I untangle myself from Lukas and meet him halfway.
We hug, quick and hard, then he headbutts me lightly and grins.
"You skied like you were on fire," he says.
"Learned from you."
"Bullshit. You ski like you're trying to fight the mountain."
"Maybe I am."
He laughs and claps my shoulder, and for a second it's just us, the noise fading into static.
Then Katharina slips in beside him, and the way she looks at him makes my chest tighten.
She's watching him like he's the only thing in the room. Her hand finds his arm, fingers curling around his elbow.
She doesn't even glance at me. For once, I'm not the one she's managing, and it's weirdly freeing.
I turn back to the table and catch sight of Élise.
She's still standing near the wall, holding her beer with both hands, shoulders tight, scanning the room like she's waiting for someone to shout her last name.
She looks like a woman who checks her phone for threats, not for memes. If she survives one night in here without flinching at every notification, maybe she has a shot at surviving a guy who lives one bad edge away from netting.
I drain the rest of my drink and walk over.
"Come with me," I say, taking her hand.
"Where?"
"You'll see."
I pull her through the crowd toward the guy in the cow-print hat. He's swaying slightly, singing along to the music, grinning at nothing.
"Hey," I say, loud enough to break through. "This is Élise."
The guy blinks, squints at her like he's trying to focus.
"Élise," he repeats, testing it. Then he shrugs and raises his beer. "Nice to meet you, friend of Nico's. Prost!"
He clinks his glass against hers and turns back to his song without another word.
I look at her.
Her mouth is open, eyes wide, and I watch the exact moment it hits her.
He didn't ask for her last name. He didn't recognize her. He didn't care.
She exhales, long and shaky, and her shoulders drop.
"See?" I say.
She stares at the guy's back, then at me, and smiles.
Not the polished smile she wears in VIP boxes. A real one.
"Okay," she says quietly.
