Page 31 of Hide and Keep

“Go meet them for yourself.”

It’s not that I don’t believe her neighbors are that old. It’s the part about no one being out here. A fuck in the woods? Ever doesn’tlooklike the kind of person who would resort to that, but she’s got the feral behavior for it.

“I’ve got three years to meet them. For now, let’s just run.”

Her jaw shifts off its hinges for a few seconds before she informs me, “I’m not slowing down for you.”

“Did you hear me ask you to?”

Without another word, she passes me at a pace she obviously assumes I can’t match.

I can’t.

But that sure as fuck doesn’t stop me from trying.

Minutes in, my calves are on absolute fire. I ignore the pain, instead focusing on Ever’s back, flexed above two round globes accentuated nicely by her tight shorts. Despite being ridiculously gassed, I don’t let her get more than fifteen feet ahead of me. Unable to keep up maximum speed forever, she eventually slows, then I give her about ten feet. I don’t know shit about being a bodyguard but I meant what I told her. I don’t have to bea huge interruption in her life. I’m only one right now because she’s fighting me every step of the way, like oil and water in the same bottle. Give it a little shake and we can blend together temporarily, too.

Just because we’re complete opposites in every regard, doesn’t mean we have to be enemies. Once she mellows the fuck out, she’ll see that.

“You’re out of shape,” she states calmly, matter-of-factly, with zero strain in her voice. “You’re young and youlookfit, so why are you so out of shape?”

Poor and ugly, I already knew. But out of shape, to this extent…honestly, it’s a surprise to me, too.

“What do youdo?”

My eyes drop to her shoes barely touching the earth, like she’s gliding over it.

What do I do? I work jobs I have zero attachment to so if they were to all of a sudden disappear, I wouldn’t be too torn up about it. I occasionally fuck girls, never more than once, never with emotion. And I live with my parents, the only two people on this planet who have never turned on me.

There. That’s me summed up. I get through each day, not putting too much thought into the next, not when it’s not guaranteed. Nothing in this world is, so I don’t bother putting much stock into any part of it.

“You probably only lift weights,” Ever says, comfortably carrying the entire conversation for the both of us since I don’t trust my voice enough to respond. This is already embarrassing as fuck. I got gapped by a teen girl, and I know for a fucking fact that if I were to let up the slightest amount right now, just for a second, she’d do it again.

It’s not true though—what she said. I don’t even lift weights.

I guess it shouldn’t be a surprise I’m this out of shape. I don’tdoanything. Not anymore.

Despite slowing down, Ever doesn’t rub it in, just falls quiet, so I finally let my eyes stray from her.

All around us, trees are showing signs of spring, their tops sporting billions of green buds stretching toward the sky. I spy a box on one trunk, high up near the branches, then another a couple minutes later.

Trail cams? They look kinda big for that though. If they are trail cams, why are they so high up? Soon the branches will be filled in completely and blocking any visibility of the trail below.

I glance back down. I’ve been so focused on Ever—and not dying—that I failed to notice there isn’t even a trail.

If I could talk, I’d ask if she knows where she’s going. She sure acts like she does. There’s been no hesitancy in her strides whatsoever.

We run together in silence for at least another thirty minutes until we come to a break in the trees, revealing a cliff with the sea far below. The water looks endless but isn’t. Somewhere out in the haze is Long Island.

Approaching the edge, Ever doesn’t slow. If anything, her speed might be increasing.

Automatically, I speed up, too, just to check, and yeah, she’s fucking all-out sprinting now.

“Ever, stop,” I warn, not giving a fuck how winded I sound—how winded Iam—but still, she maintains the breakneck pace. Fear tears through my body, giving me an adrenaline boost, enough to shorten the space between us, and I reach out to wrench her shoulder, which jumps in my grasp as she pulls up short, making me run into her from behind.

I wrap my arms around her to steady us both, and she cranks her head up at me like she forgot I was here.

Her eyes are glassy, too. I don’t know if it’s from the wind or…something else.

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