size once I get you back to civilisation,” I teased, trying to cut the tension in the air.
Her gaze finally snapped up to meet mine, but the only thing I found there was hurt and betrayal.
The smile slid from my face like I’d been doused in ice cold water and I nodded as if I was agreeing with something she’d said. But I guessed all I was agreeing to was the fact that I was an asshole and confirming I wasn’t going to change my mind on this.
I told Tyson to stay put as he lifted his head in excitement at the idea of heading out, but he couldn’t come with us for this. I couldn’t bring him all the way to town.
Winter reached out to pet his head and I turned away from the miserable expression on her face as she said goodbye to him in her own way.
It’s for the best.
We headed out into the snow and I looked up at the blue sky for the first time in weeks. It had been pretty intense while it lasted, blizzard after blizzard causing the snow to pile up so much that I’d climbed up to knock it off of the roof of the cabin more than once. I’d once had a dream that the whole thing might cave in in the night and I’d be suffocated beneath it all and since then I’d had to make sure it didn’t pile up too high. I’d been through too much shit in my life to die like that. I deserved to either live to a hundred and ten and go in my sleep or go out in spray of blood and a blaze of glory. So long as it wasn’t some tragic accident then I was okay with whatever way my cards fell.
I missed the warmth of Winter’s hand in mine as she failed to take it. Usually when we braved the weather to check around the cabin for signs of Duke and his men or the Romeros closing in on us, she’d do that. In fact, she seemed to be quite tactile naturally, seeking comfort in soft touches, leaning close to me whenever she could. I guessed after all she’d survived it made sense. She hadn’t known anything gentle or caring in all the time she could remember. Though sometimes I wondered if there was more to it than that. But of course that was probably just my dick talking. The red haired beauty I’d found in the snow was the only woman I’d spent any real time with in a year. A whole fucking year with nothing, no looks, certainly no touches. And then suddenly this beauty was living in my space, sleeping beneath my roof, sharing my food. Of course I was going to have some pretty epic fantasies about what that might turn into. But I wasn’t ever going to push anything like that with her. Not after what she’d been through. And now that she was leaving, those fantasies would definitely remain confined to my mind.
“I keep a snowmobile further down the mountain,” I explained as we began our walk downhill. I preferred to keep it hidden away from the cabin so that I had an escape route ready at all times. Who knew when things might go to shit and blow up in my face. And knowing my luck, it was only a matter of time until they did.
The silence hung so thickly that I knew she wouldn’t have been talking to me even if she had use of her voice.
We continued on for two more miles, carving a path through the thickest part of the forest to avoid the deepest snow as we descended. I hated that she was so angry with me. I hated that I was going to have to say goodbye to her knowing that we were parting on bad terms.
“I know you hate me now,” I began, wondering where I was even going with this. “But I really do believe that this is for the best. That this is the safest you can be and that in the long run you’ll be glad, I-”
She punched me squarely in the bicep and I grunted as I turned to frown at her, but instead of anger at my words or more betrayal shining in her eyes, I found fear instead. She had a finger pressed to her lips and she cupped a hand to her ear, causing me to fall still and