“Yeah, but that’s meaningless without an agent.”
“What’s his story about? Did he tell you?”
“I don’t think he really wanted to tell me, but it definitely had dragons. And possibly a zombie character, but I might have misheard him.”
“Ohh, that’s a fun twist. Where are we going, by the way?” We were meandering through a trail in the woods out behind the village cabins. It was a pathway I hadn’t been on before.
“You’ll see,” he said.
We walked a bit longer in silence while I took in all the beautiful trees. Once, I had traveled out west for a school trip and remembered feeling so exposed with the lack of trees everywhere. They had trees, but it was nothing compared to the dense thickness I’d grown up with. Everything was so open out west. And dry. Its own kind of beauty, for sure, but I craved the cozy, protected feeling only a mountainside of trees could give. And Vermont was full of them. This time of year, they were covered in snow but still cheerful somehow.
We rounded a bend and stopped at the sight of a small, red covered bridge atop a winding, frozen creek. I said a quick apology in my head to Vermont for thinking covered bridges were just decoration pieces. A warm, romantic glow filtered through me as I thought about the heated couple of hours we’d just spent in one the day before.
“So, we’ve come to the agreement that shoulders and covered bridges are the new sexy. Is that right?” I asked.
“Definitely,” he said as we ambled toward the structure.
When we got to the bridge, he stopped us just before we walked inside. “With Glenn gone, I guess the ruse is up,” he said softly, brushing a strand of hair off my forehead.
I swallowed and nodded, immediately feeling a tightening in my chest. “We’ve still got a few squares left on the bingo card before it can be totally over, though, right?” I asked, meeting his eyes.
He watched me, a small smile on his face as he seemed to concede that I definitely didn’t want to talk about that right now. “I guess.”
“Did you tell your parents?” I asked, my hands on my hips, very aware of his close proximity to me on this bridge.
“About the ruse?” When I nodded, he said, “No.”
“Why?” I waited in dreaded anticipation for his answer.
“Because there’s no ruse for me. They know I’m dating you right now, and that’s true.”
He inched a bit closer to me. I made the mistake of looking in his eyes and found them to be smoldering. I turned and began walking through the small bridge. He was at my side in seconds.
“Are they doing the drawing tonight?” I asked.
“No. Tomorrow morning at the goodbye breakfast, but we have to turn in our cards tonight.”
“What all do we have left to do?”
“Make out under the mistletoe.”
I tried holding back my smile. “It counted.”
“Not even close, Spanks.”
“You know, for being such a wild adventurer, you sure are a romantic. What would Tyrok think?”
He stopped abruptly, turning toward me, and I immediately realized my mistake. “What did you say?”
A beat of time passed, and I quickened my steps. “Nothing.”
“You said Tyrok.” He said the words like a predator catching scent in the wind.
I shrugged. “It’s a common enough name.”
“Name one person with that name.” Just as we passed through the bridge, he leapt in front of me, walking backward until I stopped.
I took a step back and ran my hand through my hair casually. “My uncle’s…second cousin’s…nephew, once removed.”