Page 61 of Abdominal Snowman

She nodded. Did the details matter at the moment? No. But having him answer her questions made her feel better in a way.

“How did you learn these specifics?”

Soren hummed for a moment. “Some of it I learned from my parents, but some of it I discovered for myself. The mile thing I learned by experimenting after they left.”

Sage didn’t respond for a moment, taking in the forest rich with diamond faceted snow.

Out here in the woods, there was no one else but them. And standing side by side… she felt brave suddenly.

“I’m pissed,” she began.

“I’m sorr—”

Sage held her hand up, stopping him. “Soren, I need to get this out before you speak.” She heaved a foggy breath and steadied herself to sort out her racing thoughts. “I’m pissed about the storm. Not only was it just utterly fucked up in the first place, but we—” She snapped her mouth shut. They’d fucked. Or something she’d thought was more passionate, more… earth shattering.

Those words wouldn’t come out. But what did was, “I get it. I really do. But I want to hear why you thought it was okay. Why did you make a storm in the first place?”

Soren ran a hand over the back of his neck. “Believe it or not, I’d been wondering the same question myself for the past few days. I first continued the storm after I found you investigating my parents’ rooms. Don’t get me wrong,” he blurted as a follow up. “At this moment? I’d give you the keys to the fuckin’ house. But… I think I panicked, and at that time, not knowing you, it just… made sense. So at first…” He emphasized the words by taking a step in front of her and staring down.

Now she had nowhere to look except at Soren, at the raw emotion in his gaze.

“At first, I was nervous and wary about the stranger in my home who knew my secret. I wanted time to get to know you. To make sure my secret would be safe. And the only way to do that was to… to…”

“To make it hard for me to leave,” Sage finished for him.

He nodded, then rambled, “You kept talking about the SnowBnB, and I thought that if you left, I’d never see you again, and before I knew it, I’d be on the run.” He shook his head, hovering his hands over her shoulders. When she didn’t pull away, he gently palmed them and stared down at her. “All of that was only in the beginning though. Once we started spending time together, and I got to know you… once I learned I could trust you, I regretted starting the storm in the first place. And I don’t even care if you believe me when I say this, but I was going to tell you. When I took you to Overlook Peak, I was going to explain more about my powers and how it works and what I’d done. And then I was going to get on my knees and beg for forgiveness and understanding.”

“When did you stop creating the storms?” Sage asked. She was numb. Or maybe just too emotional to pick one out.

Soren’s hands fell to his sides, leaving cold in their place against her shoulders. “The night before last.”

Sage swallowed. “Before or after we…”

Lowering his head, Soren sighed. “It sounds bad… but it was technically during.”

“Soren!” she scolded in disbelief.

“I know!” he said, groaning. “Believe me, I know. But you were asking me about the ice cube thing, and I realized how fucking…” His voice faded, and he cleared his throat.

“How fucking what, Soren?” she asked, thinly veiled threat in her voice. The only thing coming out of his mouth better be a motherfucking compliment or she was going to skin some abominable ass—

“I realized how fucking perfect you are, okay? For me.” Soren averted his gaze, and his cheeks pinkened as he sighed. Meanwhile, Sage was pretty sure her heart stopped at his confession. “I have been up here my whole life. In Berrysburg. Mostly alone, especially once my parents left.” His gaze shot to hers for a split second. “I was resigned to being alone for the rest of my life, Sage. I mean, who the hell wouldn’t freak out when learning that I’m not human? Who would I ever be able to share that part of myself with?” he asked with a scoff. Soren shook his head, and her heart lurched when she recognized the hurt in his expression.

But then he lifted his head to her, and Sage jumped at the intensity in his blue eyes. “But then you took a goddamned wrong turn, wrecked your car, played Goldilocks on my couch, and… and you didn’t run at the sight of me,” he finished. “You didn’t fucking blink.”

Sage chuckled to herself bitterly. “I mean, my chances of you being a serial killer were low… ish. Soren, I never thought you were dangerous, but I guess it wasn’t my health I needed to worry about, was it?” she asked.

Silence settled over them as Soren read between the lines. It’d been her heart. Soren wasn’t the only one who was taking a leap in this situation. He’d had hidden himself away on this mountain, hidden himself away from his past and everything associated with it.

Snow slumped in clumps off the trees, crashing into the other snow with muffled thumps.

“Do you want me to drive you to the airport?” Soren asked softly.

Hearing those words, that question, his tone utterly defeated but determined to do the right thing, it made her stomach lurch and her heart squeeze, and she knew damned well she wasn’t getting on a plane.

“It sucks. I never had any intention of reporting you to anyone. From the moment you tossed that pile of dried clothes up the stairs.” She paused. “But you were protecting yourself and your home from a stranger who took a wrong turn. And a reporter at that. I, more than anyone, know how dangerous the media can be. How scary it is when sacred information gets into the wrong hands.” Sage sighed. Goddamned snowman. “Is there anything else you need to tell me? Anything else I should know going forward?”

Soren’s eyes shuttered closed, and she watched his hands ball into fists at his sides. “You understand?”