Page 6 of The Long Game

“Honestly, Matthew,” I told him, my tone coming out a littleharsh out of pure survival. “I expected you to have shirts with #sparklesgate or #LadyBirdinator printed and in the mail by now. This touchy-feely display is disappointing.”

It wasn’t, but I couldn’t sift through everything currently rioting inside me.

The sound of him letting out a long and deep exhale came through the speaker. “Fuck, Addy.” He laughed, and this time I let thatAddyslip. “Now, you’ve ruined my surprise.”

I felt myself relax. Only slightly.

Because just in time, I noticed the road ahead starting to twist, jutting in and out of a copse of trees. Where the heck was I?

“Can we get back to the reason why I called you?” I asked. “I should be close enough to my destination now, and I’d like to know what’s waiting for me when I get there.”

“All right,” he agreed, the sound of the keys on his laptop coming through the line again. “So we’re looking for the Green Warriors.”

“Correct. In North Carolina.”

A few seconds went by, then he said, “Nothing. Not a single thing. Are you sure that’s the right name?”

Old Adalyn would say that I was. But I wasn’t. The last twenty-four hours had been proof of how much I no longer wasold Adalyn. “Try Green Oak. Try…” This was supposed to be a philanthropic venture, so perhaps I shouldn’t expect the team to be making headlines. “Try recreational.”

My last word seemed to hang in the reduced space inside the car, quiet except for the sound of the tires against the uneven pavement underneath.

When had I entered a dirt road? And why was Matthew not speaking? Was I out of reception?

I eyed the screen of my phone. The bars were there. “Matthew?”

A groan.

Oh no. “What did you find?”

“You’re not going to be happy about this.”

“Can you be more specific?”

“Have you packed sensible footwear?”

“Sensible? You mean house slippers?” I frowned. “I will be here for weeks, so yes.”

“Not slippers. More like boots.”

“Boots?” I repeated.

“The outdoorsy kind. You know, comfortable and sturdy and not attached to a five-inch heel.”

“I know what boots are.” I rolled my eyes, even though I hadn’t been thinking of that kind. “I’m going to work, though. I’m not here for a day trip to…” I eyed the maps app again. “A very large ridge of mountains.” Where in the world was this town? God. I should have really done my research before jumping on that plane. “I plan to dedicate as much time to the Green Warriors as I did to my job for the Flames. Plus, on the off chance that I have some free time, which I won’t, you know that I don’t engage in activities that include the use of Gore-Tex and the risk of falling off a cliff.”

“Oh, but you will.”

I frowned, taking a right on yet another dirt road. “What does that mean?”

The click of keys. Another groan.

My ears popped. God, how high was I? “Matthew, I’m about three seconds away from hanging up on you.”

“All right. What do you want first? The bad news? Or the worse news?”

“There’s no good news?” I asked, squinting my eyes and spotting the intersection I was headed for. I took the turn, the road changing to a mountain trail of sorts. Pebbles started jumping under the tires, hitting the bottom of the rental. I held on to the steering wheel. Tight. This couldn’t be right. I was pretty sure I shouldn’t be driving on a road like this one. The whole car was shaking—vibrating—with the bumps on the road that wasn’t really a road. “I think I’ve made a mistake.”

“That’s what I’m trying to tell you,” Matthew said. And if I had really been listening, I would have heard the urgency in his voice. But I was too busy wondering why this wasn’t a town. I was entering a property tucked into the thick of the woods.The woods.

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