Page 45 of Jaded

“Yeah, you know. Nature. Outdoors. Bugs. Mud. Snow. Maybe a coyote or something . . .”

“Really selling it.” Does his mouth twitch, or is that my imagination?

“I don’t want the whole town joining me.” My own smile’s starting to crawl over my lips.

“But I’m okay?”

I shrug. “If you wanted, I might share my spot. Your taste in music leads me to believe you’re not a complete assclown.”

“Your spot . . .” His brows twist further. “You’ve been here a week, and you already have a spot?”

“Absolutely.” More babbling on the way, and I am powerless to stop it. “I’m a small percentage hippie, so I need my nature fix. I’m open to suggestions, though, if you know of any trails, since you’re a knowledgeable expert.”

His mouth definitely twitches this time—he’s holding back a smile. “You really want to go for a hike in the middle of winter?”

My stomach fizzes with little bubbles of joy. “Nature has a way of just . . . making everything feel better, you know?”

Sudden self-consciousness crawls over my skin. Who the hell do I think I am, babbling away to this beautiful man who’s probably been Mr. Popular since high school.

I slap one of my big cheesy grins on, because what better defense after showing your true self than to immediately pretend you’re twelve years old. “Or maybe I just want to lure you out into the woods alone.”

“Oh?” Nat’s head tilts, his expression going . . . neutral. Like deliberately, very cautiously neutral. “To kill me or kiss me?”

I bark out a surprised laugh. “Which would you prefer? Nah, on second thought, please don’t answer that. Let me live in my fantasy.”

He laughs.

Mr. Stoiclaughs.A wide white grin crawls over his face, showcasing straight white teeth. I’ve made him smile. Hottie McHotstuff issmiling. For me.

The bubbly fizz in my tummy turns to a full-on rolling boil of joy. Stop it, Olls. It means nothing. “Well, in any case. Consider yourself warned.”

I go back to swiping through my playlist before things can get too weird, right, with me lurking next to him like some kind of creepy, too-interested shadow . . . who previously hit on him, then made out with him, and ground up on him against a bar wall.

Right. No way any of this could wind up awkward as hell.

“Sure,” he says, and the offhand, dismissive way he says it, I know it’s like when you give someone your number and they say they’ll call but you know they’ve got no intention of calling. “Maybe sometime.”

My stomach plummets like someone’s dropped a big icy rock in it. That’s a rejection if ever I’ve heard one—but I gotta make like a cat and land on all my feet. I can do that.

“Of course.” And the next thing that comes out of my mouth isn’t at all what I’d planned. “So. How many spots you got that aren’t gyms? Or the Ice Out,Number Forty-Seven.”

His green eyes bubble into big silver dollars of shock all over again, and his head whips around like he’s checking to see if anyone’s listening in. But it’s just us up here, leaving our conversation utterly private.

Nobody knows. Nobody knows about him and the Ice Out. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

I hold up a hand. “I ain’t gonna say anything. But . . . damn. The hell’re you doing out there and like, not in here? I mean, obviously you’re in here but—you know what.” I shake my head, drop my hand back into my lap. “I’m gonna stop talking now. You got your reasons, and I don’t know you, so I gotta respect that.”

His face unfolds into soft lines of surprise. “What?”

I shrug, keep my voice casual. “I ain’t gonna be a nag. You're good. Like, really good. But it’s your business. Your choice. Not my place to judge.”

He regards me with an expression that I can only describe as confusion. Not sure what that’s all about, but I opt to let him keep his secrets. As I said, it’s his business. Not mine.

“How did you figure it out?” His brows knit in consternation. “Did my mask slip or something?”

I shrug, give him the truth. “It’s obvious to anyone who’s looking. But we see what we want to see, you know? What we’re used to seeing. Like locals who stop noticing the Grand Canyon.”

“And . . . I’m the Grand Canyon in this scenario?”

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