Fuck.
Dammit.
I was such an idiot.
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 ofannoyinglyattractive.
Stupidlyattractive.
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 shewas 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.
Butdamn.
Flashes of images that I refused to entertain flicked across my brain, and Ivowedto 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 stalkerwouldsay 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—helpingZara…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.
