Those who had already completed the run kept their scores towards their national rankings, and those who wiped out, or didn’t get to compete were given complimentary scores within their own personal averages. The qualifier was being rescheduled for a later date and everyone was being invited back to participate. It was unprecedented—Petyr had been shocked and he’d been coaching for years. Honestly, I couldn’t have cared less when it was announced. My thoughts had been nothing but Aimee for weeks.
And there she was.
She hadn’t noticed me yet, her eyes were focused on Zara. I started climbing the stairs as the music started, knowing she’d be distracted, not paying attention to her surroundings. I walked down the aisle towards her—her hood blocked her peripheral vision, so it wasn’t until I sat down in the seat next to her, that her head turned in my direction. Aimee’s eyes went wide and then watery. Her chin and lower lip started to wobble.
“It appears Eloise might have been right about me. I think I might be stalking you,” I said.
“Hi,” she breathed out.
Tears rolled down her cheeks, and I reached out and wiped them away.
One moment she was in her seat, hands clutching the armrests, and then in the next moment, she launched herself at me.
CHAPTER 46
aimee
My brain was on a loop.
A chorus ofOh my God, playing over and over.
A culmination of every single thing I’d been feeling for weeks now bubbled up in my chest, tears slipped down my cheeks, and the feeling of his thumb brushing across my skin, broke me.
Not that I had much control. The moment I saw him all but the tiniest bit dissipated. Yes, we needed to talk, but right now…right now I just needed to feel his arms around me. I needed him to ground me, make me feel safe. Zara and her trial didn’t matter. Nothing outside ofhimmattered. I launched myself out of the seat and into him. I was full on crying now, curled against him, cradled in his lap. My whole body shook, but he was here.
The thing I wanted more than anything else.
One of his hands cradled the back of my head, and the other was rubbing soothing circles on my back. I breathed in his scent and the tears fell harder. I buried my face in his chest as I sobbed. It had all been so much. I’d been so, so,soincredibly scared that day of his accident. I’d never known fear like that. I thought I did, I thought the worst moment of my life was forever going to be the day Asher died.
But when Lukas didn’t move.
He didn’t fucking move, and I’d never seen a body contort the ways his had.
I clutched at his jacket.
“Sssh, it’s okay,” he soothed.
He kept repeating those words until I had regained some control over myself. I reached up between us to wipe at my eye and nose. I was a mess. I felt his arms tighten when I started to sit up, but he relaxed when I wasn’t moving to get off his lap. Lukas’ hands cradled the sides of my face, cupping my cheeks. His thumbs wiped the remaining tears away.
“I think I got snot on your jacket,” I said, a little sheepishly.
“I’ll throw it in the wash,” He said, his thumbs still brushing over my cheeks.
“I missed you.”
“I’m sorry for how everything went down that day.”
I wanted to duck my chin, to not meet his gaze because I was ashamed. I regretted it too.
I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him close.
“I was so scared and instead of talking to you, I pushed you away. I hurt you so that I couldn’t hurt you in the future. And that sounds so dumb, I know. And it’s a horrible, terrible excuse, but I hadn’t been sleeping, I could see how much Petyr disapproved of me, and I just knew that all my personal shit was going to keep you from your dreams.”
“Sshh. Aimee, breathe. Firstly, Petyr disapproves of me on a daily basis, so you’re not special.”
I hiccupped a laugh.
“Secondly, I wasn’t any better. I pushed you away because I got in my head and convinced myself that I would always be competing with his ghost. I was jealous and let that jealousy eat me alive and that wasn’t fair to you. It wasn’t fair to me and it wasn’t fair to what was building between us.” He paused. “I will forever regret how things ended between us at The Lodge.”
