Chapter 15 #2
More time passed, so much so that I wondered if I’d been forgotten, left to find my own way down from the oak tower. Somewhere in the foliage nearby, a bird screeched, causing my pulse to spike.
The woods grew quiet again, but this time, it didn’t feel as inviting as before.
I made up my mind to call out for help like Oliver had told me, but then I saw a flash of something white that made me reconsider.
I squinted. It was Alec’s platinum hair.
He was jogging along the edge of the clearing, scanning the open space, and the path he was on would inevitably lead him right to me.
As soon as he was close enough, I called his name. “Alec!”
By giving my position away, I knew my team would lose, but unlike Oliver and JJ, I couldn’t care less about winning Cops and Robbers. Oliver would be mad, considering the deal we made, but our agreement was to get me up the tree. It said nothing of what I could or couldn’t do once I was in it.
Alec stopped short. “Hello?” He turned his head left and right. “Stella, is that you?”
“Up here.”
His head snapped back. “Felicity?”
“Hi.”
“What are you doing in a tree?”
“Ah, hiding?” I offered. Although technically, I wasn’t doing a good job of it.
He shook his head once, then, after taking a few steps back, he ran forward, leaped up, and hooked his hands around my branch. He hung there for a moment, waiting for his body to stop swinging back and forth, before heaving himself up and throwing a leg over the solid oak limb.
When he was finally situated across from me, his mouth tugged into a wolflike grin. “Looks like I’ve found myself a little bird.”
I let out a little laugh. “Far from it. I definitely didn’t fly up here on my own.”
“Meaning…?”
“Oliver had to boost me up. And let me tell you…that was no easy feat, not to mention scary. I have no clue how I’m going to get down.”
“What made you decide it was a good idea to climb up here in the dark?” he asked.
“Well, I didn’t do a stellar job of selling Oliver on my running abilities, so he thought it best that I hide instead,” I told him. “Your friend is insanely competitive.”
“And you actually agreed to that?”
“Not exactly. Let’s just say we came to an arrangement.”
Alec looked at me in suspicion. “What kind of arrangement?”
“Unfortunately, I’m not at liberty to tell,” I said with a grin.
In all honesty, I didn’t want to explain the deal to Alec or, more specifically, the final part of it—that the boys had to stop teasing him about me.
By asking that of Oliver, I’d practically admitted something was going on between us.
Which, after that kiss, I couldn’t deny any longer.
But Alec and I had yet to talk about what’d happened, and I didn’t want to get ahead of myself.
“How about you help me down and we forget I ever climbed up here?”
“I will,” he said, “but not until they’re done chasing each other around.” He pulled his phone from his pocket and checked the time. “There are still ten minutes left in the game. Until then, I like you right where you are.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Is that so?”
Nodding, Alec inched himself forward on the branch. “I figure since you’re stuck up here…” He trailed off, a smile lighting up his lips as he lifted his shoulder in a partial shrug.
Then he leaned forward and pressed his mouth to mine. The kiss was gentle, his lips like a whisper, and whether that was for safety reasons or because he was trying to control himself, I couldn’t tell. One of his hands stayed on the branch for support, but the other slid into my hair.
I wanted to move closer, to drape my arms around his neck, but I kept my back pressed firmly against the tree trunk so I wouldn’t fall.
It didn’t take long before I lost myself in the kiss—his fingers tangled in my curls, the pounding of my heart, a prickle of stubble as his chin brushed mine—and my hands unwittingly moved up and touched his jaw.
As my balance shifted, my stomach wobbled, and I pulled away to steady myself again. “This seems highly dangerous,” I said.
“All right, fine.” Alec made a point of grumbling, but there was a smirk hidden under his fake exasperation. “I suppose I’ll help you down.”
***
When my feet were firmly planted on the ground, Alec and I decided to lie out in the middle of the clearing.
The grass was dewy from the recent rain, and the clouds made it impossible to see the night sky, but I didn’t mind.
He had an arm wrapped around me, the other folded behind his head, and I was using his shoulder as a pillow.
Bugs buzzed in my ear and my yoga pants got damp, but it was nice relaxing together.
“That isn’t your sweatshirt, is it?” he asked, tugging on the material.
I shook my head. “I was cold, so JJ loaned his to me.” I paused, surprised by the words about to come out of my mouth. “I’ll admit, your friends aren’t that bad.”
He laughed, his whole upper body shaking. “They might be obnoxious and immature, but they’re all heart and grow on you quickly.”
“Yeah,” I said. “Stella’s super nice too.” Since we were already on the subject, I took a deep breath and said, “You and she seem close.”
I felt Alec shift. “We are. In some ways, we’re very similar, so we’ve always understood each other.”
Whatever similarities he was talking about were lost on me. Stella seemed more like Oliver, outgoing and not afraid to speak her mind, but I suppose I didn’t know her well enough to understand.
“You liked her,” I guessed.
“When we first met?” He sighed. “Maybe a little. But it was Oliver and her from the start, and it never felt…like this.”
I couldn’t help it—I inhaled sharply. I wasn’t sure why I was so surprised to hear him acknowledge that he felt something between us.
Maybe it was because ever since discovering who he was, the idea of us being together—or an us anything—was so unimaginable that I did my best to suppress the thought.
“What is this?” I asked with bated breath.
At first, he didn’t answer, and I willed myself not to fidget. “I’m not sure,” he answered honestly. “But I, uh, never finished what I was saying in the library. About Vanessa’s wedding.”
“Yeah?”
“Would you maybe…be my plus one?”
“Me?” I lifted myself slightly, turning my head to look at him. “I mean, you really want me to go with you?” Going to his sister’s wedding was pretty intense first-date material.
“Yeah.” He pulled me closer, and I could feel the heat of his body bleeding through JJ’s sweatshirt. “I really do.”
Before I could shake my surprise and formulate a response, Alec’s phone alarm beeped, signaling the end of the game.
A few seconds later, several shouts rang through the woods as our friends regrouped.
After that, it didn’t take long for Oliver, followed closely by everyone else, to find his way back to my tree.
“If nobody found Felicity,” he was saying, “then we win.” He came to a stop at the base of the oak and tipped his head back. “Felicity, you okay up there?”
“Over here,” I called as Alec and I made our way across the clearing.
His face fell when he saw us together. “Damn, he got you?”
I hesitated, not sure how to explain that I’d given myself up, but Alec answered for me. “Well,” he said, smirking at the group. “Not technically speaking.”
Xander frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I never officially tagged Felicity,” he clarified. “Robbers win.”
Oliver let out a celebratory victory whoop and pumped his fist in the air.
“But you two were together…” Xander said, his brows still drawn together in confusion.
“Let it go, X-Man,” JJ responded, slinging an arm around his friend’s shoulder. “The superior team clearly triumphed.”
X-Man held up a finger like a lawyer about to argue his case but then sighed and dropped his hand. “Whatever.” He shook his head. “I’m not even going to bother.”
From behind, Oliver wrapped his arms around Stella. “Does the victor get a kiss?” he mumbled against her neck.
“Only if we’re done reliving your childhood memories,” she said. “This game is ridiculous, and it’s freezing out here.”
***
There was a wide smile on Xander’s face as he slid open the back door and stepped out onto the patio. In his hand was an acoustic guitar. “Found it!”
The rest of us were gathered by the built-in fire pit, warming ourselves after the damp chill of the forest.
“Where was it?” Oliver asked. He was sharing one of the wicker patio chairs with Stella, who was snuggled into his lap.
“In the living room, right where you said.” Xander gave the instrument a quick strum and fiddled with one of the tuning pegs. “Any requests?”
Stella pushed her boyfriend’s bangs back and smiled. “I wanna hear my song.”
Oliver inclined his head. “We can do that.”
I inched forward on my seat.
Everyone had been talking around the fire when Alec announced that we needed music. Which, in turn, had prompted Asha to ask if the band could play some of their songs. Now here we were, about to get our own private performance from the Heartbreakers.
A moment of silence passed when all I could hear was the crackle, pop of the wood as it burned.
I watched Alec in anticipation. He’d retrieved his own guitar from the trunk of the Cadillac, and I was eager to see him in action.
JJ started first, magically producing a pair of drumsticks from the waistband of his jeans as if he never went anywhere without them.
He had no drum set, but created a simple rhythm against the brick of the patio.
Xander and Alec joined in next, strumming a familiar melody.
They worked through a few verses before Oliver finally added his voice to the mix.
“‘Sometimes the things left unsaid are deadly like bullets and knives,’” he sang. “‘Mine cut you deep, girl. We had no chance to survive.’” His voice was gruffer when he sang, but it sounded good with the stripped-down version of the song.