Chapter 14

“I’m sorry,’’ Simon smirks, “I know this is a lot. I guess I couldn’t help myself.’’

“Not at all,’’ I force myself to sound normal rather than ready to ditch any thought of Nick. “It’s really sweet to try and make me feel welcome like this.’’

He smiles at me. “I’m hoping you decide you want to stay longer.’’

I feel myself blush as he pours me something to drink, his striking eyes almost never leaving my face.

“Tell me more about yourself, Sophie. Do you have siblings?’’

I feel my heart skip a beat at the sound of his voice saying my name. I let out a nervous giggle as my mind races.

“Well, there isn’t much to say... I’m an only child, still living with both my parents, thought I will be moving to a dorm for university. And you?’’

“Well, I’m no longer in school,’’ he laughs likes it’s obvious, though he looks quite young, early twenties at the most. “I told you about my... culture, this morning. In our community, you could say I’m the leader.’’

He looks unsure of how to phrase his words and I can’t help a giggle at his predicament. His gaze hardens.

“And your family?’’ I ask before he can say anything.

“It’s just my sister and me.’’

His tone is somber and his eyes stare past me. Without thinking, I rest my hand on his and lean in to catch his gaze.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked.’’

Simon’s eyes meet my own and I feel my breathing stop. The golden shade of his irises is brighter than ever and I can’t convince myself to look away. My breath shakily leaves my lips and his gaze drops to my mouth. I let my eyes trail down his face, following the strong line of his jaw before stopping on his lips. My heart races in my chest as the tug in my stomach urges me to get closer to him.

Before I can force myself to snap out of it, he pulls me to my feet and takes a step towards me. I struggle to swallow and look back up to his eyes. I can feel every inch of me practically begging for me to kiss him. But I force myself to take a step back.

And for every step back I take, he takes a step forward. My back hits the railing of the platform, his hands on either side, leaving me trapped. He leans down to me as my heart pounds, battling my need to let him kiss me and my want to save what’s left of Nick and I’s relationship.

His breath crashes against my lips and his forehead meets mine. I close my eyes, willing him away as the tug demands to be satisfied. A long tense silence follows as I breathe in and out uncontrollably.

“I heard your conversation with the boy,’’ Simon says flatly.

My eyes snap open and I stare into his intense golden gaze. Inches away from me, I can feel how hard he’s restraining himself.

“With Nick?’’ I ask, and his eyes instantly darken.

“Yes,’’ he breathes out and I can feel the fury in his voice. He almost spits his name: “Nick.’’

“We had a fight over me staying here,’’ I admit before I can stop myself, but I keep myself from talking about our previous fight. “You were listening?’’

“I heard part of it. I knocked when I couldn’t take anymore. Are you still taken?’’

Part of me likes that he hates Nick and thinks I should hate him too. Still, I can’t help the pain at the thought of losing Nick forever. Almost two years as a couple made living without him seem nearly impossible.

“We don’t want things to end like this...’’ I force the words out of my mouth. “He still loves me and I...’’

My voice trails off and I feel the tears I had push down earlier rush back to the surface.

“Do you still...’’ Simon hesitates and saying the words seems to actually hurt him as much as they hurt me, “love him?’’

“I can’t just leave him for a stranger... Not after two years.’’

He lifts his hand to my face and pushes my hair behind my shoulder. The sunset lights his eyes in an even more intense shade of gold. I breathe out shakily.

“Don’t call me a stranger, Sophie.’’

His voice is low and raspy and I feel a shiver go down my spine. He brings his lips to my ear and I can feel him breathing on my hair.

“Come live with me,’’ he demands and I start shaking my head. “Just for the week, in a guess room.’’ He adds before I can verbally refuse.

“I don’t know,’’ I sigh, though the tug in my stomach does know. “I... I’ll think about it.’’

His eyes light up and shoot down to my lips again. His hand, still near my face, slides down my arm until he reaches my hand and squeezes it.

“Thank you.’’

I watch his lip move at the word and the tug in my stomach grows stronger. I’m fighting myself to not lean in and kiss him when his eyes glaze over. They almost look cloudy and his brows furrow, as if something was disturbing him. He sighs angrily and backs away from me, leaving me breathless and cold without his body heat.

“I’m sorry, I just realized I forgot something,’’ he says as he walks away from me, but I can feel something is off. “Stay here and wait for me, I’ll be back soon.’’

“What?’’ I feel myself freeze over at the thought of being left alone in the forest in the middle of nowhere when the sun is almost completely set.

“I’ll be quick, don’t worry! You can eat while you wait for me.’’

He leaves through the trees before I can say something or follow him. I feel my heart slow down and sigh, going back to my chair. I lift the bell off of my plate to find what looks like glazed filet mignon and set it back down. He made such an effort I am willing to wait for him to eat.

I grab my phone out of my handbag and jump at the sheer number of notification. I laugh when I notice it is only Alice spam-messaging me, as usual. Instead of reading through the dozens and dozens of messages she sent me, I dial her number and call her.

“Oh, my god, Soph!’’ She screams through the phone after a couple of rings. “How are you doing? Did you read my texts?’’

“Hey Alice,’’ I laugh at how intense she is, as usual. “I’m as good as I can be right now... You know. And I called you when I saw you texted.’’

“Oh, I’m so sorry Soph...’’ She says softly. “But, if you’re wondering, I made some more special friends! Because of the bus delay, we have to spend the night in Bozeman, and a guy on the bus was actually on his way home there.’’

I smile at her story even though she can’t see me. Alice always knows how to distract me with her crazy adventures.

“So I think this guy has a crush on me or something, ‘cause he works in this bar and he invited us in tonight. Isn’t it crazy?’’

“You guys are going to a bar?’’ I ask, pretending I don’t know that ‘us’ includes Nick.

“Yeah, it’s going to be insane!’’ she practically screams. “Watch out for my Snapchat stories tonight, it’s going to be wild.’’

I laugh at how excited she is, but my heart still aches at the thought of Nick going out without me. Maybe he would find someone willing to do what I won’t...

“Anyway, have an exciting night out,’’ I say quickly, trying to escape the conversation. “Have fun, I’ll text you later.’’

I hang up and take deep breaths to calm myself. I try to turn my sadness into anger and half-manage to rill myself up. ‘He can get a new girlfriend, for all I care,’ I try to convince myself. I sigh and get up to walk around the clearing, lit up by the fairy lights on the platform.

I’m about to turn and go back to the table when I hear a low growl. A large yet boney wolf stalks towards me between the trees. I slowly back away, my mind racing to find a way out of this. As the large creature walks into the light, I feel my heart skip a beat. The beast’s glowing red eyes are locked in on its prey: me.