“We don’t need it,” my dad said more sternly.
“Well, I don’t want it back.”
“You should put it into a savings account,” my mom added.
‘Youshould put it into a savings account,’ I wanted to argue, but I bit my tongue.
“We can talk about this later,” I said. “I gotta go.”
“Okay, sweetie. We love you. Have so much fun!”
I waved at my parents before pressing the red end button.
When I turned back to face Lila, she was studying me.
“What?” I asked warily, not liking the look in her eyes.
“That was sweet of you to call them,” she said.
“I promised I would.” I started walking down the trail, knowing she’d keep up with me easily.
“Your dad looks just like you, you know,” she said, falling into pace next to me.
“We’ve been told.”
“And you could have called them any time, but you picked in the middle of the hike because...”
I blew out a breath. It felt like she was prodding me under a microscope.
“Because I knew my mom would want to see the view.”
She smiled and looked straight ahead.
“What?” I demanded.
“Nothing.”
“Tell me.”
“You do care about something,” she said. Then she winked at me before taking a few quick strides, leaving me to follow in her footsteps for the rest of the hike.
FOURTEEN
Harrison
“We did it,”Lila shouted victoriously as I trailed a few feet behind her.
“We did it,” I repeated, sucking in a breath. Lila looked out at Oia with a smile before holding up her hand.
I straightened up and eyed it. “What?” I asked when she waved in my face.
“What do you mean, what? Ever heard of a high five, genius?”
“Was that really high-five worthy?” I asked, finally catching my breath and arching an eyebrow at her.
“Was a strenuous hike in Greece from one stunning city to anotherreally high-five worthy? Are you serious?”
Reluctantly, I held up my hand and she slapped it gleefully. There were few things I hated more than high fives. It was almost impossible to look cool doing them. But I was sick of seeing Lila’s disappointed face because I had made yet another blunder, or snide comment. She would enjoy this trip, I would make sure of it, and if her enjoyment meant I had to lower my guard and match even the tiniest iota of her energy, then so be it.
