Page 34 of Second Chance Vacation

“Not since high school.”

“You should—I think she’d like to hear from you.” Jackson scratches the back of his neck.

“I doubt it.” I chuckle uncomfortably.

“You’d be surprised.” His gaze meets mine, unwavering. The moonlight is just enough to make it obvious.

We grow silent again. I have so many questions to ask, but I can’t get any of them out. I just look down at the grass in my hand, pulling it to shreds. We sit like this for a while until I feel Jackson’s thumb absent-mindedly rub the underside of my foot.

“Jackson—what are we doing here?” I blurt it out before I can think to keep it down.

“You rolled your ankle—”

“That’s not what I mean—” I sigh. “What are we doing on this trip? Together?”

Jackson doesn’t respond immediately. He just keeps rubbing my foot as if the action alone is providing him some kind of strength.

“I don’t know, Viv. I don’t think we have to know.” He looks up at me, and for the first time since seeing him again, he seems…insecure, like he isn’t treading solid ground, like he isn’t as self-assured as he leads on. “All I know at this point is that I’ve missed having you around. We don’t have to know everything yet.”

His eyes meet mine, and I fall into them, the limited light of the moon illuminating them, looking back at me. I have been holding so hard to my insistence that this can’t happen that I’ve been holding back from the idea that maybe having him in my life again could be a good thing. It could also be the worst thing to ever happen to me, but I can’t keep going as if that is inevitable.

“I’ve missed having you around, too.” My confession startles even me.

The corner of his lip quirks up. “Good.”

Jackson, much to my dismay, has been a reoccurring thought over the years. Every time I smell a cologne similar to his own, every football season, every time Savannah sets me up on yet another ill-fated date, he crosses my mind. Sometimes I think he just lives there.

Time passes, but the ache of losing someone you care about never really goes away.

He squeezes my foot, signaling to me that we’ve sat enough on the ground in the woods. “Let’s get going—can you walk?”

I attempt to put weight on my foot, and while I can technically walk, it still hurts. I have an obvious limp in the short feet I attempt to walk.

“Hop on.” Jackson leans down.

“Absolutely not!” I gasp. My body tenses as he reaches for me, pulling away from his grasp. “I can walk!”

Jackson’s brows pull together as he clenches his jaw, holding his cool. “Gen, don’t be a baby—it’s the quickest way we’re getting you down there.”

“No!” I am committed to my stance.

“Okay then.” Jackson gives me no more time to consider as he lifts me with ease, tossing me over his shoulder.

“Jackson!” I yelp as he holds my thighs firm against his shoulder, refusing to put me down.

“I warned you—now shut up.”

“I—” I stutter. “You—” I struggle to think of something to say. Nothing comes. I just stay here, flung over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes as we emerge from the woods.

FOURTEEN

GEN

“Sav, you can’t be serious.” I glare in Savannah’s direction.

I stare at her as if, by some sense of sheer will, I will manage to convince her this is a bad idea. Savannah, however, is difficult to persuade.

“C’mon, it’ll be fun!” she says with a perky tone, refusing to look me in the eye. “You’re tense. You could use it.”

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