Page 28 of Fate Fiction

“Look,” he jogged in front of me and stopped in the middle of the trail. I skidded to a stop before careening into him. “I really don’t want you to think I’m some asshole who thinks they’re better than everyone because they’re famous. But, Dani, might I remind you, you’re the one who unofficially crashed my week alone, so I’m not sure why you want nothing to do with me.”

If I was stunned talking to him before, now I was nearly dead on arrival. The attempt I’d made to distance myself from him had backfired. I was an asshole. Somehow that was worse than being a fan.

“If you want to talk, let’s talk, then,” I said, and immediately regretted it.

Evan stammered for a moment. He didn’t know how to force the conversation, especially with someone who was seemingly disinterested. I started walking again.

There was still about a mile left until we’d reach the falls. I was at a crossroads, it wouldn’t kill me to make polite conversation. I needed to tap into the parts of myself that knew how to interact with a person. Because that’s all Evan was. A normal. Regular. Average person. Who also happened to be a muti-millionaire award-winning actor.

“So, how did you even find the camp?” I decided to take the safest route I could think of on the fly while satiating my curiosity.

“Some Google searching.”

Now Evan was the cold one, I knew I’d manage to fuck it all up the second I was left to my own devices.

“Google?” I awkwardly chuckled. “Sue barely knows how to open an email. I can't imagine their website would even show up there.” My tone was forcibly lighter. Normal, even. I could do this. I could have a conversation with Evan McLeod that didn’t make me want to crawl out of my skin.

“Exactly,” Evan replied with a light laugh, quickly breaking the tension. “The second she answered the phone I knew she wouldn’t be weird about me staying. She did ask if I was a murderer on the lam, though.”

His dam had immediately breached as though it was physically impossible for him to not be charming and affable. I watched a hint of annoyance manifest on his face, as though he was also bothered by his own pleasant nature.

I was jealous of him, I wish it were that simple to become so likable at the flip of a switch. We had migrated to walking side by side rather than in a line, I hadn’t even noticed it happened.

“And your answer?”

“Yes, obviously.”

I laughed at his reply, maybe a bit too hard. He seemed to appreciate it, chuckling a bit to himself.

“So she does have a sense of humor,” Evan was looking at me. I could feel it, but I refused to look back at him.

The eye contact alone might make me melt entirely.

I stepped defensively slightly to the side, creating more space between us. He noticed.

A few beats of silence passed.

“If it’s not too intrusive, what was the ‘emergency’ that made Sue give up one of the cabins for you this week?”

Right. Nick. The breakup. The whole reason I was here. No way was I about to talk about my relationship ending with Evan McLeod. Still, he deserved a good answer, I was the one who inconvenienced him.

“Did she say it was an emergency?” I replied. Evan nodded. “I broke up with my boyfriend and needed to get out of Boston for a bit.” I waved off the statement like it was no big deal instead of the life-altering change that it was.

“I’m sorry to hear that—” Evan spoke with such earnest sincerity that my heart clenched thinking about how his trip was derailed by this faux emergency.

“Don’t be, please,” I cut him off. “It was long overdue and…I broke up with him.”

I sure had made it seem like an emergency when I called Sue that day, but to be fair I had been crying for what felt like hours and had developed a visceral hatred for the entire city of Boston and possibly all of Massachusetts.

I’d been so whiplashed between emotional crises that I’d forgotten how awful I’d felt for the past few weeks.

“Well in that case, maybe I want my cabin back,” Evan said with a smirk.

Was Evan now being flirty? Or was there truth buried within the joke? I couldn’t tell.

Defenses told me to laugh uncomfortably. Sure, I could’ve come up with half a dozen sassy replies but all of them would be overstepping the imaginary boundaries I’d carefully set.

“I’m kidding, you know,” Evan lightly tapped my shoulder. Electricity buzzed under my skin where he touched me.