Page 20 of A Quick Stop in Paradise

Oh, this girl was good. Shame I only got her for a week. I’d have loved to keep her around if for nothing else than to tag-team to drag Allison.

Allison scowled. “Oh, so now you’re going to try beating me at rock-climbing. Maybe I don’t even want to go! Maybe I’m revoking my offer to go. Ugh, Brooklyn wouldn’t even be mad, she’s got someone else to go with now.”

Ryan laughed, shaking her head, eyes gleaming. “I’d be mad. I’m looking forward to going with you. I want to see if I’m worse than you are.”

I shook my head. “You’re sounding a bit more confident about it than you were a minute ago, Miss Bell,” I said, and she grinned.

“I get a little competitive, maybe.”

Allison rolled her eyes. “You really are going to bring out the worst in BB.”

It was a relief how easily she fit into the dynamic between me and Allison, teasing barbs flying every which way and laughing together, and Allison seemed perfectly taken with her, which, well—it was easy to like Ryan, especially once she got onto the subject of her work. Not just that she had a cool job, but the clear passion she had for it, the way it made her eyes light up, and there was something especially about the way she talked about the people she would meet in the work.

Couldn’t work out at first what it was, but it got clearer as the conversation went on, and I think I’d figured it out once we were clearing up and Ryan was getting ready to leave. There was something about the way she looked at people, talked at people, thought about people—the most random encounters with people, fleeting insights into people’s lives, a few minutes of conversation revealing years and years of lifetimes, and the way Ryan saw it all, it was like she saw every person out there as a masterpiece. Like each person she had the briefest encounter with was a work of art, a transformational piece that changed her life a little to work with each one, whether victims of terrible situations, people who devoted their lives or just a chapter of their lives to helping people, or the people who devoted themselves to justice in the wake of it. She talked about all of them with equal reverence, and I guess there wasn’t much more beautiful than a person who saw beauty in everyone.

Even when she got betrayed by the person she should have been able to trust most, she still clearly thought people were good. And I guess I was a sucker for that, enough that Allison saw right through me, because she cornered me the second Ryan was out of the building to go confront her family, and she folded her arms, giving me a sly smile.

“So, she’s cool, huh?”

I wasn’t an idiot. Not about what she was getting at, nor about the fact that she was right. “Yes, she is cool,” I said. “And yes, I do find her attractive. That doesn’t mean anything. You know the situation.”

She dropped her arms by her sides with a huff. “She’s interested in you, you know.”

I raised my eyebrows. “Oh, you’ve decided that, have you?”

“It’s not like she’s hung up on that dickwad. I think she’s more than happy to move on and forget about him entirely.”

“And… I should be the one to help herforget,I assume is what you’re getting at.”

She put her hands up. “What? Did you see the little looks she kept giving you out of the corner of her eye?”

I kind of hadn’t. I wondered if that did mean anything. Ryanwasgorgeous, charming, fun to be around. And I guess rebounding from a bad breakup with a little fling wasn’t uncommon, but it felt a little… loaded when it was potentially a fling with the person your boyfriend had tried to cheat on you with.

I sighed. “Look, if she makes a move, I’m not turning her down. But I’m not making the first move on her.”

“Okay, okay. I guess I wouldn’t, either, in your situation. It probably feels a little weird. But just… let her know that you’re available. I bet it’d help her anyway.”

I laughed, giving her a weird look, my hands on my hips. “You, Allison Holt, are telling me to have more casual flings. Did the world start turning backwards overnight?”

She took a long breath, and she puffed out her chest, standing a little taller. “I’m gonna try it.”

I paused. “With Ryan? I think she’s already said she’s not interested.”

“Not with Ryan. Oh my god.” She shook her head. “Just… while I’m here this summer. I want to try doing something casual with someone.”

I relaxed, leaning back against the counter, kicking one foot up over the other, studying her. She looked serious about this, like her heart was really in it. “Yeah? Decided to be just like your role model Brooklyn Sterling?”

“Not in a million years. I don’t think I’d do it as a regular thing. But I want to do it at least… at least once. Just to know. Plus, like you said, it’s just… putting so much pressure on myself to get everything perfect… it’s, like, suffocating.”

“Proud of you.”

“Ew.”

“I know you hate me saying so, but,it probably isn’t for me, but I want to go in with an open mind and see what it can show me about myself,that’s a pretty mature mindset.”

She rolled her eyes, but I could see her little smile even if she tried to hide it. “Yeah, yeah. I think I also just want to see if I… can.”

“Like, if you can handle doing casual without getting serious about it?”

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