Page 55 of The One That Ran Away

Shannon sputtered in frustration before she grabbed Jess by the cheeks and pulled her in for a kiss.

There were many moments in Jess’s life that felt like they were straight from a movie. Meeting Shannon had felt like a romantic comedy up until the moment it turned into a tragedy. But was this it? The penultimate scene, kissing on a bridge in the rain? Would the camera pan out and reveal them getting married on the beach, in the park, in the teashop where they met again?

Why was Jess thinking about that and not the kiss massaging her lips?

She entertained Shannon for two seconds. Two seconds long enough to remember the thrill from that faraway night. Two seconds too long, because the inevitable crash from the summit of Mt. Everest was never fucking worth it.

Jess broke it off the moment she regained her bearings. “Don’t do this to me,” she said, hand lingering in Shannon’s. Releasing her fingers was like blowing ashes into the wind. “Don’t make me fall in love with you again.”

She turned for a final time. The bus stop wasn’t too far away. She could carry her soaked, bedraggled ass on there and go straight home.

“Same to you,” she heard Shannon say before her voice was lost to the wind.

Shannon did not come after her again. By the time Jess was on the bus, she had already forgotten what it was like to kiss the soft, beautiful lips of Shannon Parker.

No. She hadn’t. She would always remember. Those were memories that would rock her to sleep for the rest of her life.

She only told herself she had, so she could live again.