Chapter 7
aimee
“Zar, a little help here.”
“Absolutely not. Dig yourself out of this weird hole you’ve put yourself in. I’m embarrassed for you.”
I heard her scoff and a smile pulled at the corners of my lips against my wishes. I tugged on Eloise’s sleeve again, but she was ignoring me, probably trying to burn holes into…arguably the most attractive man I’d ever seen in my life.
Like, kind of annoyingly attractive.
Stupidly attractive.
Why the fuck was he so attractive?
I felt heat blooming on my cheeks.
“Zara,” he grounded out.
“Lukas,” she droned back.
When I heard two sets of feet hit the ice, I braced for impact. Dropping my chin, squeezing my eyes shut—a habit I’d picked up very early on after the accident. If people couldn’t see my face, they couldn’t recognize me. It was reactionary.
Then, he started talking, and didn’t stop.
Words just kept pouring from him. Had Zara not already informed me that her brother was here with her, and that she was a fan, I might’ve been alarmed at the amount of information Lukas seemed to know about me.
He loved his sister and cared about her interests…and her interests happened to be about me.
Was I over-rationalizing the situation?
Should I be more concerned?
Was Eloise’s reaction an overreaction?
No, it was definitely her way of protecting me.
Even covered in hot chocolate, Lukas was delicious, which is probably too on the nose for his current predicament.
But damn.
Flashes of images that I refused to entertain flicked across my brain, and I vowed to never read one of Eloise’s spicy romance books again.
I mentally shoved the images away, not needing the distraction—though I could hear Val’s voice in my ear telling me to take pictures and mental notes so she could steal them for book inspiration.
“I swear I’m not some creepy stalker,” Lukas said.
My attention snapped back to the present, and I stared at him. Could he not see that I knew that? Maybe my self-preservation kicked in…what had my face looked like?
“That’s what a stalker would say if they were trying to convince us they weren’t,” Eloise said, finally taking a step back.
I no longer wanted to rush away, but getting away might quiet the images in my brain, and give Lukas a chance to maybe recalibrate.
Lights flickered on all around us—strings of them twinkling between pine branches.
The sky was a dusky purplish blue and being so far in the mountains, stars were starting to come to life in the sky.
I shivered against a brush of cool air, crossing my arms over my chest. I knew Eloise wasn’t going to give this up.
Especially not after everything that happened after.
Exhaustion hit me and I just wanted to curl into a ball in bed.
Being out here—helping Zara…it hadn’t been much of a choice, but a need?
Maybe? I wasn’t entirely sure why I walked out here, why I helped her.
But something in my chest said I should—I needed to. So I had.
“We met that day,” he said. “You were standing and waiting. My sister rushed past you, and I told you she was your biggest fan.”
So much of that day was a blur—a lot of it I refused to acknowledge.
The pain and hurt that day dredged up…I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.
I could feel my hands starting to tremble, the emotions bubbling up as the memories I tried to keep locked away resurfaced.
The burn of tears hit the back of my throat.
“Aimee?”
I opened my eyes and met Eloise’s concerned gaze.
The look on my face must’ve been alarming because Lukas jerked forward a step and I felt myself flinch back—my foot losing traction.
My mind blinked out, flashing back to that moment.
I waited for the impact. The cold seeping through clothes… the warmth.
Instead, I felt hands. Vice grips on my arms, jerking my fall to a hard, sudden stop. Lukas had me. His eyes were wide, a bit panicked, his chest heaving. He held me in that suspended fall for a moment longer, before swallowing and pulling me to my feet.
Eloise pushed him aside, pulling me into a tight hug. I felt my arms wrap around her, but my eyes never left Lukas’.
He ran a hand over his face, and then made a little look of disgust when he remembered the hot chocolate.
“Come on, let’s go inside,” Eloise said.
I nodded, and let her pool me away. I tore my gaze from Lukas’ to meet Zara’s. She looked like she was on the verge of tears. I gave her a small wave, which probably did little to assure her.
“Are you okay?” Eloise asked, her grip firm on my arm.
My knee twinged a little bit, and my head was a riotous mess of past guilt, memories and wicked things that I shouldn’t be feeling.
“I’m fine.”
All I really wanted to do was to take a hot shower and crawl into bed and sleep.
“Why are the hot ones always so fucking weird?” She complained.
A laugh burst out of me, startling me and I opened my eyes.
Eloise wasn’t done. “I mean, he could have been crafted by a Greek master, yet everything that spewed from his perfect fucking mouth—I mean, did you see that mouth. Jesus Fucking Christ. I’d love to be kissed by that mouth—but I digress. He practically stalked you. Posters and all.”
I couldn’t help but laugh again. It sounded hollower than the first one, and I wasn’t sure if Eloise caught it.
“I think Camille would be jealous hearing you talk about wanting to feel Lukas’s lips on yours.”
“Hey, I never said I wanted to feel his lips on mine.”
I choked on the laugh that bubbled out. The elation quickly died.
“Remind me to take away your Kindle. Your mind is in the gutter.”
“Aimes, don’t knock it until you try it. Trust me, it’ll change your world,” Eloise said in all seriousness.
Heat bloomed on my cheeks and I wiped at the remaining tears. We were almost back at The Lodge and I was ready to beg Eloise and my parents to just let me go to sleep.
“He’s not a stalker. You should know. You stood over there talking with him long enough.”
She scoffed. “He hid it well. And while I was talking about him, he was watching you with his sister. He barely looked at her, and he couldn’t take his eyes off of you.”
I didn’t look at her because I didn’t want to see whatever cheeky grin she had on her face. I knew her mind was currently where mine had been for only a moment.
“I can’t believe you dumped hot, hot chocolate on him,” I said, changing the subject.
“Do you think I burned him?”
“I don’t know if I should be concerned that you don’t sound the least bit concerned that you might’ve burned him,” I said.
“I mean…” She shrugged.
“Eloise,” I scolded. “Zara told me all about her brother—how he takes her to all the competitions, is her biggest supporter. She’s…she’s like my number one fan apparently.”
“Well, It was warm at best. I’m sure he’s fine. But maybe he should learn not to vomit in a way that screams ‘I'm a stalker’.”
I sighed and let my head fall back. The sun had fully set, the sky a mix between the darkest blue and black. Stars were showing up in full force—even despite the lighting around The Lodge. I’d never admit it, but it was nice not being home, to see a slightly different sky.
“I kind of wish you hadn’t dumped my hot chocolate,” I said.
“Can you just imagine what that mouth is capable of?” Eloise said.
I laughed truly this time, and also wouldn’t admit that I could imagine, and my brain was already betraying me and wondering just exactly what Lukas could do with his sinfully sexy mouth. And for a moment, the guilt abated, a weight lifted and for just one more moment, the future seemed brighter.
But just for a moment.
I knew the fall from this height would be brutal.