“Thank you?” he says, but it comes out like a question.
Oh shit, did I say that out loud? No, I’m sure I didn’t. “For what?”
He takes a deep breath as if asking a higher power for patience. “I meant you should say thank you. You know, since I just stopped you from plummeting into the water after hitting your head on every rock on the way down.”
I’m struck silent as the horrible truth sinks in. He’s right.
My silence only makes him angrier. He shakes his head. “God, the second I spotted you, I knew you didn’t belong here.”
His words are a punch to the stomach. Of course I don’t belong here. I’m crashing my friends’ date night, and they’re only keeping me around because they feel bad not inviting me. I really am pathetic. A bigger person would tell them to enjoy their date night, but if I keep saying no, they’ll stop inviting me.
Tears well in my eyes, but I blink them away before he notices. I won’t let him think he made me cry. Hedidn’tmake me cry; my own pathetic self did. But he does make me angry. Everything about him does. From his stupidly tall height to his annoyingly broad shoulders to his deep voice, which I’ve only heard laced with irritation.
“No one asked you to grab me,” I huff, crossing my arms against my chest.
“You’d rather I let you fall?” he deadpans.
“If it meant I wouldn’t have to stand here and talk to you, then yes.”
There’s a hard set to his jaw, then he straightens up. “Fine,” he says, then he bends down and sweeps me off my feet. I land in his arms bridal style as he holds me against his chest.
“What are you doing?” I exclaim, squirming, but his grip on me only tightens. He walks toward the ledge.
“You’d rather go off the cliff than talk to me? Fine. Your wish is my command, Princess.”
Pure terror claws at my chest as his words sink in.He’s going to throw me off the cliff.Now I cling to him instead of pushing him away, my arms wrapping around his neck, clutching him as close to me as humanly possible.
“I don’t want to jump!” Even I can hear the fear in my voice, the shakiness of my words.
“Are you sure? You seemed so determined before.”
My shaking hands are gripping onto him for dear life as he stops at the top of the cliff. The wind whips at my hair.
“You don’t want to fall?”He’s going to throw me.
I don’t want to look down, but I have to. As soon as I do, my stomach drops, as does the distance to the water. It stretches further and further away from me, and my vision swims.
My throat is too tight to force any words out, so I shake my head.
“You’re telling me,” he continues, his deep voice calm, “that you actuallydidn’twant to fall before, and that it’s a good thing I pulled you back?”
“Yes! You’ve proved your point! Put me down!”
He takes a few steps backward, away from the edge of the cliff, and sets me down on my feet. I scramble all the way to the tree line on shaky legs and brace a hand against a sturdy tree trunk, letting my breath come back to me.I cannot believe he just did that.
He comes to a stop in front of me, and I realize that everyone is staring at us. Everyone. Kalani and Emmett march over to us, but I’m busy staring at Pink Shorts.
“See. Was that so hard to admit?” He lifts an eyebrow, and it hits me: he was never going to throw me off, and I just embarrassed myself in front of everyone.
“Rot in hell.” My voice shakes a little. I turn and stomp away before he can say another word. The dirt and small rocks on the trail sting my bare feet, but I don’t care. I don’t even know his name, but I know I hate him; I hate him like I’ve never hated anyone before. I can feel it in my chest, tightening and hardening like rage taking shape under my ribs.
“Carina!” Emmett and Kalani are right beside me. We’ve put enough distance between us and Pink Shorts that I can’t see anyone through the forest, so I stop walking.
“Are you all right?” Emmett asks, and now I’m doubly embarrassed because he witnessed me being all crazy.
My cheeks heat. “Yeah, that guy’s just a jerk. Do you mind if we go now, though?”
Kalani and Emmett glance at each other.