Pride

well, I just wanted to say thank you for helping me today.”

Harper looked sharply over at Adam, whose normally open face was shut up tight. She couldn’t read him at all. And she didn’t like it.

“And what did this wonderful guy do for you today?” Harper asked, in a sugary sweet tone. She leaned her head against Adam’s chest. His heart was pounding.

“He didn’t tell you?” Beth’s oh-so-innocent smile widened. “He spent his whole afternoon teaching me how to ski. I’m sure you would much rather have been off on the black diamonds or something.”

“No, I-” Adam looked down at Harper and cut himself off. He continued in a much more formal, measured tone. “I was happy to help, Beth. Now, we should really get Harper back to the room.”

Beth gave Harper a weak smile. It wasn’t returned.

“Okay, well-thanks again,” she said, offering Adam an awkward little wave. “It was… good to catch up.”

“Yeah.” Adam tugged Harper away, and they began shuffling down the hall as fast as Harper could hobble.

“That was very sweet of you,” Harper said carefully, anger and fear simmering in her chest.

“I didn’t plan it-,” he began.

“Oh, of course not.”

“But you should have seen her out there.” He chuckled at the memory. “She had no idea what she was doing.”

And that was your problem how?

But Harper stopped herself before the words could pop out of her mouth. She had a choice. She could follow her territorial instincts and make sure Adam knew just how wrong he’d been to spend the day with the enemy. And then lie about it. She could pick a fight with him that would probably end up with her limping back to her room, alone. She could leave him secure in the knowledge that she was a jealous, unforgiving harpy-and leave him free to chase after the sweet and innocent princess of his dreams. What would Beth do? she wondered. It was galling to even ask herself the question-but, given the starry look in Adam’s eyes every time that blond hair crossed his field of vision, maybe it was also her smartest move.

Beth, the doormat, the good girl would likely just bite her tongue. Smile. Tell Adam she was happy to see him move on from his anger. Beth wouldn’t care if Adam befriended an old girlfriend-or if she did, she’d know it wasn’t her place to say anything. It was the kind of behavior that made Beth into such a limp dishrag, at least in Harper’s estimation, but it was also the kind of behavior that made Adam love her. And if that’s really what he wanted, maybe it was worth a try.

“Well, she’s lucky she had you around to help her,” Harper said finally, with as much sincerity as she could muster.

“You mean that?” Adam asked, giving her a searching look. “I thought you’d be mad. That’s, uh, why I didn’t say anything before.”

“Of course I’m not mad, Ad-you can hang out with whoever you want. And”-she paused, choking the words out was actually inflicting physical pain-“I’m really glad to see you and Beth getting along better. I’m really happy for you.”

Adam pulled her closer to him and kissed the top of her head. “Do you know how amazing you are?” he asked.

Great. Just one problem, Harper thought sourly, beaming up at him. That wasn’t me.

Chapter 6

Kaia pulled her car into the lot of the Lost and Found and switched off the ignition, slamming a fist into the steering wheel. It had been hours since Harper’s phone call, but she was just as angry.

He’d wanted her to pity him, stuck in the mountains with a bunch of high schoolers.

“I’d so much rather be with you,” he’d sworn.

Right. Me-or the first blonde who crosses his path. Same difference.

Kaia didn’t even know why she was so angry. It’s not like she and Jack Powell were “going steady” or something pathetically absurd like that. You couldn’t cheat on someone if you weren’t in a relationship, right? Yes, he’d forbidden her to see other guys, and she’d accepted it, for the sake of keeping their secret. He was right: High school boys did get jealous-and, eventually, curious. But, she now realized, he’d never promised not to see other women. And she had never thought to ask.

And why would she? Wasn’t that their thing? No obligations, no attachments, no messy emotions screwing things up and getting in the way.

So she had no right to be mad, no right to be jealous. And if her ego had taken a hit, realizing that, apparently, she wasn’t enough for him-well, her ego was pretty tough. It would survive.

And meanwhile…

She picked up the flyer she’d tossed on the passenger seat: BLIND MONKEYS! ONE NIGHT ONLY AT THE LOST AND FOUND!

Reed was the lead singer, and had told her about the concert-and though she’d tried her best to forget about it, to forget about him, here she was. Their date-or whatever it had been-made less and less sense, the more she thought about it. And for the past twenty-four hours, she’d thought about little else.

Still, she’d promised herself she wouldn’t pursue anything. For one thing, he was way beneath her. For another, she had Powell-or at least she would, when he finally returned to town. Besides: garage bands, dive bars, and Kaia didn’t mix.

But tonight, after Harper’s call, she’d suddenly changed her tune.

Not that she had a sudden craving for smoky air and off-key covers. And she certainly wasn’t willing to admit that the thought of Powell with another girl-another woman-had driven her so crazy with jealousy that she’d hopped in the car and driven to this dead-end pit of a bar to throw herself at a pizza boy-cum-tow truck driver-cum high school dropout to be.

So what the hell am I doing here? she thought irritably. I should just turn around and go. Now.

But, instead, she opened the door, got out of the BMW, and headed toward the bar.

She didn’t know why she was there, or what she was getting herself into-but there was only one way to find out.

Maybe she was just a glutton for punishment.

After a long, hard, and too often painful day of skiing, Miranda was safely back in her room. She could plop down on the bed, pull out her iPod, let some good music wash her tension away… But, instead, she pulled out her computer. She no longer had any delusions that anything good could come from matchmadeinhaven.com – and yet she couldn’t squelch that last ounce of hope. She just couldn’t stop herself. So she logged on.

Congratulations, Spitfire, the following 1 user has expressed interest in your profile. Click here to learn more!

She was sure this latest candidate would be just as much of a loser as the rest, but there was no harm in finding out-just for the sake of curiosity, of course.

User Profile: ReadItAndWeep

Sex: male

Age: 17

Height: 5?9?

Favorite color: the desert sky, just after sunrise

Favorite food: chocolate chip cookies

If I were an animal, I’d be: a lab rat-plenty of nervous energy and nowhere to go. Just like your typical Grace teenager.

Celebrity I most look like: Brad Pitt