The Rules of Regret (6 page)

“
There is no way I could rescue Lance
from a burning building. He
’
s
easily twice my size. I
’
d
call the fire department.
”

 
“
You
’
re making this harder than it needs
to be with your sensible logic and reason, Darby.
”
Torin tugged at the hair that curled
out from under his helmet, fidgeting with frustration.
“
This is an exercise, one in which you
need to take some initiative in order for it to work.
”
He threaded his fingers together at
the nape of his neck and angled his face toward the sky, like maybe the
inspiration would somehow rain down on him and he
’
d suddenly have the perfect words to
convince me to budge from my post. Unfortunately, I didn
’
t see the sky opening up at all to
grant him that wish.
“
Okay.
Let
’
s
try this again. I
’
m
Lance and you
’
ve
just caught me cheating on you.
”

“
That wouldn
’
t happen,
”
I replied quickly, adamantly.
“
If we
’
re doing this, it has to be
believable. Lance wouldn
’
t
cheat.
”
At least he wouldn
’
t
cheat again, that much I knew. Or at least that much I
’
d hoped. We
’
d traveled down that road a few too
many times and I was hoping we were finally on an alternate route.

“
Let
’
s go with the cheating example.
”

“
I don
’
t like it.
”
In fact, I hated it.

“
That
’
s why we
’
re using it. I need something to get
you to step off that platform. Protecting your relationship is the perfect
motivation.
”
Torin reached up to grasp the wire overhead and shimmied his body and weight
onto the rope underneath. It bowed under his boot-clad foot, pulling the
suspension with his weight.
“
Though
I find it a little odd that saving the guy you
’
re
in
a relationship with from a burning building wasn
’
t as important enough, but whatever.
”

“
Please don
’
t judge me, Torin. And please just
get to the point,
”
I murmured, trying to marshal any ounce of bravery I had. I slipped one hand
off of the trunk and reached toward the wire, but my fears wrap around every
muscle in my body, controlling them more than my resolve, and I yanked my hand
back and secured it on the bark again.
 

“
I
’
ve got an even better one,
”
Torin said as he bounced up and down
on the ropes. I felt the small vibration of his movement echoed in the tree and
I just about lost what was left of my lunch again.
“
Pretend I
’
m the girl he cheated with.
”

That
got my attention.

I
tried to recover my surprised expression, but he took notice.

“
He wasn
’
t that good anyway,
”
Torin teased in a catty voice,
several octaves higher than his natural one.
“
I just did it to make his girlfriend
jealous.
”

Seriously,
what is he trying to accomplish with this?

“
She
’
s all petite and quirky in a sort of
sexy way and goes to some Ivy League
—”

“
It
’
s a Pac-12
—”
I interjected.
Wait, did he just say quirkily sexy?

“—
and I bet he
’
s only with her since they
’
ve been together since they were
like, what, twelve?
”

“
Thirteen,
”
I corrected. I knew he was doing
this to get me mad, and I hated that it slightly worked. Maybe they used
brainwashing at this camp as one of their techniques. I wouldn
’
t put it past them. I really should
have done more research.

“
But if she
’
s really as important to him as she
thinks, then why is he here with
me
now?
”

“
Because it
’
s his internship.
”

“
It
’
s his job to go out every night and
hook up with random girls?
”
Torin
’
s
voice resumed its low, natural tenor, like he wasn
’
t joking at all anymore.

 
“
What
makes you think he
’
s
doing that?
”
I bit down hard on my lip, feeling like Torin knew something I didn
’
t, though I knew that couldn
’
t be the case. I hated the insecurity
that took hold of me and made me question the current status of my relationship
with Lance.

“
Does it make you angry to think that
it might be true?
”

“
Of course it does,
”
I said, relaxing my grip.
“
But at you and not him. Because he
’
s not cheating. I have his heart.
”

“
Well that sounds sweet and very young
love-ish and all, but he
’
s
a college guy in a city all the way across the country with no one holding him
accountable. In my book, that
’
s
the perfect recipe for cheating, and for getting away with it. And he doesn
’
t need to be in possession of his
heart to get into another girl
’
s
pants. Pretty sure that body part is not necessary.
”

I
grit my teeth until they hurt.
“
Lance
wouldn
’
t
do that because he
’
s
committed to me. We
’
re
committed to each other.
”
And he was all I had. I
’
d
proven before that even if he wasn
’
t
100% committed, I wasn
’
t
about to let go of him. That wasn
’
t
in my plan.

Torin
cupped his hand around his ear and leaned forward.
“
What? I
’
m sorry, I couldn
’
t hear that. You
’
re going to need to come closer.
”

I
totally got what he was doing here and I wasn
’
t about to be manipulated by his
attempts at trickery. I instead chose to just raise my voice.
“
He
’
s committed to me,
”
I repeated.

“
You have to come closer. I
’
m having trouble hearing you.
”

“
You
’
re a colossal ass!
”
I said, megaphoning my mouth,
knowing full well he had no trouble hearing
that
.
The other counselors back at camp probably heard it ringing clearly through the
trees like a siren whistling in the distance. It was the first time I
’
d ever called a guy that, and it
actually felt kind of good in a way that doing something wrong oddly makes you
feel good.

“
Maybe I am a colossal ass, but you
’
re the stubborn one.
”
Torin walked two feet forward with
such confidence that you
’
d
think he were some species of monkey that grew up swinging between the
branches.
“
So
tell me again how you know he
’
s
not cheating on you?
”

“
Because I trust him,
”
I admitted. And I did, or at least I
needed to.

Torin
nodded.
“
Meet
me halfway.
”

“
What?
”
I whipped my head his direction and
the end of my ponytail bit my cheek.

“
Meet me halfway, Darby.
”
With one hand holding onto the rope
above him, he slid forward on the wire and kept another hand extended my way.
“
You just told me you are able to
trust a person a continent away that you can
’
t even see. That takes a huge amount
of trust. If you can do that, then you should easily be able to trust this wire
since you
’
re
actually
watching
it as it holds me
securely.
”
He smiled widely and his tiny gap and dimples all showed at the same time. I
kind of liked it when they did that because it was some irresistible cuteness
trifecta.
“
It
’
s easier to put your trust in objects
than in people, and since you just proved you can do the harder of the two,
this should be a cake walk. C
’
mon,
meet me halfway.
”

“
But I don
’
t trust
you
yet.
”
I loosened my arms slightly and contemplated putting one foot in front of the
other, but I just couldn
’
t
will my body to follow through. This was really hard.

“
You don
’
t actually need to trust me, though
it would be nice if you did,
”
Torin said, pulling up the corner of his mouth the same way his dad did.
“
All you have to do is trust what you
see. Tell me what you see.
”

I
breathed in deep and that Pinesol scent infiltrated my lungs. Nausea swept
through me like a fog curling onto the coast.
“
I see a goofy mountain man suspended
a hundred feet in the air like some crazy trapeze artist.
”
What was it about him that made me
so snarky?

“
Okay, if that
’
s your interpretation of this, that
works.
”
He bent his knees and pushed up, bouncing on the taut wire just like earlier.
“
And now?
”

“
I see that you have a serious death
wish.
”

“
Less about me, more about the rope.
”

I
pursed my lips and gave in.
“
I
see that the rope is holding your weight.
”

“
Do I weigh more or less than you?
”

“
More, I hope,
”
I laughed, because Torin had at
least fifty pounds on me.

“
So if the rope can hold a
hundred-seventy pound guy, do you think it will hold you?
”

“
Yeah, obviously. But I
’
m not confident it will hold both of
us at the same time.
”

“
Would you rather me wait over here on
my platform then?
”
He gestured behind him with a glance flicked over his shoulder.

“
No, stay where you are.
”
With a movement that wasn
’
t my own, I slipped one foot onto the
rope, still gripping the tree with my hands. I had no idea what possessed me to
do it, and for a transitory moment I thought maybe there was some type of
wizardry going on at this camp along with the brainwashing I was fairly certain
they utilized. Nothing in me wanted to take that step, but I just did it like I
was under some spell.