Page 23 of Off Trail Love
Tears fill my eyes. Could I really have been that stupid? Jack has always been a flirt, but I’d hoped that had changed. He looked at me like I was the only person he wanted to look at.He flirted with me. He played pranks on me. But of course he’s hooking up with other women; why wouldn’t he be? He’s a good-looking guy and he’s always been a huge flirt. He’s committed to his job, but not to people. At least, from what I can tell.
It takes me roughly ten minutes to pull myself together before I head back to the group.
Jack and Graham are talking when I approach.
“I quit my job,” Jack says.
“I knew you’d do it!” Graham cheers, but I frown. Maybe he quit so he can go hook up with Clara. Whoever the heck she is. Nope. I don’t care. I avoid looking at Jack and look at my feet instead, kicking a rock.
“Why did you quit?” Fiona asks.
“I wasn’t happy there. Actually, I was pretty miserable. I miss having an actual relationship with my dad, and it’s just time for something new.”
“Like what?” I ask. My voice is snarky and I can’t help but look at him. Jack looks back at me in surprise; it turns out I can’t pretend everything is fine. I’m not fine, and maybe it’s hypocritical of me to ask what he will do next when I’ve barely got a patchwork plan for my life, but he always knew what he wanted in high school—to work with his dad—so now that he’s not, what will he do?
“Like move to a small town to chase the woman you love,” Fiona says, gesturing to me, and all I see is red. I turn away from the group.
I have a new, tiny, stupid crush on him. It shouldn’t have happened, but it’s been a thing for years. I know well enough now that he’s never going to settle down; once a flirt, always a flirt.
We pack up the rest of camp and head back down the trail. I ignore everyone. I’m last in our line, following right behind Jack.I wish I could burn a hole in his head with my eyes, but that doesn’t seem to be working. About a mile down, he turns.
“What small town are you moving to, love?” he asks, stopping short in front of me. I trip at the nickname and stumble into him. His strong hands go around both of my arms. I’m thrown back to yesterday when we cuddled in the cave. Two days ago, when I kissed him.
I scramble out of his grasp.
“Don’t touch me.”
Jack steps back, shocked. “What’s going on, Mags?”
“Stop calling me that,” I say as I push past him.
He reaches out and touches my arm. “Maggie?”
I glare as I turn to him. “Please just let me go. Once we get off this mountain, we can get on with our lives. You don’t have to think about me ever again. I certainly won’t be thinking about you.”
His brow furrows. We were almost back to being friends after last night, but now? Not anymore. Not ever again. I can’t trust him. “I thought things were going okay between us.”
“Are you really that dense?” I ask, my voice rising with every word. I’m hyperaware of Graham and Fiona pausing to look back at us. “I saw that text. How many women are you hooking up with? You’ve always been a player. But you think I can just be fine and chummy and okay with that Good old pals? Well, if you thought that, you thought wrong.”
“Hooking up with who? What are you talking about?”
“I’m going to move to Starlight Springs,” I shout at him and the world. It feels good to say. “But no matter what Fiona said, I don’t need you chasing me, and you definitely don’t love me. I’m pretty sure you’ve never even actually liked me. It was all just an act to see if I’d fall for you again.”
“We’re going to head down the trail; you two can catch up,” Fiona calls over to us. I ignore her.
Jack stares at me like he has no clue what I’m talking about. “Don’t like you? Maggie, where on earth did you get that idea? And I don’t hook up with women, that’s not the type of guy I am.”
I look down at my feet. All I want is to get off this mountain to start my new life and forget all about Jack Donovan. He’s still looking at me when I look up a second later. “What?”
“You tell me. Why do you think I don’t like you? Why do you think I’m trying to hurt you with some imaginary woman?”
I look up to the sky as if someone there could help me now. “I saw that text from Clara. And you stood me up.” I hate how small my voice is when I say the words and how I sound like I’m still heartbroken over it. While I’m not, the reality of that night still stings. I don’t know if it will ever stop. And at this point, I’ve got nothing to lose by laying it all out on the table.
Jack’s brow furrows. “What are you talking about? I’m pretty sure I’d remember if I stood you up. I would have had to ask you out first, which I never had the guts to do.”
Denial is the route he’s going. Great. Does he want to keep humiliating me? Plus, he’s completely ignoring the text. But, one thing at a time is probably good. “Are you really going to play stupid? The note, Jack. The one you left in my locker the day of graduation.”
He opens his mouth, then closes it before opening it again. “I never left you a note. I mean, I wanted to. I’d even written one, confessing my feelings, but I was too chicken to give it to you.”
