Can’t Win Me Back

It was as though Jasper was adrift in a pool of pure astonishment, and the fact that the ledge beneath

them was falling apart only enhanced this surreal feeling.

“Hurry, Alice!” he cried, resurrecting a name that had been dormant in his mind for years.

Alyssa jolted in shock. The call of that name seemed to give her a boost of adrenaline. She was able to

push herself up on the ledge at the last second, right into Jasper’s arms.

He held her close in his arms, keeping her safe.

A thunderous boom echoed through the air.

Just as the rocky ledge disintegrated and tumbled down the mountainside, Jasper deftly rolled aside,

narrowly escaping the peril.

“Fuck!” he hissed in pain when his back collided with a boulder. The intensity of the pain led to an

immediate outbreak of sweat on his skin.

“Are you hurt?” Alyssa asked worriedly, noticing how pale he was.

Jasper shook his head, his voice steady as he reassured, “I’m okay.”

Alyssa heaved a sigh of relief, falling back against his chest. By now, both were thoroughly drenched and

shivering from the cold.

“Why… Why didn’t you tell me?” Jasper asked hoarsely, gazing at her.

“What?” Alyssa avoided his gaze.

“Why didn’t you tell me that we met 13 years ago? Why didn’t you tell me you were the girl I saved all

those years ago?” Jasper asked, pain and anguish flooding his chest.

throat clamped in on itself.

call her Alice because of that? Because he suddenly

But why now?

only after 13 years?

now. How she wished he had never

Alyssa!” Jasper asked, forcing her to meet his

+15 BONUS

do you remember why I called myself Alice when we married?” she asked solemnly.

heart. Of course

her that nickname because she refused to answer when he asked.

Alice in Wonderland.

wildest dreams did Jasper imagine that a seemingly trivial

intertwining their lives 13 years later. She

kept it secret for so

“There’s no need to, really. I never hoped you would. I’m

life, after all. Whether it was

Jasper’s breathing hitched.

complete forgetfulness of her

he couldn’t stop

years, yet he had forgotten her. All she ever did was try

distance, unlike him, who only wanted to shut her

out. “I … really didn’t know… If I

still divorced me,

widened. Though she had her regrets about

“Whether I’m Alyssa or Alice, they’re nothing more than just names. It

You don’t need to apologize, really. I

those years ago, I never got a chance to know your name or who you are,

properly thank you.”

still marry me, Alyssa?” Jasper wanted to know the

I saved you once, and you wanted to pay me back?”

It’s all in the past now.

eyes, as if closing a tender place

said, “We need to focus on getting to safety right now. I’m freezing here.”

seemed to be an unspoken truce between them as