Page 50 of The Version You Hide

“You’re joking.”

“I’m not.”

Her eyes lock with mine, scepticism in their midst, the growing smile on her lips mirroring mine. She doesn’t know whether to take me seriously and I don’t blame her.

How can I when I’ve been keeping this huge secret?

A moment later, her smile fades. “Money doesn’t impress me, Dylan.”

“That makes two of us,” I tell her.

“None of this makes sense. Why Cliff Haven? I mean, you could go anywhere.”

“What’s wrong with Cliff Haven?”

“I don’t know,” she replies, looking down at the ground. “Sometimes I think about leaving. Just buying a bus ticket to anywhere and starting again.”

There’s an honesty in her words that I don’t deserve. A vulnerability that I don’t feel worthy enough to witness. Not after I’ve hidden these parts of myself from her.

Mackenzie doesn’t show her heart often, but I can see it now. She isn’t as tough as she lets on. The things that have happened in her life have affected her beyond repair. She’s become an expert at hiding away parts of herself too. Maybe even more so than I.

“How do you think Kristen would feel if you left town?” I ask.

“I don’t know.” She shrugs. “She’s got her own stuff going on.”

“I think she’d miss you,” I say.

She gives a little shrug, pushing the ground with her feet again to move the swing back and forth.

Stopping it suddenly with my own feet, I lock my gaze on hers. “I know I would.”

Her eyes stay on mine for a moment, then she shakes her head. “As if.”

“I would,” I argue earnestly.

“Whatever.” She dips her head, pushing off the ground again, setting us in motion.

“I mean it. Besides, those beers at the tavern aren’t gonna be pouring themselves.”

This earns a chuckle from her and I’m so happy to have made her laugh, I don’t even care that she almost shoves me off the swing. “You’re the worst.”

“Come on. Let’s go home.”

“I’m not going with you, remember? I’ve already googled the nearest bus stop. I just need you to put in your magic code and let me out of here,” she says, nodding toward the gate.

“If you think I’m going to leave you on the side of the road an hour away from home at this time of night, you’re seriously deluded.”

“I’m perfectly capable of getting myself home, you know. I don’t need saving,” she whips around to face me, and not for the first time, I see the fire inside of her.

She may be vulnerable, but she’s also the strongest woman I’ve ever met. A fighter.

“Well, thank God,” I joke. “Because I’m no knight in shining armour and that right there is hardly a white stallion.” I turn and point at my beat-up car.

“Well, no,” Mackenzie agrees. “But it is white. If you don’t count all the paint chips.”

My head falls back as I bark out a laugh, then I turn and

plead with her. “Please Kenz. Just get in the car.”

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