Page 24 of The Hunt

Jaxson made it up to the land and dragged her along with him.She was so pleased to feel hard ground that she pressed her face against it, and then kissed it.

“I love you.I love you.I love you.”

Calliope wasn’t sure in that moment if she was telling the ground she loved it, or if she was telling Jaxson.He had stopped her not once but twice from falling to her death.

“Just out of curiosity, was I this much of a moaner when we were kids?”Calliope asked.

She heard Jaxson laugh.“Nah, it was you that always came up with the good games.”

Calliope didn’t know what had happened to her, but it sucked.She missed the old Calliope who just had fun, when she wasn’t sad about losing her friend, or trying to figure out what went wrong.She missed that girl.

****

They had made campseveral feet away from the cliff edge.By several feet, they’d actually traveled for nearly two hours before they were far enough away from it.

“You ever think we might have had too much time on our hands when we were kids?”Calliope asked.

He couldn’t help but burst out laughing.“I didn’t think that, but now I am starting to have my doubts.”

He sat against a tree.They had already eaten their food.Once again, sausage and eggs.He was getting tired of eating the same kind of food.

Calliope came to him and he opened his legs and patted the ground right in front of him.She smiled but didn’t hesitate, nor come up with an excuse not to sit with him.

“Thanks,” she said.

She sat between his spread thighs, and it felt right, especially as she leaned back.They hadn’t done this in so long.They would often sit out, late at night, staring up at the stars.Sometimes they would even talk about how lame their game had been, and plan to make it even better.

He missed this.

“You know, I don’t think I have any complaints about the rickety bridge.I think it was one of our finer games,” she said.

And for some reason, he couldn’t help but laugh.The moment he laughed, she started to, and for several minutes, neither of them could do anything but laugh, and it felt great.He couldn’t help but wrap his arms around her.Part of him expected her to push him away, but instead she just ran her hand over his.It had been too long since they had felt this right together.

He didn’t know if he was going to be pushing his luck, but he pressed his lips against her neck.

“I missed this,” she said.

“I don’t think I’ve ever held you like this.”

“No, but I’ve missed us, working together as a team.”

It was like she sunk against him.

“I’m sorry,” he said.

He felt her tense up, and he didn’t have to wait long for her to spin around in his arms.“You’re sorry?”

Jaxson reached out, touching her cheek.“Yeah, because I didn’t go to the elder, nor did I even try to make this work between us.I didn’t want to tell him he made a mistake.Elders don’t make mistakes, and the truth is, Calliope, I missed you.When he told us we were destined to be mates and he joined our hands, it was like the world had finally been righted again.I know I don’t deserve you.”

She pressed a finger against his lips.“I want you to stop.”

“But—”

“Shut up,” she said.“We made mistakes.We’re kids, or at least wewerekids, and in a way, that is totally acceptable.”She shrugged.“We can’t change what we did, the only thing we can do now is live with what happened.We’ve got to survive this, and to do that, we’ve got to learn to forgive one another, and that is exactly what I am doing now.I’m forgiving you.I’m not going to hold the past against you, but I will warn you.If the past couple of days are anything to go by, we’re going to start hating our younger selves.”

He laughed.She looked into his eyes, but then he noticed her gaze dropped toward his lips.

“You want to kiss me,” he said.

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