Page 16 of Knotting Before Them

His mouth curved in a smirk. “You think I’m gorgeous?”

I groaned. “You know I was homeschooled my whole life? Random tutors across the globe. I blame my parents for my awkwardness.”

“You’re not awkward—you’re cute.”

I rolled my eyes, because cute was a puppy. Cute was your niece. Nah, I didn’t want to be cute.

I kept working a little longer, trying to ignore the flutters of butterflies anytime Theo or Wylder came around.

By the end of the day, I was exhausted and yet, I had nothing to show for it.

“Maybe you need a better view.”

I turned around to find Wylder there, smiling of course, like we shared a secret. And we did.

“I won’t risk upsetting Noah,” I said, avoiding looking directly at him.

Last night, I had my legs around him. Our noses brushed, and the cold didn’t bother me. Cold always bothered me, but it was like this whole damn thing was magical.

“Noah isn’t here.”

I crossed my arms over my chest, looking his way for the first time. “Do you always try to challenge him?”

He lifted a shoulder, “Whenever I can.”

“I don’t challenge anything. You said he always keeps it locked. Chances are… it’s locked.”

“You should try it.”

I opened my mouth to argue, but Theo waltzed into the kitchen. “Pizza everyone?” My stomach growled, and Theo smiled. “I guess it’s a yes.”

I gathered my supplies as I nodded. “I forgot to eat.”

“You can’t do that.” Theo frowned.

“I just…” I blew a raspberry. “All I could think about is the mountain, and now that it’s here…”

“You don’t know what to do with it?” Theo nodded.

“Yeah. Something like that.”

He chuckled. “You and Noah have more in common than you know.”

He acted like I was avoiding Noah too, but I shrugged and offered nothing. Theo ordered the pizza after I said I’d eat anything, and I ran upstairs for a shower.

It was only my first official day here. I had time, but all I could feel was dread.

What if nothing came from this? What if I came all the way to Switzerland, and I was still as uninspired as I was before?

I threw a t-shirt on, not worrying about a bra—perks of small boobs— and leggings. My hair was still damp, and I didn’t care enough to blow dry it, so I just gathered it away from my face in a bun on top of my head.

By the time I made it downstairs, the pizza had arrived, and the boys were grabbing a couple of beers from the fridge.

“One for me too,” I requested.

Wylder handled our drinks, bringing everything into the living room as Theo grabbed the pizza boxes, and I followed them.

“Just cheese? Pepperoni?” Wylder asked.

---