Eternal Starling (Emblem of Eternity Trilogy) (3 page)

He pursed his lips for the slightest second, making me wonder if that was a promise he didn’t want to make. But his mouth slid into a smile as he said, “Sounds fair; and since I have no doubt you’ll lose the bet, I’ll start planning our date for next weekend.”

His body was turned toward me, completely open and conveying the same confidence as his tone of voice. “Has anyone ever told you that you have a
huge
ego?” I asked.

He smiled as he took another drink of water. “It’s been mentioned before.”

We drove to an area above Blue Mesa Reservoir that Zach told me had a lot of good riding trails. We pulled into a camping spot and unloaded the four-wheelers. Each time I caught Alex watching me, my stomach jumped. I’d never reacted to a guy this way, though my hormones had never encountered someone like Alex either.

I grabbed the helmets from the back seat and gave Alex one. “Have you ever been on a quad?” I asked.

“A few times,” he answered.

“So you know how the Honda works?”

He looked at me from under his brow and scoffed. “I think I’ll manage.”

I laughed to myself. I didn’t tell him how touchy the clutch was. Since he seemed to think he knew
everything
, I thought I’d let him figure that one out for himself.

We both put our helmets on and started the four-wheelers. I turned my head, making sure Alex was ready to go, and eased off my clutch. To my surprise, he followed me without hesitation. Most people who ride my Honda have a problem getting used to the clutch even when they know how sensitive it is. Alex didn’t know and rode the four-wheeler like he’d been on it a hundred times. I was impressed and decided he must have more riding experience than he’d implied earlier.

As we wound our way through the mountain trail, a light breeze danced on my arms and I noticed the trees and foliage coming out of dormancy from winter. The higher elevations still had snow, but we weren’t going far enough up the mountain to worry about it.

We stayed on the trail, trying not to disturb the surrounding area. Every so often I glanced back to check on Alex. He kept pace with me, touchy clutch and all. After about two hours on the trail, the trees opened up into a beautiful lake. The runoff was higher than I anticipated. Zach had explained we would be able to drive around the lake to get to the other side, but the lake was brimming out over the shore and into the surrounding trees. I stopped at the edge of the water trying to decide what to do.

Alex pulled up behind me and got off the four-wheeler so he could talk to me. “What’s going on?” he asked over the sound of the engines.

I really wanted to get across the lake. Zach had told me the view on the other side was spectacular and overlooked several waterfalls. The lake was only about three hundred feet across and didn’t seem
too
deep . . . I made a decision.

“We’re going across,” I yelled back.

Alex shook his head.

“Don’t be a pansy,” I yelled again, “just follow me, you’ll be fine.”

I took a minute to search for the best route. Taking my hand off the clutch, I eased into the water, trying to stick as close to what should be the shore as possible. I was concentrating on driving and trying not to get wet, the Suzuki creating waves as I slowly moved through the water.

I was about halfway across the lake when I saw steam rising from the hot engine as it reacted to the icy lake water. I had seriously underestimated the depth of the lake. I tried to reverse and make it back to the other side, but as I did, the engine sputtered twice, then died. I noticed the silence once my engine cut out and realized Alex’s four-wheeler must have died before mine. I turned around to look for him . . . and there he was, sitting on the Honda, still back at the shore. His helmet was off and he was leaning on the handlebars, laughing.

I was angry at myself, and at Alex for being a jerk, but humiliation was by far my dominant emotion. I was literally stuck in the middle of a lake.

“I guess this means you’re spending next Saturday with me,” Alex yelled.

There was nothing I wanted more than to prove him wrong, but I couldn’t do anything about it now. “I don’t know how you think you’re going to help me from all the way over there.”

“I’m going to pull you out,” he said.

“You and your invisible rope?” I yelled back.

I could see his smile even from my vinyl and foam seat. He pointed at the water. “Look down, Evie.”

I shifted my eyes. A ribbon of white an inch thick trailed after me on the surface of the water. One end was attached to the back of my four-wheeler, the other end attached to the front of his.

“Where did you get
that
?” I asked.

“I’ve learned to be prepared when I’m around you.”

I gave an indignant huff even though he couldn’t hear me. “So now you’re a Boy Scout?” My sarcasm was in response to Alex being right and the fact that I once again needed his help.

“Not exactly,” he said, “but I do know quite a bit about knots.”

I watched him pull the rope and make sure the knot was secure. “And what do you mean you’ve learned to be prepared around me?” I asked. “You’ve only known me for a week.” I was irritated that he was pigeonholing me even though we’d spent less than six hours together.

“Trust me,” he said, “I’ve been around you long enough.”

Alex started the Honda. As he slowly backed up, the rope became taut. I didn’t have a lot of faith in his plan working. He had to pull both the four-wheeler and me. I was contemplating snide comments I would make about his towing strategy when the Suzuki started to move. Crap. Why was he always right?

I felt like an idiot. When he got me back to the shore, he was still laughing. “What do you do when you get in these predicaments and there’s no one around to save you?” he asked.

“I save myself,” I answered. “If you hadn’t been here, I would have pushed the four-wheeler back to shore.”

“Snakes and leeches don’t bother you?”

“When I don’t have a choice, I adapt.”

I got off the Suzuki to check and see if I’d done any permanent damage. Zach was nuts to want me driving his four-wheeler instead of Alex. I made several attempts to start the engine, but it wouldn’t turn over.

“Do you know what’s wrong with it, or do you want me to take a look?” Alex asked, smirking

“The air filter is wet and there’s water in the exhaust. It needs to dry out,” I answered.

Alex raised an eyebrow, a smile playing across his lips. “Have you done this before?”

“Not recently,” I answered, pulling the starter to get the water out of the exhaust. The filter wasn’t as wet as I thought it would be and the heat from the engine would dry it once we were riding again. But, I decided it wouldn’t be a bad idea to let it air dry for a few minutes.

I put the filter on top of the Suzuki seat and sat down in a patch of grass. I pulled my knees up to my chest and wrapped my arms around them; the sunlight felt like a warm embrace. The lake rippled with the movement of unseen animals and the distinct fragrance of grass, flowers, and pine permeated the air. Alex followed, sitting down parallel to me a few feet away. He leaned back on his forearms and stretched his long legs out in front of him.

I turned my head, narrowing my eyes at him. “You brought a rope,” I accused.

He lifted his shoulder in a half shrug. “I thought I might need it.”

“Really? A rope? Don’t you think that’s going a little overboard?”

He met my eyes without a hint of apology. “Given the circumstances, it’s a good thing I had it with me.” I stared at him, wondering how conceited he really was. “I wasn’t sure the rope would be long enough. I thought you’d realize how deep the water was getting a lot sooner.”

“If only we all had your gift of perception,” I scoffed.

“Yeah,” he agreed, “that would be pretty helpful.”

I rolled my eyes before grabbing a handful of grass and threw it at him. He grinned and brushed the green blades off his chest. “So you’re going to assault me with plants for the rest of the afternoon?” he asked.

“No. Only until the filter dries. It shouldn’t take long.”

He nodded. “I enjoy the company,” he said. “Thanks to your adventures in four-wheeler boating, I’ll get to enjoy it again next week.”

He’d been so adamant about the bet that I was curious what he had planned. “Are you going to tell me what we’re doing next Saturday?” I pressed.

“No,” he answered with a sly smile.

“No hints at all?” I asked.

He pondered, then teased, “By the time it’s over, you’ll probably be in love with me.”

My mouth fell open. “That’s an impressive goal, Alex.” I had
never
been in love with anyone.

“Wanna make another bet about it?” he asked.

I narrowed my eyes. “I met you a week ago. I don’t even know if I’ll still like you next Saturday, let alone be in love with you in a week.”

“You’re right,” he agreed, the corners of his mouth twitching. “It will probably happen before then.”

My mouth gaped in complete disbelief. I knew he had to be joking, but somehow, the way he said it—made me think he wasn’t kidding, not at all.

“If you believe this little event you’re planning will make me crazy about you, it must be something you’ve tried. So, how many girls have you used this trick of yours on?”

He smiled, leaning his shoulder and chest in next to me. Only inches from my face, he whispered, “You’ll be the first.” His breath on my cheek made me tremble. I met his gaze, unsure about what was going to happen next.

I could barely find my voice to speak. When a noise did come out, it was quiet and a little shaky. “That’s . . . flattering,” I took a staggered breath, still locked onto his bright, green eyes.

He started to reach toward me like he wanted to touch me, but stopped before he made contact. Instead, he moved his head so his mouth was close enough to my ear that I could feel his breath. “You don’t deserve anything less,” he said with a sincere voice.

I wanted the moment to last forever, my heart raced and my breath was uneven. I was completely focused on the image in my mind of his mouth coming together with my own in the spotlight of the sun. The thought of his perfect lips and chiseled body made it difficult to concentrate on anything else.

“Can I ask you a question?” His voice was soft and deep. I knew he was about to kiss me, and I knew it would be fantastic. I had never been so sure of anything in my life.

I gulped. “Uh huh.” It was practically a squeak and I was preparing myself for what would surely be the best kiss of my eighteen years.

“Is the air filter dry?” he asked with that dumb mocking grin. “It’s getting hot out here.”

His question registered in my mind and I realized kissing me was the last thing he wanted to do. I was humiliated and furious. I stood in a huff; the moment was ruined and I was pissed off. Stupid guy, stupid smile, stupid non-kiss.

“I hope so.” The anger saturated my voice and I didn’t try to disguise it.

I avoided looking at Alex as I walked briskly to the Suzuki and grabbed the air filter. It wasn’t dry, but I prayed it would start and I could get out of the private lake setting that should have been a lot more romantic than it turned out to be.

Who was I kidding? I’d gotten stuck in the middle of a lake and had to be pulled to shore by my own personal tugboat. Alex probably didn’t think I could function in general, let alone successfully kiss him. I shoved the air filter in position. Alex was up now and standing a few feet away, watching me. I glanced at him and his expression was pained. After three attempts to start it, the Suzuki roared to life. I grabbed my helmet without saying a word. Alex walked to the Honda and put on his helmet as I turned the Suzuki around. As soon as I heard Alex’s four-wheeler start, I took off without looking back.

I arrived at camp and felt a little guilty for driving full speed to get away from Alex and not really caring whether he was behind me or not. He caught up to me though and pulled onto the trailer while I was loading the Suzuki. He helped me tie down the Honda without a word. When we were finished, we both got in the Jeep.

We drove in silence and I couldn’t help but think about what a mess our date had been. Why had he acted like he wanted to kiss me if he didn’t? The embarrassment seemed unbearable and I just wanted the day to be over with. So much for having a relationship with Alex.