Chapter 18
Bailey Playing Quinn Take 3
Samuel raised his eyebrows with a challenging yet amused expression. “Once we get to the side of the mountain, you grab and step where I do, understood?”
I nodded, eager to get this journey on the road. I’d never been hiking before, at least not like this.
“Umm… I may have a huge problem with this.”
“Quinn, it’s the only choice we have.”
“Not necessarily.”
“You want to be stuck on this island more than we already have?”
“What if we give it another day?”
“No, come on.”
By the time we started climbing down the side of the mountain, my legs began to shake. “Don’t go so fast.”
“I’m going as slow as I can.”
“I know, but shit! Your stride is much longer than mine.”
“It’s not that bad.”
“Says the man who hikes all the time. Why do you do this again?”
“To get away from all the crazy women.”
“Me included?”
“You were the first one on my roster.”
I giggled. “Sam, don’t make me laugh, or I’ll fall.”
“Just make sure to keep grabbing and stepping where I am, and you won’t fall.”
“How reassuring of you.”
“I’d never let you fall.”
“If I do fall.” I smiled. “I’ll make sure to fall on you.”
He peered up at me from the rigged spot where he was standing. “Why do you think I’m in front of you?”
My mouth dropped open.
“I’m kidding.”
“Well, now I’m questioning your motives. How much farther?”
“Not much.”
“You keep saying that.”
“You keep asking.”
“Are we close?”
“We’re getting closer.”
He glided down with precision as if he remembered every step he needed to take by memory, and it wasn’t the first time he did this. Where to grab and what to hold was effortless for him. I knew he loved hiking, but seeing him do it was an entirely different experience.
Especially after all these years.
“And we have to climb again?”
“Yes, that’s the way it works.”
“What if I don’t make it? My legs already feel like they’re going to give out on me.”
“We’ll take a long break when we get down there.”
“How are you carrying that heavy-ass backpack and still not breaking a sweat?”
We were lucky that we found some luggage of ours and others. Samuel had built us a makeshift tent the past few nights, and so far, we were relatively safe.
You know, except for the part where we almost died in a plane crash.
“I’m used to it,” he replied.
“Are you even tired?”
“Compared to all my hikes, this one isn’t that bad.”
“Are you just saying that to make me feel better?”
“Has anyone ever told you that you talk too much?”
“Yes. You. How many steps do you think we’ve taken?”
“Thousands.”
“How do you know?”
“I needed the distraction from your constant badgering.”
“Samuel!” The pitch in my tone had me losing my footing. “Shit!” I stepped in the wrong patch and started sliding down the mountain. “Sam!”
He grabbed my hand at the last second. “I got you.”
I frantically glanced up at him, and he was hanging onto what appeared to be a tree branch.
“Oh god…”
“You’re okay.”
“Sam…”
“You’re okay, Quinn.”
My heart was beating a mile a minute. “I guess you’re the one with the catlike reflexes.”
“Love…” he warned in a kind tone.
It was what he used to call me, making my heart hurt for a whole different reason.
“Yes…”
“I’m going to need you to stop talking now.”
I nodded, watching with a terrified expression as he pulled me to him like I weighed nothing. After what felt like an eternity later, we finally made it to the bottom of the mountain, and I was once again blown away by how gorgeous this island truly was.
* * *
Aires Playing Samuel Take 3
Watching the way Quinn’s eyes widened as she took in the beauty of this place was a sight I’d never forget. The view of the waterfall cascading down the rocks into a lagoon made this place seem a little less than hell. Her enticing dark brown eyes looked back at me over her shoulder, and I couldn’t gather a thought. The sunlight heightened her features, emphasizing the freckles across her button nose and sculpted cheeks.
She was stunning.
All these emotions crept into the forefront of my mind, and I couldn’t control any of them. After all these years, all this time…
Right there.
In that second, I wanted more.
Her.
With her hair flowing loosely around her eyes. Although her beauty captured my attention, it was the expression on her face that enthralled me the most. I’d seen Quinn in all forms.
Happy.
Sad.
Devastated.
Excited.
There wasn’t an emotion, a time, a memory that didn’t involve her in it in one way or another. However, I’d never seen her quite like this…
She stood against the ocean with her lips slightly parted, and I wanted to know what she was thinking.
“This is simply incredible, Sam. The rocks, the waterfall, the stream, wow. I have no words for this.”
“That’s a first.”
We locked eyes.
My feet moved on their own accord until I stood behind her. Her breathing hitched as soon as she felt my chest against her back.
She didn’t turn around.
She didn’t move.
I wasn’t sure she was even breathing.
For a minute, I inhaled her in. Feeling the heat of her body burning into me more and more with each second that passed between us. Leaning in, just inches away from the back of her neck, I let my breath brush against her ear.
My head spun in a whirlwind of feelings, and I allowed myself to get lost in them.
In her.
I could sense that her eyes followed the movement of my strong arms as they came around her body. Skimming the sides of her ribs, I caged her in against my torso.
My scent.
“What happened to us?” she asked, but I wasn’t surprised by the question.
The waves began crashing into the rocks and shoreline, creating more of a sense of havoc all around us.
Ignoring her question, I asked my own. “Why did you leave me?”
She jerked back, not expecting me to rebuttal with that. “You answer my question first.”
“That’s not fair.”
“Life’s not fair, or we wouldn’t be stuck here.”
She shrugged, backing away. “I just needed a change of pace.”
“From me?”
“No. Yes. I don’t know. We were so young.”
“And why is that so bad?”
“It’s not. You’re being unfair.”
“Really? Because I think I’m being pretty damn reasonable, considering I loved you more than anything.”
She winced. “Sam, this isn’t about you. It’s about me. Things change, people change.”
“And why is that so bad? Change is a good thing. It’s what keeps life interesting and exciting, and I wish you would see that.”
My thoughts.
My words.
My emotions.
They all seemed to intertwine with one another, pushing and pulling like a game of tug-of-war.
“What do you want from me?”
I didn’t hesitate to reply. “Everything.”
“What does that even mean?”
For a minute, neither one of us said another word. We just stood there, deeply staring into each other’s eyes. He was the first to break the silence, speaking with conviction, “I’m still in fucking love with you.”
“AND CUT!” B. Night shouted. “That was perfect!”
Our gazes were cemented together, and it was hard to separate fact from fiction.
Reality from fantasy.
Our relationship was similar to the characters we were playing, which was one reason we were nailing every scene on only a few takes. Samual professing his love to Quinn for the first time after all these years was weighing heavy in the distance between us.
The crew began changing scenes while B. Night watched the playback on his camera. Although chaos broke around us, it didn’t change the connection between Bailey and me.
The truth was our relationship had always been this way.
Where the world kept spinning as we stood still, trying to hang on for as long as we could.