Aimee
Omfg, I’m showing Eloise that.
She’s going to be so upset she didn’t think of it.
Idk what Brennan’s plans are for her, but if you’re going to need a partner, I wouldn’t be surprised if he makes her try out skating with you.
If Brennan picks her up, she could be amazing.
Louis
Gotta go, Brennan is giving me the death glare.
Tho, Nicola’s might be worse.
I’ll tell them you said hi!
Aimee
I suckedin air as I tried to catch my breath.
Orion had just finished chasing me around with a snowball the size of a planet, threatening to dump it down the back of my jacket. Running through snow banks was no joke. I wheezed as I watched him tackle Annalise into a tube and they went flying down the hill. Annalise was doing a weird mix between a scream and a laugh and Orion was whooping.
“This is your brother’s last warning,” one of the safety techs said.
“If he can’t ride down properly, he won’t ride at all.”
It only took two more rides before Orion and the rest of us were escorted off the tubing slope and not so politely told to not come back for the duration of our stay.
“Why couldn’t you just behave?” Mom asked.
He grinned and shrugged. “Where’s the fun in that?”
“We’d still be able to go tubing for the next two and a half weeks,” I said, deadpanning.
I really hoped that they let Lukas and I back, because I wanted to try it out with him. Sledding had been fun, but I think I preferred the giant rubber tubes. Maybe I could weasel my way back into their good graces as long as I left Orion far,faraway.
“Aww, don’t worry. I’m sure they’ll let you and your boyfriend go tubing,” he teased.
Everyone froze, and heat bloomed in my cheeks. I snuck a quick glance at Zara, wanting and not wanting to know how she reacted to Orion being a jerk—but a huge smile was plastered on her face. She honestly looked thrilled and the reaction should warm me, but it had the opposite effect, and the heat that rose to my cheeks drained as a million memories of Asher threw themselves against my mind.
Boyfriend.
Boyfriend.
Boy.
Friend.
The guilt hit hard and fast, and Iknewthings with Lukas were too good to be true. We were moving too fast. Too much was happening. We barely knew each other, and those thoughts were reconfirmed with each thought of Asher plaguing my mind.
My breath caught in my throat, and I knew I had to look like I was three seconds away from self-destructing. It was stupid. Hearing Asher’s voice, the betrayal in it, when in reality I had no reference for his disappointment. But it was like he was looming over me, hands on my shoulders weighing me down. A dark insidious whisper in my ear telling me all the worst things about myself.
Fears come to life.
“Aimes?” Eloise said, her voice a bit muted and tentative.
I saw through dark spots as Annalise smacked Orion and he looked stressed. He couldn’t have known that his comment would send me into a spiral like this. It had been a long time since this had happened. I felt my breaths start to come in short pants.
