Chapter 45
Chapter Forty-Five
CHARLIE
Alice’s lips tease against mine. It’s the softest brush of contact, barely a whisper, but that’s all it takes.
I give up. Forget the railing. Forget keeping my hands to myself and letting her be the only rake—forget our big plan. Who cares about my reputation?
Instinct takes over, and I cup her face in my hands, tilting her chin to get the angle just right. But I don’t pull her completely into my arms; it’s too dangerous. She sighs against my lips, and I fight to hold on to my last ounce of restraint.
She isn’t mine.
She’s leaving.
Alice will be gone in a few days. Maybe that should make me keep my distance, but it doesn’t. I can see the end right in front of me, yet I don’t shy away from her like I should. This is my chance. This is all I’m going to get, but it’s mine.
Still, I try to let her stay in control and make the choices she wants to make, to take this kiss wherever she wants it to go. Alice is pretty hot when she’s in charge.
Her bottom lip nudges against mine, and I try not to growl as she kisses me a little harder. But I don’t let it deepen any more than that. I don’t think I could handle it if it did. Especially once she’s gone.
Alice smells like strawberries again, and I’d swear she tastes like them too. She grips my shoulders as her body presses lightly against mine, the heat of that contact making me dizzy, and I breathe her in. When she finally pulls away, that scent lingers, and it’s going to torment me for the rest of my life. Wherever I go, whatever happens next, the smell of strawberries is always going to remind me of Alice.
“How was that, Blythe?” she whispers as she rests her forehead back against mine. And it takes me a second to catch my breath, the pressure of that kiss still haunting my lips.
“Pretty close to perfect, Carrots.” I murmur back. “Pretty close to perfect.”
I do my best impression of a well-behaved gentleman after that. A friend with no benefits. I’m an angel .
We can stay at Four Pines Peak as long as we want, and I go full tour guide again, eager to make sure she experiences everything she can before we leave. There are a few trailheads scattered around the gondola station, and we go exploring for a while. Together, we spot more chipmunks than we can count, and I take her to our infamous waterfall—Ponderosa Falls—the namesake of my hometown. I even buy her dinner in the cafe by the gift shop like a good fake boyfriend, hoping to settle my stomach and my nerves before we head back down the mountain.
It doesn’t work.
By the time we board our gondola, I have too much energy, and all of it is dangerous. My skin buzzes from Alice’s touch earlier, her body against mine, and I can still remember what her lips felt like, what that kiss tasted like. If there’s a right way to behave in this tramway car, a good way, I’m not interested. I’m here to make every bad choice I can, cause whatever trouble she’ll let me.
Two other people are already in our gondola as we step inside, Pondies from the hedgerow, and that’s all the excuse I need.
“I guess it’s still showtime,” I whisper to Alice, and she gives me the sweetest, coyest smile I’ve ever seen. It’s a real knee melter.
I reach for her hand—ready to take this new public flirt session nice and slow—but she wants more from the start. As soon as we find our spot in the tram, she nestles into my arms, facing me as her body rests lightly against mine like we’re back on that observation deck. Looping my arms around her waist, I lean back against the gondola window and pull her all the way in, holding her against me fully, properly. She doesn’t fight me on it; she settles against me with a sigh, and there’s no better sound on earth.
Alice doesn’t glance out at our view; she keeps her face buried against me. Even when I whisper how beautiful it is up here, she doesn’t look. That seems a little odd, but I don’t question it. I’ve got my dream girl in my arms. What’s to question?
Before our conductor slides the doors shut, two more passengers hurry to join us in the gondola. And as soon as they spot Alice and me, they regret that decision almost as much as I do.
Alice’s dreaded ex looks gutted to see her in my arms. (Don’t think I didn’t notice, Jason.) Meanwhile, Tiffany just seems annoyed. She was nice to Alice during the breakup at the wilderness resort—surprisingly nice—but her mood has shifted since, and I think I know why. I’ve had a theory about Alice’s ex since the day I met him, and I think Tiffany’s coming to the same conclusion herself.
They get as far away from us as they can. Which would be great, if this gondola was bigger and Tiffany was the kind of girl who could let things go. But it isn’t, and she can’t.
Our tram lurches into motion, and we barely go two feet before she pipes up. “Did you have a nice time?”
I pretend to hesitate. As if I’m surprised she’s talking to me—because I am. We’re the opposite of friends.
“Yep.”
That’s all she gets out of me, one word, and Alice doesn’t even acknowledge her. She still can’t let it go, though. Tiffany pauses before giving us a saccharine smile, but Alice is too cozied up to notice.
“I was surprised to see you out here,” she tries again. “Since Alice is so scared of heights. Jason says she’s a real baby about it.”
Scared of heights?
That insult makes Alice flinch. When I glance down at her, she smile-winces up at me, and it’s the most adorable I’m so busted look I’ve ever seen. I kiss the top of her head, and she holds on to me a little tighter.
Tiffany clears her throat, as if I’ve forgotten she’s there. Because I have.
Beside her, Jason looks more remorseful than ever. Even more penitent than he did after he said all that stuff about Alice on the ride up here. When he was mean just to make Tiffany happy and instantly regretted it.
For what it’s worth, he doesn’t look like he thinks Alice is a big baby about anything. That man is stealing glances at her like he’d snatch Alice out of my arms in a heartbeat. Like she’s the one who got away, and he’s going to be feeling that loss for a long time.
Except she didn’t get away. He let go.
I’ve never seen an ex more full of regret, and there’s no way Tiffany hasn’t noticed. She doesn’t glance over at him, but her jaw clenches, and I cut her off before she can say anything else. Before she can go after Alice again just because her new boyfriend situation isn’t turning out how she planned.
Instead of being nice, I go for the quiet jugular. Planting a seed of doubt as I shrug at them both. “I made her a deal. We’d go to her favorite place in town if she went to mine.”
I pause to kiss the top of Alice’s head again, taking full advantage of having that girl captive in my arms. “Besides, I actually think she did pretty great with heights today. I made sure I kept her nice and distracted.”
I nuzzle her with my chin, and I can feel Alice chuckle against me. It takes everything I’ve got not to chuckle too. Her good moods are contagious, and I think she likes me sticking up for her.
Maybe I’m pushing my luck by being this affectionate in public. Maybe it makes me look like the rake everyone thinks I am, but what does it matter? Ponderosa Elementary has already found their perfect kindergarten teacher—I met her myself. I don’t have anything left to lose.
Tiffany’s eyes narrow as she watches us, that seed of doubt taking root. “What’s her favorite place?”
She knows she shouldn’t ask that question, not with all those suspicions swimming around in her head. But Tiffany can’t help herself.
“Old Ponderosa,” I tell her. “My girl loves a living history museum. It’s her favorite thing on earth.”
Tiffany is picturing Jason’s vacation to-do list—we both are—and she pales the tiniest bit. I heard them arguing outside the mining exhibit a few days ago. She thought it was strange the museum was on his list, all starred and underlined like it was a big deal, but I didn’t think it was strange. I also wasn’t surprised there were things on that list they’d already done together, or that none of the stuff Tiffany was actually interested in made the cut.
That list wasn’t for her.
And don’t think Tiffany hasn’t realized that too. I’ve given her all the confirmation she needs, and she glances at Jason. “Your ex loves museums?”
If she hadn’t been going after Alice twenty seconds ago, I’d almost feel bad for her. But she was. So I don’t.
Enjoy your half-interested boyfriend, Tiffany. You fought for those scraps, and now they’re all yours.
That’s been my suspicion all along, that Jason wasn’t sure if he wanted to leave Alice, that he was playing both sides and couldn’t make up his mind. That’s why he didn’t break up with her after things got serious with Tiffany, why he helped Alice plan a vacation to see him only to cancel at the very last minute. And that’s definitely why he already had the week off from work, while Tiffany had to scramble to get time off too.
Breaking up with Alice was a game-time decision. It was last minute, an impulse. But girls like her aren’t supposed to be a game-time anything—Alice is endgame. I knew that the moment I met her.
If Jason knows it too, he’s missed his chance. At least, I hope he has. He doesn’t glance over at Tiffany, and they don’t argue about anything that was said. They ride silently down the mountain, and that’s fine by me.
Once they get quiet, Alice rises up on her toes, angling her lips toward my ear. The nearness of her body, the warmth of her breath, making me weak. I’m such a sucker for this girl.
“Troublemaker,” she whispers, jabbing me playfully in the ribs, and she’s not wrong. I’d make a whole lot of trouble to protect a girl like her.
I think she can tell—I think she likes that about me—and her next words all but confirm it. “Thanks, Blythe.”
Alice’s voice is soft, that nickname cautious, but I don’t even think about denying her. “No problem, Carrots.”
When we walk back to my house, it’s basically DEFCON 5. My entire front lawn is a militarized zone, and if this isn’t peak Sharp twins behavior, I don’t know what is.
Is Tyler wearing camouflage?
He isn’t. It’s a trick of the light, but I can’t shake the image of him hiding in the brush somewhere with Lydia. Both of them waiting to annihilate their enemies.
I’m pretty sure that’s what they have planned for tonight: annihilation. They’re standing in front of a hodgepodge of supplies, and it’s such an odd mix. A plank of wood, an empty outdoor trash can, a small dish of dog kibble—whatever they’re up to, this can’t be good.
“The raccoon came back,” Lydia says when she spots us. “It stole Cookie’s backup toy—his stuffed lamb. And after I bought him a new stuffed bee today, the last one in the store, that disappeared too.”
“We didn’t even have the windows open. It just showed up out of nowhere,” Tyler adds, and his sister nods, her voice grim.
“This means war .”
Before I can talk them down, my phone vibrates with a text from my mom.
Mama Roscoe: You should come over tonight. We can work on your résumé before your interview.
I’m supposed to meet with Principal Sutter on Tuesday, Alice’s last full day before she leaves for Texas, but what’s the point? My mom has met Fiona Birdsong too, and she likes her just as much as I do—begrudgingly but completely. She’s going to be the perfect fit for Ponderosa Elementary, and we both know it.
I hesitate, not sure how to respond. My mom sends me another message before I can, and this one elicits a very different feeling.
Mama Roscoe: I ran into Fiona today. She pulled out of the running for the teaching job.
Mama Roscoe: She wasn’t sure if she wanted to live this close to her aunt. Mrs. Marks has that effect on people…
I sit with that news for a second, that feeling. Fiona was a shoo-in. She pulled out?
There’s a tiny flicker of hope in my chest. Then my phone buzzes again, and that hope flares a little brighter.
Mama Roscoe: I ran into Principal Sutter too. She said Fiona put in a good word for you.
Mama Roscoe: You’re still in this.