Somewhere Only We Know(35)

Scratch that—this was what it was all about.





CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX


JACK


Kissing this girl was going to kill me, and I couldn’t stop.

And then the tram stopped. With a teeth-grinding halt. And it all ended as quickly as it happened.

When I opened my eyes, I was staring right into Lucky’s. Wide, startled, and dilated to full black.

The shoulder-tapping girl was long gone and everyone was getting off the tram. They moved around us like water. My hands dropped from Lucky, heart pounding.

I took a deep breath, trying to regain some of my senses. This was not a part of the plan. Flirting, yes. Kissing, though? And feeling like this after kissing her?

Totally, 100 percent not anticipated.

Her cheeks were pink and getting pinker by the second. I could see her trying to think up a phony explanation. She couldn’t hide it because her defenses were so completely blown.

I knew why she kissed me. Somebody recognized her. But I had to pretend like I didn’t. I pulled myself together because I had to create a diversion for her diversion.

Knowing that I was being a total ass, I let a shit-eating grin stretch across my face. “Was that your first kiss?”

Whatever explanation she was trying to cook up flew out the door. Her mouth dropped open and the color in her face deepened from a pale pink to red. “Pardon me?” she sputtered.

I cocked my head, the universal sign of patronization. “Wasn’t it, though?”

She stood stock-still, staring at me with arms hanging down by her sides. For a few seconds I wondered if she was having a stroke.

“Yeah, it was my first kiss! What of it?” she finally yelled.

What.

The tram was empty now and it was just me and her and the weight of her words surrounding us.

“Wait. What?!” It was my turn to sputter.

She glared at me. “Happy?” Then she tore out of the tram, jumping off the steps, feet landing hard on the pavement before she stalked off.

I stood there for a second until I heard someone clearing their throat. The conductor. The young dude shook his head at me. “Smooth move.”

“Okay, creep!” I blurted out before chasing after Lucky.

First kiss. I was Lucky’s first kiss. I had joked because she had seemed so nervous, and I thought it was because of the situation. Teasing her was only supposed to distract her.

Way to go, Jack.

I saw a green cap bobbing in the crowd, headed toward the visitor center sitting at the base of the peak.

“LU—” Crap. “FERN!”

She didn’t turn around, of course. Fern had only been her name since last night. I pushed through the tourists streaming into the center until I got to her. I resisted reaching for her. “Fern!”

“Excuse me, who are you?” Her voice was icy and her eyes fixed on something in front of her. We were shuffled along into the visitor center.

Think, Jack. “Hey, sorry. I didn’t mean to—”

“Be a cad?” The words flew out as quickly as her head swiveled. I resisted flinching visibly. Damn, she could be scary.

“Yes. Er, a cad. I was teasing … I didn’t realize…” I stumbled over the words. This lack of cool was very disconcerting. Smooth the situation over, Jack. Smooth it! “I would have said it to anyone! Not because of how you kissed.” Okay, the least smooth thing you could have said. The least!

Her look of disgust confirmed this. “Why, thank you. Thank you, oh experienced lover.”

The word “lover” almost made me laugh, but I stopped myself. An awkward silence fell between us as we walked into a narrow but tall building encased in glass. Escalators led to various levels filled with souvenir shops and attractions. One sign near us pointed to the “Sky Terrace.”

Lucky stopped in front of the sign, then looked at me. “What’s the Sky Terrace?” Her voice was flat, still annoyed at me.

“We can skip it. It’s so touristy. You can still see great views from other parts of this area.”

She stared at me, her mouth a straight line like that one emoji.

Those tickets were another fifty Hong Kong dollars or so. I closed my eyes. All right, I had my credit card. If this story panned out, I’d get my money back and then some. “Okay. Fine. Let’s do it.”

“Thank you,” Lucky said, voice still cool, but her step lighter. She was excited.

After I got the tickets, we took the escalators up to the terrace in further silence. She kept her cap lowered on her face and crossed her arms. This melancholy was bumming me out and suddenly the only thing I wanted was to get her out of it. Her smiles from the morning felt like a faded dream.

Jesus. Faded dreams, flower petals, and feathers? What was going on? Stay focused, Jack.

When we reached the terrace, a cold wind kicked up around us. We were at the very top of the peak with 360-degree views of the city. I hadn’t been here since I first moved to Hong Kong, and forgot how cool the view was. If you could squeeze between the people pushing against the railing.

Pulling her hat down to obscure her face, Lucky made her way to the edge, wriggling between people and leaning her body against the railing and glass partition. We were on the side facing the city, tall apartment towers shooting up around us like something from Minecraft.