35 - Melissa

35

Melissa

I was actually having a good time on the hike!

My ankle ached at first, and I couldn’t keep up with Jack’s pace. But soon the blood started flowing, and my ankle got loose enough to hike with minimal pain. Not zero pain, but enough that I could ignore it and not worry about causing any long-term damage.

We were even having a good time clearing away the downed trees from the storm. Every ten minutes we came across a new branch, and the two of us worked in mutual silence to clear it. A few times, Jack even gave me a nod of respect.

I was getting a weird vibe from him the entire time, though. A vibe I couldn’t quite place. And when I caught him staring at my ass, I wondered if that had something to do with it.

But he acted totally platonic while showing me how to use the hatchet. If anything, he wanted to avoid touching me or being close to me.

“We make a good team,” I said after the fourth branch had been cleared.

“Sure, I guess,” he replied gruffly.

Yeah. He definitely didn’t like me.

I was relieved that my ankle felt so good. It meant I was almost ready to resume the Colorado Trail. Ending this little detour and going back to the main reason I was so far from home in the first place.

But soon my mood turned sour. I wasn’t ready to move on, yet. I had just done something new with Noah and Ash. Everything with them felt fresh and new. Something worth exploring. But I obviously couldn’t do that if I left soon.

I was a confused jumble of emotions for the rest of the hike until we reached the top. The trail abruptly ended at a clearing, but there were still trees all around, blocking our view of the valley.

“Good job,” Jack said, sitting on a nearby log. “We’ll take a breather, then head back down.”

“Cool,” I replied, sitting on another log a few feet away. He tossed me a Clif Bar, and I tore into it eagerly. I’d worked up an appetite.

Jack took a long pull from his canteen, then offered it to me. The water was cool and refreshing. I passed it back, and he drank some more. It struck me as a weirdly-intimate gesture, drinking from the same bottle. Our mouths touching the same spot. The kind of thing close friends did. Or lovers.

I shook off the thought. Jack didn’t like me. If anything, he downright disliked me.

He grumbled something about being warm, then stood and stripped off his flannel, revealing a white tank top underneath. His arms glistened with sweat, making the muscles stand out in the tilted sunlight that pierced the trees. He wasn’t as big as Ash, or as lean as Noah, but he was as formidable as anyone I knew back home in Ohio. More so, since his muscles were made for working rather than for vanity.

“Sorry the view’s not better,” Jack said as he sat back down.

I gave a start. “What, uh, do you mean?”

He gestured at the forest all around us. “Snodgrass Mountain isn’t tall enough to go above the tree line. So there’s no view. It disappoints all the tourists.”

The view. Duh. “It’s fine.”

He took a bite out of his Clif Bar and then pointed with the rest. “How’s the ankle?”

“Really good!” I replied. “It’s a tiny bit tender. Like, I’m aware of it with every step. But it’s much better than I expected.”

“Good,” he replied. “If the trip downhill goes fine, you can get going soon.”

I blinked. “Huh?”

He was hunched forward, staring down at the ground while he spoke. “I’m sure Doctor Noah will want to give you the green light, but you should probably move along in a day or two. I bet you’re eager to hit the trail.”

“You trying to get rid of me?” I said, only half-joking.

Jack shrugged. “It’d be nice to finally free up the Indigo Cabin.”

“You said it was vacant.”

“I was being nice so you didn’t get your feelings hurt.”

That stung. Not just that I was even more indebted to him, but that he was annoyed about it.

“Right,” I said dryly, “because you’ve been so hospitable up to this point.”

He looked at me, then rolled his eyes. “For fuck’s sake. Do you get upset at every little comment?”

“I’m not upset. It just seems like you’ve been eager to get rid of me since I got here.”

“I let you have the cabin, didn’t I?”

“Only because Theresa called in the favor you owed.”

“I could have said no,” he growled. “I don’t owe anyone anything. I just think it’s time you moved on. You’ve been lounging around town like it’s a fucking vacation, when you’re supposed to be healing up.”

I was on my feet without realizing it. “Why do you care what I do with my free time?”

“I don’t,” he bit off. “But you’ve overstayed your welcome.”

I stared down at Jack in disbelief. “That’s why you brought me up here? To make sure my ankle was okay so you could kick me out?”

“That’s not…” he protested.

“If I’m such an inconvenience, then I’ll move my stuff into Noah’s place.”

“It’s not that you’re an inconvenience…”

“Then what is it?” I demanded. “You hate me? If you hate me, just say the words and I’ll leave.”

His eyes flared with anger. “I don’t hate you, Melissa.”

“You sure act like it,” I said, stepping forward and adding some acid to my tone to make it hurt. “Criticizing me every damn day. Complaining about everything I do. Hell, the first time you said something nice to me came half an hour ago on this hike, and that’s only because you’re trying to get rid of me! It stops now. I’m done being your punching bag. Whatever reason you hate me, I won’t—”

“I don’t hate you,” he roared, leaping to his feet. “IT’S THE FUCKING OPPOSITE!”

His voice was so loud that a flock of birds took flight from a nearby tree. I stared at him, shocked by his outburst.

“It’s the opposite,” he repeated, slamming the hatchet down into the log without looking. “I don’t hate you, you blind idiot. I fucking like you! I’ve liked you since the moment I found you whimpering on the trail like an injured kitten!”

“I wasn’t whimpering—”

He jabbed a finger at me. “No. You’ve already spoken. It’s my turn.” His eyes were bloodshot with emotion. “From the moment I laid eyes on you, I had a tingling in the pit of my stomach. A feeling I haven’t been able to shake. That’s why I pushed you away at the clinic: because it fucking scared me, Melissa. I was terrified by how much I was attracted to you, pulled toward you like you’re a goddamn black hole. Then you showed up at my fucking campsite with Theresa, begging for a place to stay. I should have said no, but I couldn’t. Not while you were standing there, looking helpless. Looking like every woman I’ve ever dreamed about.”

Two hikers appeared at the end of the trail, saw us arguing, and quickly turned around.

“You’ve been tormenting me since then,” Jack gritted out. “Strutting around camp. Inviting yourself onto my porch and drinking my liquor. I haven’t been able to keep my eyes off you, especially with how you look in those tight clothes. And yeah, I fucking know how that sounds, like I’m blaming you for the way I feel, but I can’t fucking help it. The clothes you wear don’t matter. You’re gorgeous. You’re sexy. You’re beautiful, and every word in between that I can’t think of right now because I’m so goddamn frustrated , Melissa. I’ve never fallen this hard for someone, and I barely even know you! That’s what I can’t understand! You drive me crazy, in the best and worst ways. Yet somehow I’ve managed to stay strong, to maintain enough willpower not to give in, which is why it’s been so frustrating seeing you entrance my best friend. You’re going to break his heart, do you fucking know that? Do you realize how hard he’s falling for you?”

“Noah made it very clear this is just a fling,” I replied weakly. “He knows it’s going to end. And what happened with Ash is probably just a one-time thing, we haven’t even discussed—”

His eyes widened, and it was clear I had revealed something he didn’t already know.

“Ash? You fucked Ash?”

“I…”

Jack began pacing with his hands in his dark hair. “Jesus Christ.”

His voice softened a little, which gave me some room to get angry again. “You’re an attractive guy, Jack, but jealousy is not a good look on you.”

“Jealousy?” he barked. “Don’t you get it? I’m not jealous. That’s not why I care if you hook up with my friends. I’m upset because you’re going to hurt them! It’s a small town, and somehow you’ve managed to dig your roots into everyone I care about. And it’s going to cause a lot of damage when you eventually rip them out.”

“They’re adults,” I shouted back. “They can make their own decisions! They don’t need you acting like an arrogant older brother who thinks he knows what’s best for everyone!”

Jack laughed, but there was no mirth in his tone. “You know what you are? You’re a hurricane. You spin into town, cause a bunch of damage, and then leave us to clean up the debris.”

I bristled. “Is this what you think being a man is like? Instead of allowing yourself to be attracted to someone, you push them away because it might not work out in the future? What a great way to live your life, always being afraid of getting close to someone. I overheard Ash say something last night: the future isn’t guaranteed. We could all be killed by a giant meteor tomorrow. Well, you know what? I’m choosing to be happy. So are your friends. You should try it sometime… but I guess you’d rather mope around your campsite and blame people like Sam for your problems.

It was a name Noah had mentioned to me in confidence, and it just came out of my mouth in the heat of the moment. I didn’t even know who Sam was, or how he and Jack had a falling out. But it made Jack recoil like he had been stabbed, which was the effect I was going for.

His eyes flared angrily, muscles in his arms bulging so much the veins were practically popping off the skin. Then the fight went out of him, and he shook his head and sighed.

“Doesn’t matter,” he said in a quieter voice. “Because you’re leaving soon. If you could hurry up and do that so I can get on with the rest of my life, that’d be great.”

He started back down the mountain.

Not knowing what else to say, I blurted out, “You’re forgetting your hatchet.”

“I’ll get it tomorrow. Probably have to come back up here and fix the shitty job you did with the branches.”