Page 8 of Holiday on the Rocks
She looked over and our eyes locked for a moment. It was clear the same memories were rolling through her mind by the way she swallowed hard.
She grabbed a cell phone from her purse and scrolled. “I have the address. Why are you in Colorado anyway? You make Colorado suck. You being in the same state makes me wonder what I did in a previous life to deserve this shit. Serial killer? Kicker of cats?”
Did I feel bad that I was about to lie to the most beautiful girl in the world in order to be close and breathe the same air as her? Nope. But were my words about to cause her to quickly become a gun toting maniac murderer? Hard yes.
Sure, she’d have to get a gun, but I had all the confidence in Colorado she could; and I already knew she was a good shot.
“My cousin Evan is here for a wedding and invited me. The last place I wanted to be was here for a Christmas wedding of people I don’t know.” That sounded all natural, huh?
“What?”
“Everybody’s staying at some big house on Winding Ridge Road. Who’s stupid enough to plan that shit in December?”
She looked forward and inhaled sharply, which I liked very much. “Emily.”
“What?”
“My friend Emily is stupid enough to plan that shit.” She looked over with fire shooting from her eye sockets. “Your cousin is Evan? The Evan dating Rachel?”
“Rachel? Wait, your Rachel? My cousin is dating Rachel from high school?”
“How in the bloody hell do you not know Rachel is Evan’s girlfriend?”
She sat blinking at me.
“I’ve been out of the country since Evan’s been with her. I guess because there are millions of Rachels in the world, I would’ve never imagined it was Rachel from high school.”
“No, no, no.” She leaned her head back against the seat. “You can not be at the wedding or any of this. I need you the hell outta here.”
THREE
ALLIE
THIS CAN’T BE HAPPENING
No. Freaking. Way. No way could this be happening. My car flying over a stinking cliff, stitches, and a concussion in my first two hours in Colorado, and now Levi. WTF!
“You can’t be here.” Panic had me in a headlock at the thought as instant jitters roared through my veins. I could not be in the same place as him. Not happening. His presence made me unbalanced and gave me an instant headache. Well, that could be from rolling down a fucking mountain, but he was a factor in this shit show, and I needed him gone.
A smug smile slid across those lips. “But my cousin invited me.”
My pulse ticked up. “You just said you didn’t even want to be here.” I held my finger up. “Wait, you can just go back to the airport, jump on a plane, and go back to wherever the hell you came from. A solid plan.”
He let out a little chuckle that made me want to give him a high five in the head with a chair. “I would walk through fire for my cousin.”
“Come on! This is one of my best friends, I can’t leave. And you can’t stay. You’ll ruin everything. How could you not know this?”
“I guess I haven’t seen any pictures of her to put it all together. I’ve spent the last two years in Brazil and got off social media long ago because it sucks.”
“Now I feel sorry for Brazil since it’s had to put up with stupid you. The dumbass, jerk, asshole. Yup, ruining a country sounds like a Levi thing for sure. But the bottom line is you’re not staying here.”
He used an announcer’s voice. “We apologize, but your request for victim status has been denied. You are being referred to the big girl panties department. Please stand by.”
Heat went to my cheeks. “Rachel and Lexi will literally kill you.”
He grimaced. “They were always a little frightening.”
“A little? Yeah, they’re still scary and have grown into bat shit crazy. You’d better reconsider this stay or you may go back to wherever the hell you came from in a body bag.”
