AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Fifteen minutes until your destination,” Charles announced unceremoniously.
“Thanks.”
Perspective.
It was exactly the reminder I needed.
I hadn’t expected the way the night went. When Steven spilled the secret about a welcome home party, I’d gone back and forth about how I felt about it. I loved the people of Pine Cove Springs, but I wanted time to myself. Out of the spotlight, even if it was only for a day.
But they’d all shown up, and they’d reminded me of where I came from. I counted myself lucky, exactly as Amber said I should. And now I was at one of my favorite places on earth, surrounded by my oldest friends, mixed with new ones.
I couldn’t ignore the way they’d started pairing off, happiness radiating off them in almost a sickeningly sweet way. Colton and Madison finally found their way to each other. They’d been inseparable as kids and seemed to be the same way now. Aiden had stumbled onto Chloe and had a family. I hadn’t even known about their relationship when we were younger.
Guilt crept up my spine again, reminding me of all the things I’d missed while I’d been busy training. How I wasn’t there when he needed me most: when he’d lost his parents. And I wondered how many other people I’d let down, or how many other important aspects in people’s lives I’d glossed over.
The price of fame.
For the first time in a long time, I wondered if I wanted to keep doing what I was doing, then shook it off. It wasn’t likely to me I’d find a girl I’d want to keep here. I’d brought no one here that I’d dated. This place was too sacred. No, it seemed far more likely that this would play out like a scripted show, and we’d go our separate ways. I could go back to training with a cleaner slate and just keep my head down.
But as I closed my eyes and inhaled the fresh mountain air, there was a deep stirring inside me. One that wanted more.
But what?
Standing at the base of the town tubing hill, I lost myself in memories of years past. I could almost hear the laughter as the three of us raced down the hill—Steven and Harper always trying to stall me for just long enough to give them a slight head start.
If I tried hard enough, I could’ve heard Harper’s methodical giggle float along the air. Maybe even seen her, in bright colors, nestled in the middle of a group of our friends, clutching each other’s handles as they hurled down the hill.
“Get out of the way!” Steven yelled.
“What?” I asked, my eyes popping open just as the outside of the group of tubers hit me, sending me sprawling on the snow.
“I said get out of the way,” he replied, his footsteps crunching in the snow as he got closer to me. “You know better than to zone out at the bottom of this hill. What’s the matter with you?”
“Nothing.” I groaned, raising to a sitting position. That hurt a lot less a decade ago. I adjusted my hat and brushed powder off my jacket before standing back up.
“Nothing, huh?”
“It’s funny, I just thought I heard—”
“If you’re going to stand there and daydream like a little girl, you should probably stand over there.” Harper made her way toward me, grinning. She looked like a neon beacon against the white backdrop and the bright lights lining the sides of the hill.
It hadn’t been my imagination playing tricks. There she was, flesh and blood and even prettier than the last time I’d seen her. I’d always been a sucker for a girl who wasn’t afraid to play in the snow.
I shrugged. “Just got lost in some memories.”
“Hope that bruise you’re going to wake up with tomorrow was worth it.”
“Lesson learned.”
Strawberry blonde curls blew across her face in the winter air, and a smattering of freckles dotted her nose and cheeks. Her blue eyes danced with laughter at me, right before she turned and darted toward the tube lift.
“Last one down the hill buys the next round of spiked cider!” She called over her shoulder.
“That’s you, Flynn. You’re going down!” Steven laughed, chasing after his sister.
For a moment, I just stood and watched them, painfully aware of how this was the first time in a long time I felt like myself again. I’d screwed so much up. Being back here was my last chance for redemption, in more ways than one.
I had two days before the world shifted on its axis. Before I had to dive nose first intoLove in a Small Townand really attempt to show the world—more importantly, the media—that I wanted to settle down.
