pick up my scent.
The animal was beautiful. It seemed a shame to kill it, but I only killed what I had to eat.
When the deer paused to nibble on a patch of fresh grass, I aimed, letting out a breath to steady myself, and started squeezing the trigger. Before the bullet left the barrel, I let go of the trigger and lowered the gun. Today, I would let the beautiful creature live. I had a few non-perishables left. Tomorrow, I would hunt again. And soon, I would go into town to stock up on goods.
I’d been avoiding town. It reminded me of her. Fucking everything reminded me of her. I lowered the gun and my head, sorrow in my heart.
Something rustled behind me, a twig snapped, and when I spun around to see who or what had crept up on me, she was there. Like a vision. An angel. Perhaps a Christmas miracle.
I blinked a few times.
“Viktor,” she said, and her voice was music to my ears.
“What are you doing here?” I asked. She tilted her head a little. “And how the hell did you find me?”
A small smile played around her lips. “Someone taught me how to navigate the forest once.”
Holy shit, if she wasn’t the hottest thing on two legs right now, I wouldn’t know what was.
“Can we talk?” she asked.
I nodded curtly. Seeing her was going to fuck me up. I was already struggling to forget about her, and this was just going to start the whole thing all over again. But when she asked me like that, I wanted to give her to the whole world.
We walked a short distance to a clearing where a fallen log had become a seat I often used. It looked out over a different part of the valley.
“I’ve forgotten how peaceful it is out here,” she commented after a short silence.
“I bet. You’ve been in the city.”
She shook her head. “I didn’t go to the city, Viktor.”
“What?” I asked, frowning. “I thought you had that job lined up. That you were leaving so you could live the life you always dreamed of.”
She sighed. “You were right, you know.”
“About?”
I couldn’t stop looking at her. She looked out over the valley, but I only had eyes for her. She was so beautiful. I traced the profile of her face with my eyes while she looked away; long lashes that brushed her cheeks when she blinked, her delicate nose, her perfect lips. God, I wanted to kiss her so badly.
Control, I told myself. I had to control myself.
“I wasn’t doing it for me. I was only doing it for my mom. And that would never have made me happy. I can’t keep living for other people. My mom went through a terrible thing, and I will always be there for her when she needs me. But I need to live for myself, too. Or my life would mean nothing.”
I nodded. She turned to me, her eyes bright. “So, I’m here in Grizzly Falls. It’s what I want. And I want you, too.”
“Me?” I asked.
I sounded like a fool, asking her one-word questions. But I was reeling inside. My mind spun a mile a minute, my heart fluttered in my chest, and my blood rushed in my ears. I couldn’t think straight when she was around. I just wanted to kiss her and touch her. I wanted to pull her against me. Or under me.
“I’m in love with you, Viktor,” she said. “I know you think we don’t belong together, but I don’t agree.”
How the fuck was I supposed to argue with that? But I couldn’t do this to her. I opened my mouth to tell her as much, but she reached up and lightly pressed her fingers against my lips, stopping me from talking.
No one told me what to do. No one. But when she touched me like that, I melted. And stayed silent.
“I don't want to argue about it. I know you think your past defines you in a way that makes it impossible for us to be together. I saw what happened that day, I saw what you did to Maksim. But I don’t see you as a killer. I don’t see your past when I look at you, Viktor. I see the man I want to spend my future with.”
She slowly withdrew her hand, and her eyes searched my face, looking for an answer to her speech.
I didn’t know what to say. I’d never been accepted by anyone the way