Page 51 of A Thousand Second Chances

I survey the dock, squinting at the lines of people waiting to board for the return trip. “You’re right—everything seems normal. Whatever’s happening to us, I guess it doesn’t stop us from coming and going as we please. At least, not during the day.”

Chris sighs and tilts his head back. “Well, so much forthatidea. Think they’ll notice if we stay up here and ride the ferry back across?”

“Actually…” An idea occurs to me. “Maybe we should stick around a while longer.”

Chris frowns. “What for?”

“Well, we know if we fall asleep on Mackinac Island, we wake up repeating Saturday there. But if the time loop is tied to that location, maybe falling asleep on the mainland—”

“Will break the cycle!” Chris interjects excitedly. “I’m in!”

“Great. But that means we have the rest of the day to burn.”

A smirk slowly spreads over Chris’ face. “Sounds like we need a way to entertain ourselves. Come on!”

Blushing, I try to squash the butterflies in my stomach as I follow him off the ferry, wondering just what the hell I’ve gotten myself into.

twenty-three

Chris

“Really?” Percy asks, studyingthe entrance with raised eyebrows. “An adventure park?”

“What’s wrong with an adventure park?” I demand.

“Don’t we have enough adventure in our lives right now?”

I laugh, his indignant expression only making me laugh harder. “Come on, Perce. Don’t you want to blow off some steam?”

I hadn’t meant it to be suggestive, but by the way he reddens and avoids my eyes, I can tell where his mind goes. And fuck, now I’m thinking about it too.

“Come on!” I say, beckoning for him to follow me toward the gate. “It’ll be fun!”

“Since when is risking your lifefun?” he mutters. But hey, at least he’s following me, so I keep quiet and take the win.

I’d seen signs for this place on the drive up with Quinn, and with an entire day to kill before we could test whether the time loop reset, it had been the first thing that jumped to mind. Aquick rideshare from the ferry, and voilà, here we are, ready to have a great time.

Or at leastI’mready to have a great time. Percy seems determined to be a stick in the mud. And okay, so maybe an adventure park’s more up my alley than his, but it wouldn’t kill him to loosen up a bit and enjoy himself.

The front area of the park consists of open dirt paths leading to several buildings. I guide us toward the largest and most important-looking one, and sure enough, there’s a booth there selling passes. We wait our turn in line, a frazzled pair of parents with no less than five screaming kids ahead of us. For their sake, I hope the course wears their children out.

“Couldn’t we have gone to the library instead?” Percy asks.

I glance at him, noting the tension in his shoulders and jaw. “You’re nervous.”

“What?” He grimaces, sweat beading on his forehead despite the crisp fall air. “Am not!”

“You are, too!” I’d thought the idea of physical exertion at an adventure park simply didn’t appeal to him, but… “I didn’t know you were scared of heights.”

He huffs and shoves his hands in his pockets. “I’mnot. I just don’t see the point of entrusting my life to the quality of someone else’s safety equipment or engineering expertise. Especially when it’s some small operation in the middle of nowhere that probably hasn’t seen a proper inspection in years.”

“It’ll be fine. I’ve been to places like this dozens of times.” He raises an eyebrow, and I amend, “Okay, two or three times. But still, my point stands. It’ll be fun. Trust me.”

Some of the tension leaves him. “I do.”

His soft admission, so quiet I’m half-certain I must have misheard, uncoils something in me that feels an awful lot like hope. Tonight might be about evaluating our time loop hypothesis, but today is forus. Maybe this is the perfectopportunity to test the waters and see if we can salvage our lost friendship.

Suddenly, nothing in the world seems more important.