Page 32 of The Route to You

She swallowed hard, searching his eyes. “All right.”

“I do have to swing by the hotel or have Davy meet me in town before we leave—she rented a tux for me, and I need to return it—but I can drop you off somewhere or leave you in my car while I do that.” He added dryly, “But, uh, obviously I’m going to need to wait until she actually sends me a message that there’s no wedding today, because I didn’t tell her I knew you and I’m not supposed to have any way of knowing about the missing bride before her.”

Her heart sped up. A morning traipsing around Vail seemed a bit risky if she wanted to avoid being seen but, then again, she’d know the places that Evan and his friends wouldn’t be likely to look for her. And the town was big. Maybe she could hide under a hat, wear some sunglasses, and keep her hair hidden . . .

Then she looked up sharply. “Okay. I know exactly where I want to go first.”

10

KYLE

This trip was not what Kyle had expected but, at this point, it was absolutely his own damned fault.

Maybe it had been how broken Sloan seemed. Or the way she’d blinked those pretty big brown eyes up at him like he was the last functional adult within a fifty-mile radius. Maybe it was the fact that some stupid part of him still responded to her like he was nineteen and didn’t know any better.

Suddenly he was a sucker all over again, saying yes when yes was an objectively terrible idea.

Try as he might, he couldn’t find it in him to politely disentangle himself from the mess she was dragging him into. The absurdity of it—her turning to him, him agreeing, both of them pretending this wasn’t insane—hadn’t fully hit him until he was sitting in a diner near Lionshead Square, waiting for Davy to finish placing her order like they were having a normal Saturday morning.

Normal.

He’d filmed an episode about Vail and Breckenridge for the Travelog Channel a couple of years ago with Tomas. Davy had been here for that, too, because they were friends. Real friends. The kind that survived airports and deadlines and shared bathrooms on shoots and eating questionable foods that looked like they’d been sitting under heaters for too long.

Yet, when Davy had texted him about the change of plans for the day and suggested they meet up for breakfast, he’d somehow managed to text, oh really? bro, that’s nuts without so much as a flinch.

So. Clearly. Great at lying.

“Can I have your menu?” the server asked, yanking him out of his thoughts.

“Yeah, sure,” Kyle said, handing it over as he caught the server’s eyes.

She did a double take. “Wait. Are you . . . oh my God, I know you! You’re that guy on the internet, right? The travel guy.”

“I’m that guy ,” he said dryly. One of the more interesting aspects of internet fame. He’d reached a point where he was recognizable to people on social media but not well known enough that they actually knew his name.

“Can I get a selfie?” the server asked, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

“Sure.” He leaned toward her as she whipped out her phone.

“My friends aren’t going to believe this,” she said, grinning beside him and snapping the picture with the triumphant energy of someone who had just caught a rare Pokémon.

As the server walked away, he met Davy’s eyes. She shook her head, slowly. “I’m so proud.” She dabbed her eyes at imaginary tears. “You’re basically a household name now.”

“Yeah. Known as that guy. ” He sighed. “One day I might even get a free coffee. Until then, I’ll continue to live as a peasant.”

Davy snorted and sipped her water. Then her expression sobered. “Thanks so much for meeting me. The hotel is chaos. Everyone is just walking around whispering gossip that’s mutating by the second. It’s nuts.”

“So.” Kyle cleared his throat, the words choking him. “What happened?”

“No one knows.” Davy sipped her ice water. “Sloan just vanished. Evan’s this close to filing a missing persons report. He’s absolutely gutted.”

Missing persons report?

Kyle held still, using every ounce of his willpower to keep from cringing visibly.

“He’s . . . upset?” he managed.

“Of course he is.” Davy’s face was earnest. “Wouldn’t you be? And they’re such a perfect couple. He completely dotes on her.”