Chapter 60 Chapter 60 Space
My soup woke everyone up, and now we’re all out on a walk. Exactly what I didn’t want. Most of the boys are complaining about how cold it is, whining like it’s the end of the world. Dimitri and I hang back at the end of the group, his jaw tightening with every complaint. I can practically feel his patience snapping thread by thread.
I stop walking and reach out, grabbing his sleeve to stop him too. We let the group keep going until they shrink into the distance, little moving shapes against the white, until they look like ants.
“Thank you,” he mutters under his breath. “I was about to shoot one of them.”
“Did you really bring a gun on our walk?”
Dimitri unzips his jacket just enough to flash the weapon tucked inside. I shake my head, half amused, half concerned. What exactly does he expect to jump out at us? The wild horses? The donkeys? We’re not even high enough up for mountain lions.
“Do you have a girlfriend… or boyfriend… anyone waiting for you back home?” I ask, kicking at the snow. “Where is home anyway?”
“Your voice sounds almost normal,” he says first, glancing at me. “And no. No girlfriend, no boyfriend.” He chuckles softly. “I have a place in LA, but my mother is in Sofia. That’s my origin.”
“Your dad?”
“That relationship is… complicated.” He doesn’t elaborate, and I don’t push.
“What do you normally do for the holidays when you’re not babysitting stupid girls?”
He smirks. “You are not stupid. And Illia asked a few of us—I was just the first to call dibs on you. Not one of us turned this job down.” He winks. “When I’m not working, I visit my mom.”
A small pang hits me. I pulled him away from that. I glance down at my boots crunching through fresh snow, the sound sharp and satisfying. Snowflakes keep falling, thick and steady. If it keeps up, the roads will be closed by tonight. Pine trees stretch endlessly around us, heavy with snow, our path marked only by footprints.
Something moves in my peripheral vision. I turn, and my breath catches—wild horses.
“Look!”
We stand there, watching them run across the path and up the mountain, powerful and free. The cold bites at my cheeks, but I don’t care. I could stand here forever, frozen in this moment.
We keep walking in silence until we reach the treeline—and then we get ambushed. Snowballs fly at us from every direction.
Dimitri reacts instantly, pushing me back against a tree and covering me with his jacket. He never zipped it back up, so it falls around me easily, shielding me.
Suddenly, I’m very aware of how close he is. Pressed against me, solid, unmoving. My friends laugh and keep throwing snowballs, but Dimitri doesn’t budge.
“Having fun yet?” I ask, trying to sound normal.
He leans in closer, invading the last inch of space between us. “You have no idea,” he murmurs, his lips brushing my cheek.
My heart slams against my ribs. The impact of snowballs hitting his back echoes like drums, each thud syncing with my pulse. I try to breathe, but it only makes things worse—he smells like citrus and leather. Familiar. Dangerous.
Butterflies go wild inside me as I look into his cerulean eyes. There’s something calm in the way he looks at me, something steady. Safe.
My gaze drops to his lips, slightly parted. Then back to his eyes.
“Don’t,” he warns quietly.
“Don’t what?” I ask, even though I know exactly what.
“Don’t kiss me.”
“I wasn’t.”
“You were.”
“Let her out of your protective grip—she needs this!” Alek shouts from somewhere ahead.
“And you know what she needs?” Dimitri calls back, his voice cutting across the meadow.
“More than you!” Alek fires back, and I don’t even need to see him to know he’s grinning.
Dimitri curses under his breath. His nose brushes mine, his breath warm against my lips. I want to kiss him so bad it aches. My eyes close.
“Hand me my gun.”
My eyes snap open. He nods toward his jacket. I pull off my gloves, shoving them into my pockets, my hands slightly shaky. I press my palms to his chest, feeling him inhale sharply. Carefully, slowly, I slide the gun from its holster and hand it to him.
With his free arm, he pulls me in tighter, covering my ear—and then he fires a shot up into the trees.
The sound cracks through the air. My friends scatter, yelling, calling him insane. Snow falls from the branches above, dusting over us.
Dimitri steps back, tucking the gun away. The cold rushes into the space he leaves behind, and I hate how empty it suddenly feels.
We walk side by side back to the house, the distance between us smaller now, charged with something unspoken. We stomp the snow off our boots before stepping inside.
“Take New Year’s Eve off,” I say, shrugging out of my coat. “Go out. You should experience the Strip at least once.”
“What about you?” he asks, hanging his coat.
“I’m staying home. Alone. Because my friends are all assholes.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah. I’ll pick up some expensive champagne, drink a bottle or two, and pass out. Sounds like a great time.” I laugh.
“That sounds sad, Elle.”
The voice hits me like a punch to the chest.
I grab Dimitri’s arm and pull him with me as we round the corner into the living room. “What is this, Gemma? Hot chocolate and a show?” I glare at her.
“You look good,” Emma says from by the window. She’s in blue camo, black hair pulled into a tight bun, mint-green eyes sharp and bright.
“What are you doing here, Emma?” My voice hardens. “I hope you’re not wasting your leave on me.”
“I wanted to see you. I miss you.”
“Can’t say the same.”
“Since when do you date guys?” she asks, pointing at Dimitri.
“Since we broke up.”
She left me for the Navy. Her calling. No calls, no letters. Nothing.
“You don’t mean that,” she says, her voice cracking as she steps toward me. I step back just as quickly, moving behind Dimitri. “I was delusional, thinking I could find something better than what we had.”
“Oh God, for fuck’s sake… get in line with your apologies,” I snap. “You know I don’t do second chances.”
“Tell me—dick is better at love and sex?”
A loud, almost monstrous laugh rips out of me. I grip Dimitri’s arm as I double over. “They’re both in this room with you!”
My eyes stay locked on her, even though I can feel everyone watching. The tension is thick, electric. I can practically hear Alek trying not to laugh.
Laura walks in with more hot chocolate and cookies, completely unfazed.
“I’m going to take a hot bath,” I say, straightening up. “And when I come back…” I point at Emma, “…I don’t want to see you down here.”
Then I turn to Gemma. “This is the last ex you pull out of your ass. The next one costs you our friendship.”