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I’m so tired that my eyes are already closing, nestled there in Sebastian’s embrace. For a moment, I can almost pretend that the past few weeks haven’t happened. That we’re curled up in bed in London together, back when I wondered if there was a real chance for us. When I saw the softer, vulnerable side to him, and considered loving him for real.
What I wouldn’t give to go back to that moment…
I yawn, snuggling into him automatically. His arms tighten around me, and I wonder if he’s thinking about it, too.
Does he regret what he’s done? Does he wish that things could have been different between us?
Or is he sitting there, hating me, planning his revenge?
Then the tiredness takes me over, and I don’t wonder about anything at all.
3
AVERY
When I finally wake,it feels like I’ve been asleep for years. I’m curled under the covers in bed, light filtering through the heavy curtains, surrounded by the muffled silence of snow.
Bed…
I look around. I’m lying in a large, comfortable bed in a simply decorated room. Sebastian must have carried me up to a guest suite, sometime in the night.
I pull back the covers, and slowly stand, my body still aching from the hike. Outside the windows, it’s daylight, but the sky is cloudy, and snow is still falling thickly, burying any signs of civilization.
The view stretches, powdery and white all the way to the mountains.
I find a bathroom, cringing when I look into the mirror and see my reflection. My hair is a disaster, and I have dark circles under my eyes despite my long sleep. I focus on the cut on my forehead. There’s dry blood around it, and I use a wet washcloth to gently clean the area. Sebastian was right, it’s not too bad.
My stomach rumbles, reminding me I haven’t eaten in days now, so I go in search of food. I gingerly make my way downstairs and take a proper look around. There’s the living area we spent last night, with an old piano in the corner, and big vibrant paintings on the wall. Storage… A mudroom with boots and coats… A library nook… I’m just checking the phone line again when a back door opens, and Sebastian walks in, wrapped in a thick coat. He stomps his boots shakes his head, sending snow flying off in every direction.
I tense automatically, preparing myself for more hostilities, but he barely glances in my direction.
“Good news,” he says shortly, reaching for the light switch on the wall. He flips it, and the room is bathed in a warm glow. “Generator’s back up.”
I exhale in relief. “So we have heat and light now?” I ask hopefully.
He nods. “There’s coffee in the kitchen,” he adds, still curt, before striding off into another room.
Clearly, we’re back to the cold treatment, despite the power being back on.
But I’ll take it, if he’s right about the coffee.
I follow the smell to a small, homey kitchen, with wooden cabinets and ancient looking appliances. I find the coffee waiting in the pot and gulp down a scalding mug before turning my attention to food. The cupboards clearly haven’t been stocked in a while, but I find a loaf of sliced bread in the freezer and manage to pry a couple of pieces off to fit in the toaster.
I swear, the few minutes it takes for the bread to thaw feel like hours. I don’t even wait to find butter or jam, I just tear pieces off and shove them in my mouth, choking them down with the coffee, in my hurry to eat.
There’s noise behind me, and then Sebastian enters. He’s dressed casually in jeans and a knit sweater now and moves with careful precision around the small space: pouring his coffee into a mug, adding creamer, and then making two slices of toast with butter and honey from the cupboard.
He doesn’t look at me once, not even when he finally takes a seat, and starts eating his breakfast like he’s dining at a five-star restaurant.
I get it. I’m the ravenous animal, eating with my bare hands.
“The snow’s still coming down,” he says, finally acknowledging my presence. “We’ll likely be trapped here a few days.”
“Great.” I mumble, grabbing some of that honey, and smearing it on the bread. I don’t care if I look like a ravenous beast right now, swear, I’ve never been so hungry in my life before.
“Luckily, I keep my stores well stocked.” Sebastian watches me eat, with something like disdain on his infuriatingly handsome face. “There should be supplies in the cellar. When you’re done here, you can make yourself useful and take inventory, before you eat us out of house and home.”
His tone is clipped and patronizing. Clearly, our ceasefire from last night is over, and he’s back to hating my very being. I’m the last person in the world he wants to be snowed in with.
