Page 40 of A Thousand Second Chances

“I…I…”Pull it together, Percy!“It’s still Saturday,” I manage lamely. “We really are trapped in a time loop.”

From the corner of my eye, I see Chris shift again. The movement makes the edges of his wrapped towel flutter. His smirk morphs to a frown. “No shit, Sherlock. I don’t need your help to figure that out.”

Right. Still hates me.Somehow, that relieves some of my nerves. So what if I still find him attractive? Knowing it’ll never go anywhere lowers the stakes.

“Well,” I reply, turning to look at him more fully, “that means our investigation is more important than ever. The sooner we figure out what’s going on, the sooner we can escape and go back to pretending the other doesn’t exist.”

Something flits across Chris’ face, there and gone too quickly for me to process. He shrugs, his disinterested mask back in place. I struggle not to stare at the way the gesture makes his stomach muscles tense and his towel shudder.

“Sounds good to me,” he says. “Got any new ideas to try today?”

A few had occurred to me while I got ready this morning, and I give voice to the one that seems the surest bet. “Maybe we did something that first Saturday—something that set us apart from everyone else.”

“What, like a trigger?” He frowns. “Are you saying Quinn was right, and thisisall our fault?”

The notion gives me pause. “No clue,” I admit. “Maybe we were in the wrong place at the wrong time. It’s as much a long shot as everything else we’ve tried, but it sounds better to me than combing the island inch by inch.” Things might well come to that, but we weren’tthatdesperate yet. At least, I wasn’t.

Chris strums his fingers on the edge of the door. “Yeah, I guess that makes sense. So, what do we do?”

“I thought today we could retrace our steps as closely as possible—you know, check everywhere we went that first Saturday to see if anything seems off.”

His mask cracks a little, and this time, the smirk he gives me seems more genuine. “Aren’t you already ruining that by talking to me? We’re not supposed to see each other until the bike tour.”

“We don’t have to recreate the dayexactly,” I retort. “I’m not sure we could even if we tried. But I figure the general gist should be good enough to spot any anomalies.”Hopefully.

“Wow, such experimental rigor.” Something warm and fuzzy unfurls within me at his teasing tone. “Give me fifteen, and I’ll meet you downstairs.”

I swallow and nod. My eyes catch again on his bicep as he flexes, his fingers reaching up to wrap around the edge of the door. I feel at war with myself, half of me wanting to rush to him and the other half begging me to flee for my own good.

Chris pauses, and I don’t think I imagine the way his eyes flare as he looks at me. Before my body can make up its mind, he steps back, his face an unreadable mask again, and slams the door in my face.

All right, then. Answer received, loud and clear.

As I make my way downstairs, my desire for Chris fizzles, leaving only a molten lump in my throat. Once upon a time, he’d been mine the same way I’d been his…but not anymore. Now, the only thing left between us is an ocean of regret I doubt we’ll ever be able to bridge.

nineteen

Chris

I lean against thedoor and close my eyes, taking deep breaths as I listen to thethumpof Percy’s retreating footsteps. God, what hadthatbeen all about? The way he’d stared at me…

Nope.Nope.Definitely not dwelling on it. We’re both tired and out of sorts, what with the whole ‘proof we’re trapped in a time loop together’ thing. Some wires got crossed—nothing more. And if, for a second there, I’d considered dropping my towel, dragging Percy into my room, and slamming the door, well…that’s evenmoreproof of temporary insanity.

When the embarrassing situation in my towel has settled down and I mostly feel like my usual grouchy self, I toss on some clothes and trudge next door to fetch Quinn like I had that original Saturday.

Quinn answers on the third knock, already dressed and ready to go. She gives me a wide grin. “I was starting to worry you’d chicken out, and I’d have to come drag you downstairs myself.”

I’d fully intended to act like nothing was amiss, but hearing her repeat basically the same thing she’d said the last two times I’d done this makes me reconsider. If I have to listen to identical conversations all day, I might go insane.

Instead, I reach out, grab her by both shoulders, and lock my eyes on her surprised gaze. “All right, I’ll keep this brief. I’m stuck in a time loop à laGroundhog Day. So is Percy, that guy I got into an argument with on the ferry.”And many more times since then, but you won’t remember any of those.“This is the third time we’ve both lived through Saturday the fourteenth. The first time, we went through it normally. The second, we teamed up with you to investigate what’s happening and found out squat. So today, we’re going to retrace our original steps and see if we find anything weird. Any questions?”

A single, quick blink. Then, her grin widens. “Cool. I’m in!”

Just like that.I resist the urge to shake my head. God, I wish I had anywhere near that level of chill. If only I could let things go that easily. If onlyPercycould—

No.No!Still not thinking about him. Or the way his eyes had widened when he’d seen me standing in my doorway. Or how he’d been chewing on his bottom lip like he wished it was mine…

Nope, not going there at all.