The thought brings the briefest pang of jealousy, something I shove into a dark place inside myself that even I can’t access. But still, I allow myself a smoke break before I head out to meet Beck at his Aston Martin. Or maybe it’s Jasper’s? I can’t tell.
And I suppose it doesn’t really matter.
“Hey,” Beck says when I climb into the backseat.
I mirror his greeting and he grins so wide that I can’t help but smile back at him. It’s good to see that whatever camaraderie we struck up yesterday is still going, at least a little.
He nods at the driver, present once again today, and the car begins to move.
As soon as we do, Beck turns in his seat to face me, eyes alight. “We have options,” he informs me.
“Oh?”
“Most of the places I think we should visit are out of town, but there’s one place in town here. We could either start with that or end with it.”
I consider this a moment.
“I say we end with it. The list is shorter today, right?”
“You heard him,” Beck says to the driver, who nods and speeds up.
The rest of the day turns into a blur. There’s a different feel, driving instead of taking the train. Even though the driver is all but invisible, it still feels less … intimate … somehow. Maybe I’m just imagining it.
We’re both less tired when we arrive back in town for our last place, which is a small footbridge over a lake. Despite the fact that I felt a little baby-sat all day with the driver always waiting back at the car, ready to move on to the next destination, riding in the car instead of taking the train did save a lot of energy.
I realize with a jolt as we head over the stone footbridge that I’m going to miss this time I’m spending with Beck. Sure, we have to do the rest of our project—the written bits, like reports and essays—but none of that is going to have the same feeling as strolling through romantic vistas together.
These aren’t dates, I think angrily to myself, getting only angrier at the fact I have to remind myself of that in the first place. And this guy’s an asshole, remember?
Not to mention the fact that he thinks I’m a boy.
I glance sideways at Beck as we pause in the center of the footbridge. He leans against the railing to look out over the icy lake, and I get a good look at his strong profile. A lazy smile plays at his lips, making my knees go considerably weaker.
He spots me staring and gestures to the space beside him.
“Lean down like this,” he tells me, patting the railing beside where his arms return to rest, crisscrossed in front of him.
I do as he says. Now we’re both bent over the rail
, leaning on our forearms. He’s almost a foot taller than me. Or maybe he is an entire foot taller? I don’t know, I just know he’s tall and broad, and I like being this close to him.
At least when he’s like this.
“This place reminds me of where I grew up,” he says softly after a moment of silence, eyes shining as they scan the view laid out before us.
I smile at him and look out over the lake again. It’s beautiful and icy, but not completely frozen over, and the opposite bank is covered in snow. On the other side of the footbridge a path continues into the woods and the tree line pushes right up against part of the lake.
“Did you have a nice childhood?” I ask.
He shrugs. “I suppose so. Can’t complain.” Then he gasps and gently grabs my elbow. I freeze at the touch. “Don’t move too quickly, but look over there, at the woods.”
I turn slowly as a deer walks out of the trees in the direction he’s pointing. She has no antlers, her ears flicking cautiously back and forth as she walks on slender legs toward the lake, placing each hoof carefully in front of the other. She leaves little semi-circle hoofprints behind her in the snow on her trail to dip her head down to drink at a crack in the ice that hasn’t yet frozen over.
“Beautiful,” Beck sighs. “Can you see how this place would be romantic?”
“Yeah,” I reply, shifting my eyes to sneak in a look at him … only to find he’s looking back at me.
We’re very close together. I’m struck by just how romantic a spot this is, especially in the snow. Everything around is blanketed in white, giving it a sort of fairytale feeling. It would be easy to get caught up in it, to be completely lost in it.