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We drove into town and down the busy streets. During the summer, it got particularly busy with the tourists mixing with the locals. There were lines outside of most of the restaurants, but I turned down one of the side streets instead.
I pulled the car along the street and put it in park before killing the engine. Winter’s hand was still in mine and I turned to look at her.
“It does to me.”
Her lips parted slightly and a soft breath escaped her. I watched the resignation on her face as it swept across her delicate features. “I was just thinking about all the times you used the code to sneak in. I think my parents knew but they didn’t want to say anything.”
Her admission caught me off guard. “Why do you say that?”
She raked her teeth over her bottom lip before releasing it. “Remember that one time you skipped school and brought me my favorite soup when I was sick? You curled up in my bed and fell asleep for a little bit. My mother came home early and saw you.”
I stared back at her. “She never said anything.”
Winter shook her head. “She looked between the two of us and told me that you had better leave before my father got home. She never brought it up again.”
“Why didn’t you ever tell me?”
Her eyes were soft and warm, inviting me into her soul. “I didn’t want you to stop sneaking in.”
Something about the way she spoke those words splintered my heart. I rubbed my thumb over the back of her hand as I held on to her. We were going to be late for our reservation, but I didn’t even care.
“Nothing would ever keep me from you.”
I watched her expression transform. Ice encapsulated her irises, pushing out the warmth that once resided there. She slowly pulled her hand from mine as she opened her door. The coldness radiated from her as she gave me one last look.
“It’s funny you say that, considering you kept yourself from me for six years.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
WINTER
Kai sat unmoving in his car for a moment as I got out and shut the door behind me. I knew I was letting my anger get the better of me but I couldn’t help myself. Something about him speaking those words just hit a nerve and it was like a switch flipped. There was still a bitterness that I was harboring inside.
Forgiveness was right there, so close I could almost taste it, but I needed more from him. I had questions I needed answers to. He was delusional if he thought he would come back here and we would pick up where we left off like that night never happened between us.
As Kai got out, there was a deep sadness situated in his stormy dark blue eyes. I let out a breath as I stood on the sidewalk and watched him walk around the front of the car to meet me. He was silent and the weight of the air around him was suffocating.
He was drowning inside and he was threatening to pull me down into the depths with him.
And if I weren’t careful, I would let him do it.
“Hey,” I said softly as he walked past me, not even sparing a glance in my direction. “Kai, wait.”
He kept walking, yet his gait slowed a fraction. “We’re already late for our reservation, Winter.” His tone was frigid and clipped. I watched for a moment as he walked to the front of the small brick building and pulled open the door for me.
Only then did he look at me and his gaze sent a shiver down my spine. He stood there with his hand wrapped around the handle of the door as he held it open for me. His expression was blank and void of any warmth. He waited with an expectant look on his face.
A sigh escaped me and my footsteps followed after him without my instruction. I stepped past him, the smell of his cologne enticing my senses as I walked into the restaurant. From the outside, it didn’t appear to be much but as we entered, it appeared to be a much bigger building than it seemed.
“What is this place?” I asked him quietly as we stepped up to the hostess stand. It was somewhere new to me, somewhere I had never been before. “Is this a new restaurant?”
Kai looked straight ahead. “It appears so.”
I stared at the side of his face as an emptiness settled inside of me. An older woman stepped up to the stand and Kai gave her his last name. I watched, feeling like I was moving in a body that wasn’t my own as she grabbed two menus before leading us to our table. It was tucked in the back corner of the restaurant and I was grateful for the privacy.
Kai pulled my chair out for me to sit down and slowly eased it back toward the table once I was seated. Even though he was crass and cold, he knew how to be a gentleman. It just depended on whether or not he felt like being a gentleman in the moments that called for it.
He took his seat across from me and lifted a menu up in front of his face to look at it. He didn’t speak a single word to me and I couldn’t shake the mixture of emotions that were filling me. It was a wide variety that eventually settled on sadness. And regret.
