‘Trust me, I’d rather be crawling through a window than making small talk while someone takes a file to my foot.’
Cam’s eyes drifted down to my feet. ‘More like a grinder.’
‘Hey!’ I shot back, but I still lifted one of them to inspect it. Okay, so maybe my heels were a little cracked. Maybe my feet had never been creamed or polished. ‘And what areyouplanning on doing with your appearance?’
‘Me? I’m perfect the way I am.’
I narrowed my eyes and advanced on him. ‘Perfect?’
‘Well, look at me.’ He gestured to himself. ‘I’m every bit the crypto-bro-mining-magnate-young-up-and-comer with a hot fiancé on my arm.’
‘Hot fiancé on your arm? Now that’s just downright offensive.’
‘It’s only offensive if it’s not true,’ he said, and he didn’t hide the fact that his eyes slid over me.
I planted my hands on my hips. ‘Cam, if you ever refer to me as your hot fiancé again, I’ll—’
‘Break my finger like the first time we met?’ He held his hand up and I looked at the still slightly crooked finger.
‘I’d forgotten about that,’ I said.
He took another step closer. ‘I haven’t. That day changed my entire life.’
His words made my spine stiffen and my stomach contract. But his next words did even more to me.
‘In fact, I haven’t forgotten a thing about that day.’
‘Well, I have,’ I said, brushing it off. ‘Oh wait, now that I think about it, I actually do remember one thing: the scream that came out of your mouth when I snapped your finger.’
‘I thought you said it was an accident?’
‘Maybe, maybe not,’ I said casually, and turned away.
‘Well, maybe I let you do it.’ That made me stop. This exact thought had rattled around in my head for so many years. I’d thought back to that moment again and again, and had wondered about it every time.
‘Did you?’ I swung around and looked at him. His eyes connected with mine with the same intensity as they had that day. But then he shook his head.
‘No, that was all you, Lizzy. All you.’
Eight years ago
I was standing at the edge of the wrestling mat. Arms folded. Chin up. Deep breaths . . . steady my racing heart. I was nervous, but desperately trying to hide it; the jury was still out on whether I was succeeding. But I had no choice. I was currently surrounded by a cocktail of testosterone and scepticism. I was the only woman in the class. I’d expected to be in a minority, but I’d never imagined it would be this minor. And as the only woman, there was a bright flashing light hanging over my head, all eyes on me.
Our instructor, an old-school type, clapped his hands together loudly and shouted, ‘All right then, listen up!’ He didn’t talk. He communicated at a level of decibels that was entirely unnecessary. ‘We’re starting with ju-jitsu today. We’re going to take you through your paces. See what your strengths and weaknesses are.’
I glanced around the room. I was not the only one doing that. Everyone was sizing each other up, taking in the competition, and itwas not lost on me that each time someone’s eyes landed on me, they stayed there a little longer than they should have. Not because they were checking me out, but because they felt awkward at the prospect of wrestling a girl. And then the instructor’s gaze fell on me, and lingered there longer than anyone else’s.
‘Uh . . .’ He cleared his throat awkwardly. ‘Maybe you can sit this one out. We’ll call in another woman from the year above to wrestle with you later.’
‘I can hold my own, sir.’ I stepped forward onto the mat.
The soft sound of laughter spread through the room.
I took another step forward. ‘Come on, which one of you is brave enough to fight me? Or are you all scared you’ll lose to a girl?’ I said it as defiantly as I possibly could, but inside I was quivering.
The laughter got even louder. And then, out of the corner of my eye, I caught sight of something. Blue eyes. Amid the sea of smirks and jeers, there was one person who wasn’t laughing at me. Instead, he was watching me curiously, like I was a complicated puzzle that he couldn’t quite figure out. Our eyes locked for a split second, and something twisted in my stomach.
‘I’ll do it,’ he said, stepping forward.
