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.

in

Alice because of

But why now?

after 13 years?

she wished he had

forcing her to

+15 BONUS

called myself Alice when we married?” she

pricked Jasper’s heart. Of course he did.

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

Alice in Wonderland.

wildest dreams did Jasper imagine that

their lives 13 years later. She had even

for

you do.” Alyssa smiled lightly. “There’s no need to, really. I never hoped you would.

than another passerby in your life, after all. Whether it

Jasper’s breathing hitched.

nothing amiss in his complete forgetfulness of her or in his

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

years, yet he

him, who only wanted to shut her

really didn’t know… If I

have still divorced

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

Alyssa or Alice, they’re nothing more

really. I should be the

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

properly thank you.”

did you still marry me, Alyssa?” Jasper wanted to know the answer to this. It

I saved you once, and you

in the past

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

getting to safety right now. I’m

seemed to be an unspoken truce between them as they waded through the thunderstorm.