“Hey.” I swallow hard, trying to quickly factor how to unravel this knot. “You know, I hear the overlook is beautiful this time ofyear.”
His head inches back, and his brows knit with confusion. I couldn’t have stunned him more if I pulled a gun onhim.
I step in close and take up both his hands. My breathing grows erratic, and my lip quivers—a nervous twitch I loathe because it forever eats away at my self-confidence. “Remember that hike you offered up the first day we met at the Black Bear?” My entire body shakes as I ask the question. I might as well have taken off all my clothes and splayed myself naked over a pool table, and I wouldn’t feel half asvulnerable.
His eyes enlarge as the implications of my chaste proposition settlein.
“Are you asking me out on a date?” His lips cinch with a grin, and a swell of relief fillsme.
“Only if you’re accepting. Do you think you can sneak away for an hour? I hear the owner who runs this place is a realjerk.”
Axel’s chest rumbles with a dry laugh, his eyes never leaving mine. “I think I can take him if he gives us any trouble.” He holds an arm out. “Shallwe?”
I link my arm through his, and it feels comfortable, right. “Weshall.”
* * *
Hollow Brook has always helda special charm. A small town perched on a mountaintop, hillsides abounding, lakes just a stone’s throw away, and if you drive down the mountain and head east, you will inevitably hit a beach. But today, the only body of water we’ll be seeing is that of the Witch’s Cauldron. Thoughts of our last encounter there permeate my mind, and I carefully push them allaway.
Axel and I don’t say much on the way up. I think he’s too afraid I’ll ask him to turn the car around, and I’m too afraid he might be right. Axel carefully bypasses the Witch’s Cauldron and her sister thermal springs and parks near the hiking trails up by the overlook. Wise choice. And by that small action, I’m no longer worried about dredging up the awful past. I’m not ready to, nor do I ever want to. I like the thought of newbeginnings.
We get out, and I stretch back to life while inhaling vats full of crisp autumn air. A burst of color snags my attention from down the mountain, and Igasp.
“Look at that!” I marvel, and we head to the overlook and take in the fall splendor that’s covering the world below. Maples, liquid ambers, oaks, and aspens all have traded their lime green leaves for bold hues of gold, red, and tangerine. It’s so beautiful I don’t want to move a single step away from here. How could a world that holds so much fragile beauty be so broken and cruel? In the end that’s what I had become, broken andcruel.
“It’s nice.” Axel wraps his arms around me from behind, and his warm breath trickles over my neck. “But it has nothing on you.” He spins me into him, those bright eyes of his sealed overmine.
Axel is a gorgeous man—one I’ve always felt was far too handsome for me. But I’ve noticed more often than not an ever-present sadness lurking beneath the surface when he looks at me. I’ve hurt him, I know. But it’s deeper than that. He’s afraid he won’t ever reach me. That I won’t ever stop hurting him. And a part of me is terrified of just that. People don’t change overnight. Some people never change. My mother couldn’t love her own children. How far could I have rolled from the family tree? After all, I’ve got her blood inme.
My mouth opens to say something, but Axel gently lands a finger over my lips, and I take the opportunity to steal akiss.
“I owe you an apology.” He winces before closing his eyes a moment. “I’m sorry about the other night. I should never have let things go thatfar.”
“What?” I squawk so loud a flock of sparrows darts out of the evergreen above us. “If you’re about to break into the I-think-we-should-just-be-friends speech, I might be moved to toss you off the side of thiscliff.”
He bucks with a warm laugh. “That’s what I love about you—you’ve got some fight inyou.”
A breath of frustration strums from me. “It’s also what killedus.”
“I’m not giving you the let’s-be-friends speech.” His hands warm me as they glide over my back. “I’m giving you the I-wish-I-didn’t-take-advantage-of-you-the-other-night speech. The I-think-we-need-to-take-things-slow speech. I’m in love with you,Lex.”
My teeth graze over my bottom lip because this is the part where I tell him that I love him back and that I want to forget about the past and start all overagain.
My phone buzzes in my purse, and I frown at it. “Just onesecond.”
It’s a text from Marlin.You up for dinner at the Black Bear? I want to discussSerena.
I’ll get back to you.I hitSend.
“It’s just Marlin.” No sooner do I dip my phone back into my purse than it buzzes again, and I glance down atit.
“A text from Serena.” I hold it between Axel andme.
Why does Marlin insist on making my life miserable? Can you tell him to buzz off and let me live my ownlife?
Axel chuckles at the thought. “She’s in good company.” He gives my hip a slight squeeze. “But he’s a good big brother. I would have done the same thing and probably a lot worse to anyone I caught Teaganwith.”
“Then that’s what I’ll say.” I text back.He means well. He’s just being a good big brother. I’m a little busy at the moment, but you, me, and Sunday will hit Hallowed Grounds soon! We’ll have Rush join us. It will be f-u-n!
