Sabrina shoves hikingpoles at me and then nudges Jitter toward the fork on the left without waiting to see if I’ll keep up. I step cautiously, but the tools she gave me for my boots have good traction.
“Wow. Makes a big difference. Thank you,” I say to her.
“Welcome to physics.”
“I know physics.”
She slides me a look. “Do you know it as well as you know, say, how to run a restaurant?”
That wasn’t sly at all. “I know physics better.”
“Believable.”
“But I’m a fast learner.”
“Also believable. Speaking of learning, I heard Zen say your villain era doesn’t really suit you.”
Zing. She lines up, takes her shot, and she scores.
“Midlife crisis.”
“You’re thirty-three.”
“You’ve done your homework.”
“You’d expect nothing less.”
She’s not wrong.
And even knowing it’s dangerous, I like knowing that she’s thinking about me as much as I’m thinking about her.
Also?
Not a single soul has asked me if I’m okay after my dizzy spell the other day. Nor has anyone other than Sabrina asked what Chandler did to me or how I feel about my former research lab partneractuallybeing in his villain era.
They’ve only hinted that they suspect Sabrina and I are hooking up.
She’s not posting secret videos of my confessions all over the internet.
Not like someone posted a video of the House of Curry food fight my first week here.
Sabrina seems to take her gossip seriously. She’s up-front that she knows everything and will disclose it when she thinks it’s necessary. I’ve seen it in action. And not just with the woman who posted the wedding video, though that was definitely the most direct.
We hike in silence for a few minutes save for the sound of Jitter’s happy panting and the crunch of our shoes and poles on the trail. It’s fascinating to me that the path is covered in packed snow, like this trail is hiked often, even in the winter, though we seem to be the only people here now. The sky’s a clear blue peeking through the pine trees, and there’s something unexpectedly peaceful and almost enjoyable about being out here.
My fingers are cold. My toes are cold.
But not unbearably so.
“Is what your lab partner did to you the only reason you’re in your villain era now?” Sabrina asks.
And honestly?
I like that about her.
No hiding. No games. No small talk. She’s straight to the point.
I shake my head. “Just the final straw.”
