Chapter 93

Aria

Lucas’s face crumpled before the words even left Darren’s mouth.

“No,” Darren said firmly, shaking his head. “You’re not coming, Lucas.”

Lucas’s little hands curled into fists at his sides as he looked up at Darren with wide, watery eyes. “But why not? You always say I’m brave!” His voice cracked at the end, and my heart twisted in my chest.

“You are brave,” Darren replied, his tone softening just a little, but he stayed firm. “But skiing isn’t safe for pups. You could get hurt.”

“I won’t!” Lucas insisted, his voice climbing higher as his tears began to spill over. He swiped at his face angrily with his sleeve. “I’ll be careful, I promise!”

“Lucas,” Darren said again, this time more gently, crouching so he was eye level with him. “I’m sorry, but I said no.”

Lucas didn’t respond. He just turned and bolted for the couch, burying his face in the cushions as his little shoulders shook. We both expected this sort of reaction from telling Lucas that we were going out skiing without him, but it still hurt to watch. Darren exhaled sharply and ran a hand through his hair, looking up at me with a helpless expression.

“He’ll be fine in a minute,” he muttered, standing up.

I wasn’t so sure. Lucas’s muffled cries broke my heart, and I couldn’t just stand there. I gave Darren a pointed look before walking over and sitting on the edge of the couch beside Lucas.

“Hey, buddy,” I said softly, reaching out to rub his back. “It’s okay.”

Lucas turned just enough to peek at me, his face blotchy and tear-streaked. “It’s not fair,” he whispered.

“I know it doesn’t feel fair,” I said, my hand still rubbing slow, soothing circles on his back. “But your dad’s just worried about you. He doesn’t want anything to happen to you because he loves you so much.”

Lucas sniffled, his lip trembling. “But I wanna go with you.”

I leaned closer, lowering my voice conspiratorially. “How about this? I’ll talk to your dad later, and maybe next time, if we both promise to be extra careful, he’ll let you come. Okay?”

Lucas blinked up at me, a tiny spark of hope breaking through his tears. “Really?”

“Really,” I promised. “We’ll convince him together.”

He sniffled one last time and threw his arms around my waist, clinging to me tightly. “Okay.”

“Good. Now you stay with Nana and be a good boy, alright?”

Lucas nodded against me, and when he finally let go, he looked a little less brokenhearted. I stood up, glancing at Darren, who watched me with something unreadable in his expression. He didn’t say anything, though, as I grabbed my coat and followed him outside again.

The mountain loomed ahead of us as Darren steered the snowmobile over the powdery terrain. The cold air whipped at my face, but I barely felt it. Everything around me was so breathtakingly beautiful that I couldn’t focus on anything else. The snow-dusted pines, the clear blue sky, the untouched white slopes… It was like something out of a painting.

“You’re awfully quiet back there,” Darren called over his shoulder.

I gripped his waist a little tighter, smiling despite myself. “I’m just enjoying the view.”

“You mean my driving,” he teased.

“Don’t flatter yourself,” I shot back, although I couldn’t help but laugh.

The ride didn’t take long. Darren brought us to a small clearing at the base of a slope and killed the engine. It was dead quiet out here, save for the sound of our boots crunching on the snow, but not in an eerie way.

I eyed the skis Darren had brought, suddenly feeling a little less confident than before. “So… how exactly do we do this?”

Darren raised a brow as he crouched to help me clip into my skis. “You’ve never skied before?”

“Not once,” I admitted. “Do you think I’ll be a natural?”

He straightened, a tiny smirk pulling at the corners of his mouth. “I think you’re going to fall. A lot.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” I muttered.

Unfortunately, Darren was right. The first attempt was a complete disaster. The moment I tried to move, my skis shot out from under me, and I landed flat on my back in the snow with a loud “Oof!”

Darren didn’t even try to hide his laughter as he stepped toward me. “You okay down there?”

“Oh, I’m just peachy,” I grumbled, trying to sit up. My skis tangled awkwardly, and I flailed like a bug stuck on its back. “Stop laughing and help me up!”

Still chuckling, Darren grabbed my arm and pulled me upright. The momentum made me stumble forward, and before I knew it, I was pressed against his chest, his hands steadying me by the waist.

Everything froze.

For a moment, all I could hear was my own heartbeat thudding in my ears as I looked up at him. His face was close—closer than it should have been—and those mismatched eyes of his held mine with an intensity that stole the air right out of my lungs.

“Careful,” he murmured, his voice soft, almost teasing. But there was something else there, something that made my cheeks burn.

“You’re the one who pulled me,” I shot back, my voice coming out a little shakier than I wanted it to be.

He didn’t move right away, his hands lingering just a second too long before he finally stepped back. “Let’s try again.”

Surprisingly, it didn’t take me long to get the hang of it. Once I stopped flailing like a baby deer, I managed to glide down the slope in something that resembled skiing—although Darren still refused to let me forget my earlier wipeouts.

After a while, we took a break near the edge of the woods, sitting on a fallen log as we sipped from a thermos of hot chocolate Wendy had packed for us. The warmth was a welcome relief against the cold.

“You’re a lot better at this than I thought you would be,” Darren admitted, nudging my shoulder lightly with his.

“Don’t sound so surprised,” I teased. “Didn’t you say you used to ski a lot as a kid?”

He nodded, his smile dimming slightly. “Yeah. My sister and I used to spend hours out here. She was fearless on the slopes. Faster than me, too, which drove me insane.”

“What was she like?” I asked softly.

Darren was quiet for a moment, staring out at the snow-covered trees. Finally, he admitted quietly, “She was everything I wasn’t. Loud, energetic… She made me laugh all the time. After she was gone, I guess I forgot how to.”

I watched him, my heart aching for the boy he used to be. “You’re laughing again now,” I said quietly.

He looked at me then, his gaze lingering. “Yeah. There’s someone new in my life who’s reminding me how.”

His words made my heart stutter in my chest. I dropped my gaze to the thermos in my hands, my cheeks flushing hot despite the cold. Before I could think of something clever to say, Darren said, “Careful, you’re blushing again.”

I glared at him halfheartedly, but before I could retort, he pointed toward the skis. “Ready for another run?”

The rest of the afternoon flew by after that. I picked up skiing quite quickly, and soon, I was zipping through the trails at almost the same speed as Darren, weaving between trees and around snow-dusted boulders.

At one point, Darren challenged me to a race, and despite knowing I would lose, I accepted. I took a different path halfway down, the snow-covered woods too beautiful to resist.

But I quickly regretted it, remembering that I didn’t know my way around here. I nearly got lost.

“Darren?” I called out as I slowed, the quiet suddenly unnerving. I glanced over my shoulder, but there was no sign of him. “Darren!”

Silence.

Suddenly, something pricked the side of my neck. I slapped at it instinctively, catching a glimpse of an obscenely large mosquito buzzing away.

“A mosquito? In this cold?” I muttered. I pulled my hand back, frowning when I saw blood smeared across my fingertips. “What the hell—”

Then I felt it. A strange heat curling through me—almost like I’d taken six shots of vodka at once, laced with the drugs Tracy had given me.

And within moments, the world had begun to spin.