His arm snaked out and pulled me to his side. “Oh, really?”
I laughed and attempted a half-hearted escape but not before he grabbed my hand and shoved our clasped hands into his pocket.
We walked for a few moments longer before I said, “But it was better. I feel like Russ and I broke past a barrier between us. It’s not perfect. It probably won’t ever be. His personality still drives me crazy, but he does love my mom. And it’s kind of sweet to see.”
“Good. When we get back, you should definitely play that game of Risk. Twenty-seven hours in somebody’s company is a great way to bring people together.”
“Don’t even joke about that. How was your morning?”
“Good. My little sister got home late last night, so it’s been fun having her here. Jett and I played on his new PlayStation for a couple of hours until it just got embarrassing for me to go on. And I had a good chat with Glenn a few minutes ago.”
I stopped walking and faced him in horror. “What?”
Miles laughed and kept strolling, pulling me along with him.
“What did you talk about? Did you fight him?”
He grinned. “Almost. But he was leaving.”
“He left?” I repeated.
“Yup. Said he’d wasted enough time here already.”
“Aww, he always knows just what to say.”
“But before he left, he asked me to give him a few pointers.”
I looked at his face now, trying to decide if he was teasing me. “About what?”
“He has this book idea and wants to start writing it, but he just doesn’t know if he can find the time in his schedule to get it done.”
I snorted. “It must be hard to be so much busier and more important than everybody else. Did you give him the name of your publishing house?”
“Yeah, but that’s meaningless without an agent.”
“What’s his story about? Did he tell you?”
“I don’t think he really wanted to tell me, but it definitely had dragons. And possibly a zombie character, but I might have misheard him.”
“Ohh, that’s a fun twist. Where are we going, by the way?” We were meandering through a trail in the woods out behind the village cabins. It was a pathway I hadn’t been on before.
“You’ll see,” he said.
We walked a bit longer in silence while I took in all the beautiful trees. Once, I had traveled out west for a school trip and remembered feeling so exposed with the lack of trees everywhere. They had trees, but it was nothing compared to the dense thickness I’d grown up with. Everything was so open out west. And dry. Its own kind of beauty, for sure, but I craved the cozy, protected feeling only a mountainside of trees could give. And Vermont was full of them. This time of year, they were covered in snow but still cheerful somehow.
We rounded a bend and stopped at the sight of a small, red covered bridge atop a winding, frozen creek. I said a quick apology in my head to Vermont for thinking covered bridges were just decoration pieces. A warm, romantic glow filtered through me as I thought about the heated couple of hours we’d just spent in one the day before.
“So, we’ve come to the agreement that shoulders and covered bridges are the new sexy. Is that right?” I asked.
“Definitely,” he said as we ambled toward the structure.
When we got to the bridge, he stopped us just before we walked inside. “With Glenn gone, I guess the ruse is up,” he said softly, brushing a strand of hair off my forehead.
I swallowed and nodded, immediately feeling a tightening in my chest. “We’ve still got a few squares left on the bingo card before it can be totally over, though, right?” I asked, meeting his eyes.
He watched me, a small smile on his face as he seemed to concede that I definitely didn’t want to talk about that right now. “I guess.”
“Did you tell your parents?” I asked, my hands on my hips, very aware of his close proximity to me on this bridge.
“About the ruse?” When I nodded, he said, “No.”
“Why?” I waited in dreaded anticipation for his answer.
“Because there’s no ruse for me. They know I’m dating you right now, and that’s true.”
He inched a bit closer to me. I made the mistake of looking in his eyes and found them to be smoldering. I turned and began walking through the small bridge. He was at my side in seconds.
“Are they doing the drawing tonight?” I asked.
“No. Tomorrow morning at the goodbye breakfast, but we have to turn in our cards tonight.”
“What all do we have left to do?”
“Make out under the mistletoe.”
I tried holding back my smile. “It counted.”
“Not even close, Spanks.”
“You know, for being such a wild adventurer, you sure are a romantic. What would Tyrok think?”
He stopped abruptly, turning toward me, and I immediately realized my mistake. “What did you say?”
A beat of time passed, and I quickened my steps. “Nothing.”
“You said Tyrok.” He said the words like a predator catching scent in the wind.
I shrugged. “It’s a common enough name.”
“Name one person with that name.” Just as we passed through the bridge, he leapt in front of me, walking backward until I stopped.
I took a step back and ran my hand through my hair casually. “My uncle’s…second cousin’s…nephew, once removed.”
His smile grew wider and stepped closer. “Sounds like you’re close.”
We were dancing now, one step backward to his step forward, a challenge tinging the air, me desperately trying not to break. What was it about this cursed place that I somehow couldn’t rest until I revealed all my secrets?
“Do you have something to tell me, Oliviana?” His voice was low and dangerous and sent a thrill from the top of head to my littlest toe.
I was almost trapped. Another step and I’d be against the wall just inside the bridge. According to the “gotcha” smile growing on his face, he was very aware of my plight, so I did the best thing I could think of and took off running back toward the village.
He caught me before I made it three steps. I squealed as his arms locked around my waist. Within seconds, he had lifted me and set me on top of the handrail running the length of the bridge, our eyes now level. He rested his hands on both sides of me. His body was warm and inviting and close. So close.
“Fess up and I’ll make your punishment for withholding information quick.”
“Not too quick, I hope.” I grinned cheekily at him.
In retaliation, he leaned closer, bringing his lips tantalizingly close to mine, but every time I tried to sneak a taste, he pulled back. “How do you know the name of the main character in my Landfall series?”
“I’ve got a secret stash of Miles Taylor books under my bed.”
A beaming bright smile broke out across his face at that. He looked as though he would devour me on the spot but held off, eyes narrowing.
“Since when?”
“Since I first learned you wrote them.”
He raised a brow. “Pages worn and dog-eared?”
“One under each post of my bed, actually. They’re just the right height to give me more room for my Glenn Foster collection.”