My rapidly raising heart rate slowed.
“To be fair,” I muttered, “you do occasionally threaten people with bodily harm.”
“Only when they deserve it.”
“Your standards fordeserving itare pretty broad.”
That finally pulled a laugh out of him. “Man, we’ve been friends for a long time. I don’t want my sister with some asshole who will try to change her or won’t treat her right.”
“So you’re saying I’mnotan asshole?” I teased.
He leaned back in the booth, his shirt sleeve shifting to show the tattoo on his arm. “Oh you’re a giant asshole, just not to her. If she gives you a chance then you’ve already passed some sort of test. That’s good enough for me. Just don’t tell me the details, and if you break her heart, I’ll break your face. Easy enough, right?”
I laughed, not about to remind him I’d fought MMA and would destroy him. “Yeah man that works.”
His expression turned more serious and I felt a pang of guilt. Technically I’d crossed the line with her before sorting this whole thing out, but he clearly didn’t care so long as she was happy.
He pulled his phone from his pocket. “I think you two are a good fit, you should see the article she just put out. I think you rubbed off on her.” He passed me his phone and I skimmed through it.
It was good. I thought social media was all surface level, attention grabbing shit but she had shown me I was wrong over the course of our time together. This article solidified it.
The people who live and work in these mountains understand something most people don’t: nature is not a backdrop for our lives. It is a living thing that can humble you in a heartbeat. Beauty here is tied tightly to danger, and you can’t fake your way through surviving it.
Too many travelers arrive wanting untouched wilderness without understanding that “untouched” only exists because someone cared enough to protect it.
I encourage people to visit this place and fall in love with it like I did, but don’t disrespect the work of conservationists, search and rescue or local aboriginal groups by treating the land like it’s there for you to use and throw away.
“You made an impression on her out there.”
“She changed the way I see things too,” I said. “So you really don’t have an issue with this? If I asked her out I mean?”
He shook his head. “Besides, I promised Jasper I’d get you to stop moping around the station.”
I glared across the table. “Jasper is a dick, I wasn’t moping.”
“He said you looked like you were a minor inconvenience away from writing bad emo poetry. Then you’d look at your phone, presumably at her stuff, and smile like an idiot.”
“I was not smiling like an idiot.”
“Practically kicking your feet, I hear.”
“Shut up.”
He grinned into his glass. “So are you going to do something about this or keep brooding around the station making everyone uncomfortable?”
“I’ll figure it out,” I said noncommittally, then let the arrival of our meals distract us from the conversation.
The scary thing was I already knew my answer.
I’d spent the whole week trying to convince myself I could let this go. That I could go back to my normal life and eventually stop thinking about her.
But every road somehow led back to Skye.
I opened my social media app when Cliff was in the bathroom and hovered my thumb over the message button on her account, but closed it again. If I wanted her, I’d have to put myself on the line and hope she wanted me back. I just had to work up the courage to do it.
Chapter Sixteen
Skye
