Page 8 of The Edge of Never

Self-doubt was a bitch. I was a lot less experienced than some people here. Maybe that’s why Callan thought I should have someone else watch over me. That shouldn’t bother me. After all, he had to think of the group’s safety. Maybe having someone keeping an eye on me wouldn’t be so bad. If only it wasn’t a certain man who was making my skin itch in a way I didn’t appreciate.

I refused to say anything to Thane as we made our way higher up the slopes. Callan brought the group to a halt before a particularly steep bit and announced we were going to work on our walking in crampons technique.

When I got them out of my bag, I managed to put them on easily after yesterday’s disaster. Last night, I spent half an hour doing it alone in my room after dinner to make sure I didn’t embarrass myself. Sometimes I took longer to get things right. I couldn’t help that, but it didn’t mean I couldn’t get there eventually.

I noted the way Thane watched me put them on. His expression remained unchanged, but from the look in his green eyes, I went up slightly in his estimation. That was another thing. He had really pretty eyes. I didn’t want to find him attractive at all.

He cut a very imposing figure standing there with his arms crossed against the backdrop of the snowy mountains. The highlights in his hair glinted in the sunlight. The way his trousers clung to his thighs was making my mouth dry. It should be illegal for someone to look that good in walking gear.

Un-fucking-fair.

My cheeks heated, and I abruptly looked away, not wanting to be caught staring. No doubt it would piss him off if he thought I had a crush on him, which I didn’t, because I was absolutely not doing this shit again. I didn’t need another instance of unrequited feelings. There would be no surviving that. Sienna already broke my fucking soul. She was part of why I was here. And yet… I was kind of grateful I had an attractive distraction, even if he was a bit of a dick.

Ignoring Thane, I watched as Callan and Ruairí demonstrated the different ways to get up and down the slope in crampons depending on the terrain and angle of the slope. It didn’t look at all easy or instinctual, but I was hoping I didn’t fall over as they asked the group to practise what they’d shown us.

I jammed on my helmet and clipped it under my chin. We were all given them for safety.

The first thing I did was try walking in my crampons normally, which Callan called flat footing. I understood the reasoning behind wanting to engage as many of the points as possible to stay balanced.

It was unnerving having Thane watch me walk around in them as if assessing my every move. It was even worse when I was ascending the hill sideways and when I came back down again.

“No bad,” he murmured when I arrived next to him.

“Oh well, thanks, glad I’m not completely inept in your estimation,” I said with a sunny smile because fuck him.

“Never said ye werenae capable.”

“You didn’t have to say it.”

Thane raised an eyebrow.

“Didn’t I?”

I scoffed but didn’t rise to the bait. A verbal sparring session with my so-called babysitter wouldn’t do me any good. He wasn’t the type to back down from a fight.

Instead of arguing with him, I tried front pointing using my ice axe to help me stay upright. It wasn’t easy to keep my foot from sinking down on my heel, but I did my best.

I could feel Thane watching me. I turned my face to check what he was doing, but he wasn’t behind me. My head twisted left and right.

“Jesus!”

Thane was right next to me with his front crampons dug into the snow the way mine were. My heels sank down and I bit the inside of my cheek.

“Ye guid?”

“Are you going to make a habit of scaring me?”

His attempt to suppress a smile made me want to throw him down the mountain. Instead, I adjusted my glasses and brushed my hair out of my eyes.

“Mibbe.”

“That’s not very nice.”

“Ye’ll learn better if I keep ye on yer toes.”

“What makes you think I want to learn from you?”

That fucking smirk of his is going to be the death of me.

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