13. Harrison
THIRTEEN
Harrison
“Could you slow down?” The wind whipped the fabric of my T-shirt around my body as I stopped to catch my breath.
“Could you hurry up?” Lila countered, in an infuriatingly not-out-of-breath voice.
“You’re practically sprinting,” I argued as I looked up at her small figure, perched on a hill just fifty feet ahead of me.
She tossed her head back and laughed. She had pulled her hair back into a long braid, but several stubborn tendrils had fallen loose around her face. She struggled to keep control of them as the wind increased in intensity.
We were on the edge of a cliff, walking a popular trail between the towns of Fira and Oia, the one Maria had recommended last night. Lila had assured me it would be an easy hike, but after the first thirty minutes, I’d insisted on knowing how long it was. To which she had replied, “About six miles.”
Was I a fit guy? Yes. Did I spend more time at the climbing gym than working on my endurance? Also, yes.
Meanwhile, Lila had neglected to mention that she was apparently a professional trail runner. She zipped along the path like it was some casual stroll, hardly needing to stop for water or oxygen.
“We’re from Colorado, Harrison. This should be a piece of cake for you.”
“I don’t hike that much.” I started walking again, looking straight down at my feet to avoid tripping over any loose rocks.
“That’s obvious,” she said with a laugh before sighing. “Would you look at this view? It’s incredible.”
“I can’t look anywhere except my goddamn feet, or I’ll slip off the side of this cliff.”
“Come up here, then, and take a second to look.”
Taking a few more strides, I stopped where she stood. I took off the worn baseball cap I was wearing before fanning myself twice and placing it on my head backwards.
“Damn,” I breathed. Trying to play it cool was too much trouble when I was already physically exhausted. Plus, she was right. This was arguably the coolest view I had ever seen in my entire life. Crossing my arms, I leaned back on my hip, scanning the ocean that lapped at the cliff’s edge. To my left I could see Fira in the distance, and to my right, I could just make out a smaller city.
“I’m sure Fiji would have been amazing, but there’s nowhere I’d rather be right now,” Lila said.
“Same.” I found myself agreeing too quickly to take it back. Lila looked over at me and I briefly met her eye for a second before dropping my gaze. “I’m sure that group is partying and being obnoxious. I’m glad not to be a part of it,” I added.
Lila let out an exasperated sigh, before turning on her heel and marching away from me.
“Wait up,” I called out, hurrying to scramble behind her.
Lila twisted around without warning and glared up at me. “Why do you always do that?” she demanded.
“Do what?” I seriously didn’t have a clue what she was talking about.
“Act like you don’t care. About anything.” She lifted her arm and pointed to the expansive view. “You couldn’t even enjoy this for five seconds before belittling it. Why do you always do that? You told me you would try, and I expect you to keep your word.”
My mouth parted slightly, and I licked my bottom lip. Lila was growing fiercer by the second. Sure, she’d always shot back with snark to match mine before, but this felt different—raw, unfiltered. She was genuinely done with me, and she wasn’t about to hold back. It was just us two out here, and as temporary as that was, in this moment it was real.
“I don’t know.” I shrugged, but judging by the glare she gave me, it wasn’t good enough. I dragged a hand across my face. “I’m sorry. I’ve always been like this. I can’t even help myself.”
Her eyes softened at my distraught tone. As much as I didn’t want to let my guard down, I knew I couldn’t keep interacting with her in these close quarters without chilling out a little bit. It was exhausting, always pretending to be above everything. Usually, Oliver was the only person I trusted enough to let in, even just a little. But now, out on this trip, and completely outside my comfort zone, I needed to give this girl at least an inch.
“It’s a beautiful view,” I said again, looking back at the ocean. “I meant it the first time. There’s nowhere I’d rather be. I’m not even thinking about anything else right now, other than how surreal this all is.”
Lila looked me up and down. Despite her short stature, I felt small under her gaze.
“Good,” she finally said. “Now let’s get to the end of this hike and get a well-deserved drink. Because if you don’t loosen the hell up on your own, I’m going to do it for you.”
I nodded and that seemed to appease her. Instead of stalking away again, she put her hands on her hips and gazed out at the water.
I pulled out my phone to check the time. “Hey, mind if I do something real quick?”
Lila narrowed her eyes and a skeptical glint appeared in them. But she ultimately shrugged and said, “Sure.”
I pressed the green call button and let it ring a few times before the call was picked up and my mom’s smile came across the screen. She held the phone so close to her face that I couldn’t even see anything behind her. Despite being a relatively young mother, she was completely inept with technology.
“Harrison. Is that you?”
“It’s me, Ma.”
“It’s not too expensive to call from Greece, is it? How are you doing? Is it safe there? What’s it like?”
I chanced a glance at Lila, who was staring openly at me. When I made eye contact, however, she immediately looked away and suddenly became fascinated by the view.
“You’d love it here. I just wanted to show you something.” I pressed the button to flip the camera so she could see the incredible view in front of me.
“Oh Harrison, that’s stunning. I can’t believe that’s real. You’re really there? Gabe, come look at this.” She called my dad over, and soon both of their faces were pressed close to the camera.
“Why the hell are you holding the phone so close to your face?” he complained before taking it from her and setting it farther back.
“Wow, Harrison, that’s just amazing,” my mother continued. “I hope you’re enjoying every second of that. I’d never think my son would be all the way over in Greece. What day is it there?”
The corner of my lip tugged up. “Same day as it is there, Ma. Just later.”
“Wow, you feel a world away. You’ll have to come visit when you get home and show me all the pictures.”
“I’ll plan on it.”
“Are you by yourself?” My dad asked. “I thought you said in your text that a friend was with you.”
I cringed at the word ‘friend’ and glanced up again at Lila, who was still looking enthralled by the view.
“Lila is here too, but?—”
“Let me say hi,” my mom insisted. Before I could even object, Lila was at my side, grinning into the camera.
“Hello, Harrison’s parents,” she said brightly, because of course she would be the type of girl who loved meeting parents.
“Hi sweetie. Nice to meet you. I hope you’re taking care of my son.”
“Ma,” I scolded, but they both ignored me.
“I’m trying my best to get him to let loose and have a little fun.”
My dad snorted. “Good luck with that. He’s always been like this.”
“We gotta go,” I said flatly.
“Wait,” Mom said. “I wanted to tell you that you sent way too much money for my birthday last week. I’m sending some back.”
I squeezed my eyes shut in frustration. The two of them were too proud for their own good.
“I wanted you to have it. Do something fun. Get yourself something you’ve been wanting.”
Lila side-stepped away from me and the conversation.
“We don’t need it,” my dad said more sternly.
“Well, I don’t want it back.”
“You should put it into a savings account,” my mom added.
‘You should put it into a savings account,’ I wanted to argue, but I bit my tongue.
“We can talk about this later,” I said. “I gotta go.”
“Okay, sweetie. We love you. Have so much fun!”
I waved at my parents before pressing the red end button.
When I turned back to face Lila, she was studying me.
“What?” I asked warily, not liking the look in her eyes.
“That was sweet of you to call them,” she said.
“I promised I would.” I started walking down the trail, knowing she’d keep up with me easily.
“Your dad looks just like you, you know,” she said, falling into pace next to me.
“We’ve been told.”
“And you could have called them any time, but you picked in the middle of the hike because...”
I blew out a breath. It felt like she was prodding me under a microscope.
“Because I knew my mom would want to see the view.”
She smiled and looked straight ahead.
“What?” I demanded.
“Nothing.”
“Tell me.”
“You do care about something,” she said. Then she winked at me before taking a few quick strides, leaving me to follow in her footsteps for the rest of the hike.