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.

clamped in on itself.

of that? Because he suddenly

But why now?

after

too late now. How she wished he had never remembered.

asked, forcing

+15 BONUS

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

Jasper’s heart. Of course he did.

because she refused to answer when he

in

did Jasper imagine that

their lives 13 years later. She had even married him.

for so long,

do.” Alyssa smiled lightly. “There’s no need

life, after all. Whether it was 13 years, three years, or right now.”

Jasper’s breathing hitched.

complete forgetfulness of her or in his act of saving her

years ago. Yet, he couldn’t stop the guilt weighing on

yet he had forgotten her. All she

him, who only wanted

“I … really didn’t know… If

have still divorced me,

smile widened. Though she had her regrets about

Alice, they’re nothing

don’t need to apologize, really. I should be the one thanking you.

me all those years ago, I never got a chance to know your name or who

properly thank you.”

know the answer to this. It had tortured

just because I saved you once, and you wanted

Jasper. It’s all in the past

her eyes, as if closing a tender place in

“We need to focus on getting to safety right now. I’m freezing

seemed to be an unspoken truce between them as they waded