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

because of

But why now?

only after 13 years?

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

me, Alyssa!” Jasper asked, forcing her to

+15 BONUS

I called myself Alice when we married?” she

pricked Jasper’s heart. Of course

given her that nickname because she refused to

Alice in Wonderland.

dreams did Jasper imagine that a seemingly trivial and long-forgotten

ultimately intertwining their lives 13 years

secret for so

lightly. “There’s no need to,

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

Jasper’s breathing hitched.

his complete forgetfulness of

couldn’t stop the guilt

yet he had

him, who only wanted to shut her

out. “I … really didn’t know… If I knew,

still divorced

Though she had her regrets about him, she wasn’t holding

continued, “Whether I’m Alyssa or Alice, they’re nothing more

need to apologize, really. I should be

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

properly thank you.”

me, Alyssa?” Jasper wanted to know the

on end. “Is it just because I saved you once,

doesn’t matter anymore, Jasper. It’s all in the past now. No point digging up a failed

if closing a tender place in her heart

said, “We need to focus on getting to safety

be an unspoken truce between them as they waded through