AllFreeNovel
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I can feel his scowl digging daggers into my scalp, but I don’t care. I’m making breakfast. He can be the one to relay the bad news.
“Well, Hunter went back to the apartment.”
“Why?”
Lucas sighs and I glance over my shoulder, watching him take Rachel’s hand and hold it between them. “I think he needed some space to think.”
“But I thought we were going to go back together.”
I sigh, turning off the stove and placing the last pancake on Lucas’s plate. I slide it over the counter towards him. I should probably make something for myself, but I’m no longer hungry. Something in my stomach twists at the whole situation, especially now, seeing tears in Rachel’s eyes.
“Well, we’ll see him tomorrow,” says Lucas and I can see him trying desperately to find some sort of positive in this awkward situation.
Rachel sniffs and I watch her bite her bottom lip. “Did I do something wrong?”
“No,” I say quickly, walking around the counter and throwing my arm over her shoulder, pulling her into a hug. “You did nothing wrong.”
“Then why did he leave? Why doesn’t he want to talk to me? I don’t understand.”
“I don’t think you’re supposed to understand,” I say into her hair.
She pulls away from me, wiping at her eyes before stabbing a fork into her breakfast, shoving a large bite into her mouth.
“Let’s have fun today,” says Lucas. “We can go skiing first and then do some ice skating.”
“Yeah,” I say as cheerfully as I can muster. “It’s our last day. Let’s try to enjoy it as much as possible.”
She nods curtly, shoving another bite into her mouth before offering a small, sad smile to us both.
After grabbing our gear and driving to the resort, I spent most of the day helping Lucas teach Rachel how to ski. She was absolutely pathetic. Like mind-blowingly pathetic. I had never seen anyone be so terrible at skiing. Every time she stood up, she would fall right back down.
Even the five-year-olds were way better than her, zipping and laughing while they flew by.
I look down at the clock now, seeing that it’s way past lunch. I look longingly at the larger slopes, wondering if I’ll ever be able to ski down them, but at this rate, I know I should just give up. I’ll go next time. There’s always a next time when Lucas is your friend.
I glance over at the tall dark man now, who hasn’t even touched his skis the whole day, unlike me. He helps Rachel up the small bunny hill, holding her hands and pulling her up, smiling at her affectionately as if none of this bothers him.
He’s a very good faker.
I mean, I can believe he’s having fun with Rachel. I think he likes taking others under his wing, but I know he’s more upset about Hunter than he’s letting on. I can’t believe the bastard is smiling. The whole day I have been fighting the need to pout, to demand we head back and see how Hunter is doing.
Rachel looks over my shoulder, her goggles blocking my view of her eyes. She raises a hand at me and I force a smile, waving back. At least all this is taking her mind off Hunter. That fight last night was tough to listen to, and even more tough afterwards, when she came down crying. I was even more shocked when Hunter remained in his room for the rest of the day and the entire night. He didn’t even come down for steaks we were grilling. Like… what the hell was up with that?
I watch Lucas push Rachel down the slope as if she’s four years old and fight the need to roll my eyes. She wobbles downwards, moving her skis into a triangle, slowing her slide down the puny hill. She ends up right in front of me, a large smile on her face as she tries to keep her balance.
“I did it!”
“You sure did,” I say sarcastically.
“Oh, you’re so mean!” Rachel shouts, smacking my shoulders with her gloved hands.
“No! Stop!” I laugh, holding my hands up, but she doesn’t stop. She wobbles on her skis before stumbling forward into my arms. I lose my balance and fall backwards, groaning as I feel the cold snow against my naked neck and her body pressing me into the chill.
She slides up her goggles while I lift my head and my heart seems to flutter as our gazes meet. I chuckle, poking her nose with my gloved finger, a smile growing on my face as she wrinkles her cute little nose.
And I feel myself needing to take her home immediately.
I lift us both up, help her kick her skis off while Lucas strides towards us. “Are we done, yet?” I ask.
