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Austin grabs my finger and redirects it to my head. “Use your brain, woman. A cherry is a hymen.”
His touch ignites the electricity I’ve felt recently whenever I’m near Austin. We stare at each other for a second, undoubtedly realizing how fast this conversation has turned into something that feels a lot like flirting.
No. It feels a lot like verbal foreplay.
We break apart quickly and I jump up. “How long have we been out here?”
“Fuck. I have no idea.” He tightens his scarf. “It’s cold, though. We should hurry and catch the gondola back to the hotel before it stops running.”
Together we cross the patio to the double doors to the restaurant. My heart sinks. The glimmering laughter and camaraderie of earlier is now eerily absent. The doors are locked, the inside lights are shut off and a deafening silence engulfs us. My heart races when I realize I can no longer hear the distinctive sound of the gondola gears screeching.
Holy shit. We’re alone on the mountaintop. Everyone’s gone.
“Austin, I think we missed the last gondola.” I pound on the glass, hoping someone will hear and help us get to the hotel.
Nothing.
Austin darts across the deck, past where we were sitting and looks over at the terminal. “It’s dark. Shut down.”
“My phone is in the restaurant office, do you have yours?” I pat the pockets on my jacket to recheck.
He shakes his head. “I left it in my hotel room on accident.”
“Are you kidding me?” I pound on the windows harder. “We’re stuck up here?”
Austin returns to my side. “Looks like it.”
Chapter eleven
Austin
A Few Minutes Later
I’m at my breaking point.
Now’s not the time to crumble, though. Shay and I have real problems. It’s freezing and starting to snow. Hard.
“We have to find somewhere to take shelter.” I try the door again. “Maybe even break a window to get in.”
Shay puts the hood of her snowy white puffer jacket up. “Can’t we figure something out until morning? I’d hate to overreact and cause issues when we’re the ones to blame for missing our ride. What about the gondola terminal?”
“I guess it’s worth a try.” I hold my ungloved hand out to her, blown away by her cool head under pressure. “Let’s stick together.”
Her blue eyes blink up at me. She’s gorgeous with snowflakes melting on her lashes. “Okay.” Her voice is trusting as she takes my hand.
The past hour has been emotionally draining and somewhat cathartic. It took courage for Shay to reveal the layers of her struggle with epilepsy after I came at her so aggressively. I’m finding it hard to process how wrong I was about her and what an asshole I’ve been. I had no idea she was essentially living in her own hidden battleground and warring with her own mind on a daily basis. I can’t imagine trying to piece together memory gaps spanning hours.
Moments of her life lost in a fog of unawareness.
Pieces of herself lost in the abyss of time.
Times where she did things she doesn’t know about.
Learning that she and I…
What a mind fuck.
We trudge through the snow to the terminal and discover it’s locked down as tightly as the restaurant. There’s even less of a shelter here than at the seating area on the patio where we’ve spent the past hour.
