the old cliché: Never judge a book by its cover. It’s human instinct, sure. But that doesn’t make it right. And I’m not proud of my snap judgments about Tori.
Either way, I’d better fill Dex in on my little ruse. If Tori says something to him first, he might mistakenly believe I have an agenda other than simply helping him out.
My stomach flips at the thought.
The sooner I confess, the better. And when I do, hopefully he’ll understand my intentions. This fake relationship was just an easy way to get Tori off the trail—literally.
Rushing back to our cabin, I’m so grateful my feet no longer hurt, I take the stairs two at a time, and I’m in such a hurry, I don’t even think about knocking. Instead, I burst through the door and find Dexter standing in the middle of the steam-filled cabin.
The man is wrapped in a small towel. And nothing else.
Literally.