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“Yeah, I’m pretty busy.” His comment was matter-of-fact, abrupt even, with no hint of welcome in his tone. He jerked his chin toward the stack of boxes behind him.
“I figured you might be on lunch, and I—well, I needed to talk with you for a minute.” Addisyn bit the inside of her lip. This wasn’t going well. She could tell. But why? What was this tension she felt? Darius seemed like a smoldering powder keg. What had she done?
Apart from kiss him on a rocky mountainside.
She’d thought he’d at least offer to talk, tell her to wait just a minute while he finished, and then he could take his lunch. Instead a short bark of a laugh slipped from his lips. “Talk to me?” Anger flared hard and bright in his eyes. He took a step toward her. “Addisyn Miles, I don’t have anything to say to you.”
Addisyn felt as if some iron fist was squeezing her heart into a funnel-shaped fragment of what it had been. “What?” He didn’t respond, so she tried again. “Darius, I don’t understand. What’s going on?”
Was all of this over that stupid kiss?
“You used me.” Darius’s jaw jutted forward. He crossed his arms over his chest. “You let me think you actually cared about me, actually wanted to be with me—for crying out loud, maybe even loved me!” His voice had climbed a staircase with each word, but he lowered it for his last jab, spacing his words. “And it was all a fake.”
His last three words drove into Addisyn’s soul like so many spikes. “Darius—” She wiped her trembling palms on her dress. “If this is about that kiss—” Her face was turning scarlet just saying the word.
“That kiss?” Darius snorted. “Of course not, Addisyn. This is about the fact that you—” His voice rose again. He jabbed a finger at her—accusing, convicting, and sentencing. All in one. “You are not some sweet little innocent girl from America on a nice road trip. You are Addisyn Miles, famous figure skater, future Olympian.” Darius choked a bit over the last word. He swallowed hard and seemed to be waiting for her reaction.
Like steam from humid ground, waves of shame rose over Addisyn’s spirit. Coupled with amazement. How in the world had Darius found out? He had to have been looking at some skating website or something.
“Well?” Darius’s voice reverberated in the cramped space.
Addisyn tried to gather her thoughts. She’d always meant to tell him eventually—but not like this. She tried to speak twice before words would come to her command. “Yeah.” She muttered the word, looking at the cement floor like a little girl caught in a fib. “It’s true. But—” she raised her eyes to his defiantly—“that doesn’t change things between you and—”
“Oh yes it does!” Darius rode over the top of her before she could even think about finishing her statement. “It changes everything. It means you lied to me about—”
“Darius, I did not lie to you!” Her breath was wheezing in her lungs, but she wouldn’t give an inch of ground. “I told you that I was from the United States and I wanted to see Whistler. All of that is true.” She paused, considering reminding him that he hadn’t exactly been upfront with her either at first. No, better not mention that. Yet. “You knew there were things I hadn’t told you. You were okay with that.” She searched his eyes, looking for any hint of the man she knew. “What changed?”
His spine was as rigid as a steel rod. “What changed is finding out who you really are!” His voice was rising again. “You’re not some girl from nowheresville off to see the world, you’re a very talented and successful figure skater.” Again, he said it as if it were an accusation. Almost as if he were mad at her for being that.
If only she could get inside his mind for just sixty seconds and see what was really happening in there. Something bizarre to make him act this strangely. “So what?” Frustration boiled over in her soul. “Okay, so I’m a figure skater. What’s wrong with that?” She shook her head. “You’re a skater too.”
“Not anymore.”
Was that it? His injury made him resent her? She cocked her head, trying to read the situation. “Darius...if that bothers you, maybe you should be back on the ice. You could—”
“Never.” For a moment, aching pain rose in his eyes. “Remember? I can’t compete anymore.”
Addisyn took a deep breath. She’d been doing some hard thinking, and she’d come to a realization. Maybe it was time to tell him. “I don’t believe you.”
The room was quiet for a few seconds before he spoke. “What?”
“I don’t believe that you can’t compete.”
Suddenly, just like that, he was listening to her again. For the moment his anger seemed to have fled. “What are you saying?”
Here goes.“You told me that you couldn’t skate because you had back injuries and had to be really careful. But I’ve been thinking. You carried me on Whistler Mountain—on your back. And you climb Whistler Mountain every day. And”—she gestured to the storage shelves. “If you’re truly hurt, why are you loading heavy boxes like it’s no big deal?”
She stopped to inspect him. His lip was trembling. All the color was gone from his face. He looked suddenly so small and fragile that she said her next words in a much softer tone. “You weren’t honest with me either. I think—” she tried to look deep into his soul. Like Avery would. To the part he wasn’t listening to today. “I think you’re scared of the ice. Afraid to get back out there.”
Like lightning Darius’s countenance changed. His eyes flashed back to life. “I am not afraid.” He took a deep breath. “I do have back injuries.” He shoved his hands into his pockets. “You need to leave.”
“What?” Was he serious? “Darius, we need to finish this conversation. I—”
“No, we don’t.” The molten anger had drained from his voice, leaving it dull with pain. “There’s nothing left to talk about. We were friends and it was fun, and now it’s over.” Grief flickered behind the hardness in his face. “I was just your little side fling until your real man got out here.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about!”
“I met your boyfriend yesterday!” Darius’s voice rose again. “Mr. Preppy little GQ model with his fancy haircut and nice gold watch. You’ve just been using me to play with!”
