Page 12 of My Favorite Bad Decision
Other than the stumbling and the resulting cut on my knee, it wasn’t as bad as I’d anticipated today…but we are at a lower altitude than Denver, the air is still warm, and I haven’t had to spend a full night sleeping on the ground.
Which means I haven’t actuallyexperiencedany of the bad parts yet.
If I was a better girlfriend, I’d try to phone Blake while I still can, but I’m tired and a little annoyed by how cavalier he was about ruining the Norway plans, so I lie down until they call us to dinner, then reluctantly stumble to the dining tent.
Inside, the table is laden with food—kebabs and stew and rice, plus pitchers of coffee and cocoa and water. I slide into the space next to Alex and reach for the water at the same moment Miller does.
“I’d say ladies first,” Miller says, taking the pitcher, “but I don’t see any at the moment.”
“I’d say that I’m surprised at your shitty manners,” I reply, “except I’m not.”
Alex chuckles beside me. “I guess you two know each other.”
“Intimately,” replies Miller, pouring water into my cup.
“Your vocabulary is just as poor as it ever was, Miller.Intimatelyimplies something entirely different.” I turn to Alex. “He dated my sister.”
“I take it that ended badly?” Alex asks.
“She’d tell you it was a huge waste of a summer,” I reply.
Miller raises a brow. “She would never say that,” he replies, “because Kit’s sister is a far nicer version of her. It’s hard to believe they share a parent.”
Wow, Miller. Shots fired. I guess I started it and I know it’s true, but still…
Stacy winces at the tension and turns toward me. “What do you do for a living, Kit? You look just like this model back in the states, and Maddie and I have been trying to figure out if you’re her.”
I give Miller a furtive glance. I don’t especially want everyone to know whose kid I am, or that it’s my mom or my sister she’s referring to. “Nothing that glamorous,” I reply. “I’m, uh, in marketing. What about you?”
Miller raises a brow, his mouth quirking upward. I swear to God, if he outs me, he’s a dead man.
Leah is a “healer” which sounds a little too vague to be a real profession, and Gerald claims to be a CEO, but doesn’t say who he’s a CEO for, which means it’s probably his own one-man company.
Adam claps a hand on Alex’s back. “We have a family business. Cabinetry. And I’m trying to get Maddie on board too.”
Alex and Maddie exchange a look, and Alex gives her the tiniest shake of his head. I wonder what the story is there. One of them definitely does not want to be part of the family business.
“What about you, Miller?” asks Maddie.
He shrugs. “I designed this app. It helps you locate available health care in any city. We’re trying to get it into less developed countries, where that can be difficult.”
I begrudgingly acknowledge, to myself, that this is really cool. I wouldn’t fawn over it, of course, but Maddie and Leah are doing enough of that anyway. I’m sure Miller’s paid handsomely, but you’d think he was suddenly Nelson Mandela. Only one they’re horny for.
The conversation moves on to the shows they’ve all downloaded to watch each night of the trip. When I admit that I didn’t download anything, Gerald—once again—claims it’s a “rookie mistake.”
“You keep using that expression,” Miller says. “Except we’re all rookies, so it doesn’t make much sense.”
“We aren’t all rookies,” Gerald replies with a condescending sneer. “This is my fifth time making this climb.”
“Climbing it five times doesn’t make a lot of sense either,” says Miller. “There are a lot of other places to see.”
I’m not sure if he said it to defend me or simply because he doesn’t like Gerald. I don’t think anyone likes Gerald, other than Leah, and even she appears annoyed at times.
Adam and Stacy say they downloadedDownton Abbey. Maddie and Alex have mostly downloaded blooper reels and some dude on YouTube they like. Miller has downloaded30 Rock, a show I love.
If we didn’t have the shared past we do, he’d probably be my favorite person on this trip.
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