Page 125 of Where Roads Lead

She shifted uncomfortably, staring out at the town so she didn’t have to look at me.

My heart plummeted.

“Els?”

“I shouldn’t be,” she said finally, hands gripping the paper cup hard enough that I worried it might spill on her.

“Shouldn’t be, but you are?” I angled my head down, trying to see behind her curtain of hair.

“I don’t know,” she admitted. “It doesn’t matter.”

“Could I bribe you for the truth?”

Interest piqued, she arched a brow at me.

“Check the pocket.” I nodded down at my jacket on her legs.

“Is it going to be something creepy?” She eyed me skeptically.

“What type of creepy thing do you think I’m keeping in my pocket?”

“I don’t know,” she laughed, “it just sounds like some type of line.”

“Just look.” I rolled my eyes, nodding down toward it.

She stared at me suspiciously before reaching inside and pulling out the bag with the donut.

Green eyes raised to mine, wide with surprise.

“For me?” she asked in a small voice.

“I figured you’d need a snack at some point,” I told her.

Her eyes watered, and I couldn’t tell if I’d pissed her off more or what the hell was going on. She stared down at her lap, fingers tugging at the paper wrapping.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” I leaned in closer. “Elsie, if I did something to upset you, you need to tell me so I can fix it.”

“Will, I—” she started, voice so soft that I had to lean in even closer to hear.

She whispered something, and I prayed to God that I’d be able to focus on her words instead of the smell of her hair around us, or how tauntingly close her lips were.

I could do it. This time I wouldn’t hesitate. I just had to lean in and—

Thump.

Our foreheads collided, bodies springing back at the unintended contact, and we both looked around, only to realize that the truck had puttered to a stop, back in the spot we’d been picked up in.

I guess the thing about a hayride around the town square was that there was only so much area to cover.

“Ouch.” Elsie rubbed the spot where our foreheads had smacked together. “You have a hard head.”

I didn’t have time to say anything else, because Theo was already coming over to get her, as if she were supposed to be with him and not me.

And I had a feeling he wouldn’t leave room for any other opening that night.

Chapter Thirty-Six

Elsie