“Thanks,” I mumble, but I turn away before I can watch her walking toward him.
When Blanca told me to stay away because I don’t belong, she voiced something that had already been sitting in the back of my mind.
I’m so stupid. What did I even want to prove today? He’s got it all, and I only managed to make an ass of myself.
The pain returns like a blade between my brows, sharp, sudden, and unrelenting. It’s bad enough that I consider diving headfirst into the cold lake to shut it off.
I don’t want to wake up anyone at this ungodly hour, which leaves me pacing the grass-covered side of the yard, battling the migraine and the more confusing ache of the past week.
Something’s shifted in Jackie. She’s stopped treating me like the devil. No more icy silences, less punch to her quips.
And just like I told her brother, my opinion of her hasn’t changed. Behind that exterior she’s polished over the years,my Jackieis still there. I catch glimpses when she lets her guard down, see her kindness, that cheeky sense of humor. And her laugh. God, it still makes me dizzy. I hate it.
It wasn’t enough that I made a fool of myself in that stupid contest yesterday. Blanca had to remind me that it wouldn’t matter how much I was trying to prove myself. I was not one ofthem.
Lost in my thoughts, I almost miss the faint rustle on my right and the huge black shadow, hovering behind the thick bush.
When I register it, time stands still.
As slowly as humanly possible, I move my head slightly to get a better look at the wild animal. Bad idea. A gasp lodges in my airways. The beast is rummaging at the base of a blueberry shrub, oblivious to me. I mentally rush through every half-remembered talk about bears at school, and how to avoid becoming its breakfast.
At least it would be a cooler way to go than choking on my own vomit at a fancy bar in New York. My dad would be proud.
Under my feet, the crisp grass sounds too loud.
I want to warn everyone inside and slowly start to turn, ready to bolt for the door, when a hand clamps over my mouth.Another keeps me in place, with her steady palm sprawled on my abdomen.
Jackie’s warm breath grazes my ear. “Don’t make any sudden moves. Back away slowly.”
I grab her hand and nod, my heart beating out of my chest. Why the fuck did she come outside? We could both get mauled.
She squeezes my fingers to guide me back, step by careful step.
The bear jerks its head up. We freeze, hand in hand, while the enormous animal stares right at us. I steal a look at Jackie, but she doesn’t look scared.
The bear suddenly slaps the ground, huffing, blowing, and snapping its teeth. All I can think about is how fast I can reach the house if I haul Jackie over my shoulder and sprint.
“Look down. Don’t run,” she whispers, lips barely moving.
How the hell does she know this? How can she stay so calm? Fear rips through me, mixed with guilt. She must’ve seen the bear through the kitchen window and come out anyway. For me.
Slowly, we shuffle closer to the deck stairs, and I push Jackie behind me. “Open the door.”
I don’t breathe until she tugs my shirt and I stumble backward over the threshold, slamming the door. Chest heaving, my entire body sags, the panic in my blood dissolving into a cold sheen coating my skin.
Jackie already has her phone out, and it’s only then that I see her fear. Her hand’s shaking so terribly that she keeps missing the keys.
“Alert the guards making the rounds. There’s a bear near the lake. Don’t hurt it,” she says. Then, dialing again, her voice trembles as she tells the sheriff, “Walker, there’s a bear in our yard.” She nods, listening, then adds, “Yes, we know. Of course, stay inside.” Her gaze flicks to me.
I’m rooted to the floor, watching her in action, clear-headed and commanding.
When she hangs up, her arms drop by her side, and she slumps against the kitchen counter, pale and shaking.
“You rushed into danger. For me.” It’s not a question.
She shrugs, brushing it off, as if her insane act of bravery didn’t just turn my world upside down.
Gratitude twists into irrational anger. “It was fucking dangerous. What were you thinking?”
