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.

her Alice because of

But why now?

after 13

now. How she

asked, forcing her to

+15 BONUS

myself

pricked Jasper’s heart. Of course he did.

because she refused to answer when he asked. He

Alice in

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

lives 13 years later.

for so

you do.” Alyssa smiled lightly. “There’s no need to, really. I

your life, after all. Whether it was 13 years, three

Jasper’s breathing hitched.

was nothing amiss in his complete forgetfulness of her or

stop the guilt weighing on his

he had forgotten her. All she ever

distance, unlike him, who only wanted

out. “I … really

have still divorced me,

her regrets about him, she wasn’t

nothing more than just

really. I

a chance to know your name or who

properly thank you.”

wanted to know the answer to this. It had

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

matter anymore, Jasper. It’s all in the past now. No point digging up a failed

her eyes, as if closing a tender place in her heart away.

on getting to safety right now. I’m freezing here.”

an unspoken truce between them as they