Chapter 16
Luke
Islip out of our hotel room while Harper is showering. Harper’s always been crazy about ramen, so I found the closest ramen noodle place, ordered her usual, and got it to go. I’m hoping to sneak out, pick it up, and bring it back before she gets out of the bathroom.
Most people would probably be out of the shower before I got back, but I can tell Harper is tired, and when she’s tired, her showers tend to drag on. Her mom complains about it, saying, “The girl doesn’t understand how water bills work.”
Luckily, the ramen place I found is just down the street, so I’m able to walk there and back quickly.
I step into the hotel room, food in hand, to find Harper curled up on her side on the bed. Her hair is still soaking wet, the strands leaving a wet trail across the pillow.
“You okay?” I ask.
She jumps a little when she hears me. “Yeah, sorry, I thought you left on your date.”
I’m probably over-examining the situation, but she looks happy that I haven’t left to see Cassie yet.
“I’m leaving in a bit. I wanted to make sure you had dinner.” I hold up the brown paper bag with the heavy bowl of ramen. I use both hands to support it so the bag doesn’t rip.
Her eyes move down to the bag in my hand, and her grin goes wide. “Really?”
I offer the bag, and she takes it from me eagerly.
“Figured you could stay in for the night if you wanted.” She’s pulling the ramen out as I talk, holding up a big container and pulling out the wooden chop sticks that were packed inside.
“This almost makes up for the fact that you’re ditching me to go out on a date.” She pulls the top off the plastic container.
“It was your idea to set me up with someone, Ms. Wing-woman.”
“Details,” she mumbles, and takes her first bite, slurping the noodles loudly. Her body relaxes, pure bliss.
I am a little excited to see Cassie again tonight, but Harper still has a pull on me.
Even as she’s eating, I can feel myself wanting to sit next to her and just enjoy this quiet moment together.
But that’s the problem, isn’t it? Friends don’t want to stay home from their dates because they’d rather be with their friend.
I stand there a bit awkwardly before turning to the door. “I’m going to head out but call if you need anything.”
She rushes to finish chewing her mouthful of ramen, and I have to stop myself from reaching out and brushing a drop of broth off her cheek.
“Good luck!” she says.
I give her a gentle wave and head out the door toward the restaurant Cassie and I agreed on.
She hadn’t mentioned where she is staying, but I assume it must be in the city as well.
It’s a fifteen-minute walk from our hotel, and Cassie’s standing outside the front door when I get there.
She’s wearing a deep purple dress with black tights and a grey wool coat that’s buttoned halfway.
Her auburn hair is falling in loose curls over her shoulders, some of the strands tucked behind her ears.
“Hey!” she says, her face coming alive when she sees me. It’s not the same way Harper lights up, but I remind myself that I can’t keep comparing them. This isn’t about Harper anymore.
“You look amazing,” I tell her, because it’s true.
Her fair skin blushes. “You too.”
I’d done my best to find something nice to wear, but the best I could find in my suitcase was dark-wash jeans and a knit sweater.
“Ready to eat?” I offer my arm in a playful, chivalrous way, and she grips my elbow and smiles.
It’s busier than I expected. When we step inside, most of the tables are full and bustling.
The inside is decorated to look like we’re sitting on an outdoor patio with string lights hanging over everyone’s heads and green leafy plants in every corner of the room.
There’s acoustic music playing quietly in the background, giving the place a soft, romantic feel that I hadn’t anticipated.
The hostess seats us at one of the small tables in the back corner, tucked away from the louder crowd sitting at the bar. We order drinks and flip through the menus.
“So, how long are you in Iceland?” Cassie asks once our drinks are brought to us. She ordered some sort of wine that’s served in an elegant, delicate glass. I settled on a hard cider recommended by the waitress.
“Until Friday, you?” It’s only Monday, so there’s still plenty of time to explore. Harper has our itinerary planned out for every moment, which makes me wonder what she originally planned to do tonight that she was willing to sacrifice so I could go on a date.
“Thursday, but I’ve been here for over a week already, exploring every hot spring I can find.”
“What’s on the docket for tomorrow?”
She gives a playful shrug. “Don’t know. What’re you up to?”
I’m a little startled by her forwardness, but I guess you have to be when you’re dating someone on vacation. It just feels a little bold since we just sat down. Though I suppose, worst case scenario for her is I turn her down and we never see each other again.
The concept of it, that there’s no strings attached, makes me bold.
“We’re driving out to a waterfall that you can walk behind. It’s called—” I pause to pull out my phone and scroll up to where Harper had texted me a rough plan for the trip. “Seljalandsfoss?” I say slowly, trying to sound it out but knowing that I’m butchering every syllable.
“Oh! That’s so fun. You’ll love it. The pictures don’t do it justice.” She pulls her phone out and shows me a photo of her posing in front of the waterfall, arms in the air and her hair whipping around her face.
“Is it raining?” I ask, looking closer. The sky in the background is dark and her jacket looks soaked. Overall, the entire scene is misty and dreary, but Cassie still has a huge grin on her face in the photo.
“Yeah,” she says, taking her phone back.
“It was pouring rain all day. It was the first day I was here, and I was desperate to do something fun. The moment the rain wasn’t a downpour anymore, I started exploring.
I kind of wish I had just waited until the next day, but I’d already moved on to the next town. ”
“You hotel hopping?”
“Nope! I’m one of those crazy people in the camper vans. I just drive around all day until I see something pretty.”
I laugh. Harper and I have seen camper vans all over the place since we got here.
Most of them have cool paint jobs, making it abundantly clear they’re camper vans with bright, colorful logos or even drawings all over them.
I had asked Harper why she didn’t rent a camper van, and she just made a face.
“Because I like to shower, Luke.” Like I was the crazy one for even suggesting it.
For living out of a van, Cassie looks extremely well put together. She’s got her hair and makeup done perfectly and certainly doesn’t smell like she hasn’t had access to a shower.
“So when you say you actually don’t know what you’re doing tomorrow, you mean it then?” I ask.
“Yup! Just looking for a cute guy to follow around, I guess.” She gives a sly grin, waiting to see if I’ll take her bait.
I have to hand it to her, she’s bolder than I’ll ever be. I wonder if she’d still be as bold if she knew following me around would also involve following Harper around.
Before I speak next, I remind myself that Harper wants me to date someone else.
“There isn’t rain in the forecast tomorrow if you wanted to revisit the waterfall. There will be one familiar face, at least.” Or two, if you count Harper.
She raises her eyebrows, taking another sip of her wine.
“And what time would that be?”
This is the part where I don’t know how not to bring up Harper, because she’s in charge of this trip.
“I’d have to check in with Harper,” I admit. “But I’m sure she’ll love having you around. I think she gets worried people assume we’re a couple when it’s just the two of us. The staff at the hotel thought we were here on our honeymoon.”
Why did I say that?
The longer the seconds tick by, the more I know I’ve messed up. Yup, she definitely didn’t need to know we were sharing a hotel room.
Cassie’s face drops. I watch each muscle turn downward, and she blinks away from me.
“Harper’s your friend?” she asks, opening the line of questions again.
“Yeah. We’ve known each other forever. It was her roommate who was supposed to go on this trip with her, but she backed out last minute, so I took her spot.”
Cassie nods, but I’m not sure if she’s believing me or just willing to ignore what I said so we can still have a good night.
Silence hangs in the air for a minute too long as I wait to gauge Cassie’s reaction.
“What do you do back home?” she says, changing the subject.
Grateful for a safer topic, I launch into a long story about how I’d landed my current job, and Harper’s name doesn’t come up once.
Once we move on from Harper, Cassie turns her charm back on. By the time we finish eating, the sky has gone dark and the crowd inside the restaurant has increased. When we step into the cold night air, the streets are quiet.
“Where did you manage to park the van?” I ask, looking for it like it might be around the next corner.
“I just use the street parking, but I’ll probably move somewhere outside Reykjavik for the night. Maybe drive toward that waterfall so I can meet up with you in the morning.”
“Yeah?” I say, kind of shocked that after learning Harper would be there, she is still game for it.
“Yeah.” She steps forward to kiss me before I can react.
The kiss is light, almost casual, like we’re a couple who’s been dating for years and is just giving a quick goodbye.
When she pulls away, her hand lingers on my wrist as she watches me.
And I don’t know what she’s looking for, but she gives me a grin.
“See you tomorrow,” she says, walking away.
When she’s almost out of sight, it occurs to me that maybe I should have offered to walk her back to her van. I watch as she strides away, wondering what in the world just happened.