“Who’s laughing now?” I retort, throwing in a menacing cackle for good measure.
I make my way through the forest, skimming past all the trees, searching behind each rock and around each creek until I finally find her sneaking a peek from behind a tree.
My eyes widen as do hers, and I race after her through the woods, into a clearing, where I finally grab her legs and fall to the ground with her.
“Gotcha!”
“Not fair!”
I crawl on top of her and grip her wrists, pinning them above her head. Suddenly, she’s gone all quiet and stuff, which is so unlike her. She normally talks so much that it nearly makes me want to tear my ears off my head.
“What do you meannot fair?” I retort.
Her breaths are short, and her entire skin begins to turn red.
Is she getting an allergic reaction to something? Or did she hurt herself?
“You’re …” she says, all flustered. “Cheating.”
“I don’t cheat.” I scoff. “I caught you. Fair and square.”
“You wanted to turn off the phone. Did you use it to locate me?”
“No.” I frown. “Remember, I always know how to find you.”
“How?” she asks.
“Because you’re like a firefly in the night. I can’t take my eyes off you until I find you.”
She sucks in her red lips as I rake my fingers through her brown hair. I take out the twig that was stuck in her hair and hold it in front of me, but only when I throw it away do I realize she’s been staring at me this entire time.
But we do these games all the time. I don’t get why she’d suddenly be scared of me.
“A firefly with brown hair,” I murmur, then laugh.
“What?” Suddenly, she begins fighting back. “I swear to God, Levi, you’d better not be insulting my hair. I’m so going to light your goddamn ass on fire.”
I grin as I release her from my grip. “I’d love to see you try.” I crawl off her and get up. “If you can catch me.”
Present
Always playing coy.
Always on the run.
Always pretending she doesn’t care.
But I know deep down, somewhere hidden inside that fiery little heart of hers, a small flicker of that flame still burns for me. And I will die before I let that burn out.
CHAPTER 8
Aspen
My phone buzzes,and I grin, picking it up again.
Grey: You’re the cutest when you’re smiling
Me: How do you even know? Are you watching me?
