Page 44 of Born of Ice

Mr. Ross says hisgoodbyes to us, making Electra promise she’ll come back again soon and leaves us just as Liam brings out our food, setting the whole feast down as quickly as he can because the ice that now surrounds Electra can be felt for miles. That easy, light mood that she was wearing after our goofing around on the lake, snuffed out like a match in the rain.

“So—” I start but don’t get to utter another word before she interrupts me.

“I don’t want to talk about,” Electra says briskly and reaches over to put some garlic cauliflower fries on her plate.

“Tough shit.” I pull the plate away from her and answer her glare with one of my own. “I do.”

“Tough shit, I’m not obligated to talk to you if I don’t want to. You are just my babysitter, so do your babysitting duty and that’s all.” Her cold, bitter tone with an all-teeth smile is chilling to the bone.

It shouldn’t infuriate me as much as it does. It shouldn’t sting that she flipped the switch and reverted back to her ice queenroutine after the day we had. It shouldn’t hurt to see her hurting. And I know she is.

She is very good at hiding behind all that anger and bitterness, but I see it. I see it all because I wear a mask of my own.

I just wish I’d know the why. Because ever since I stepped foot into her cabin, Ifelther. On some weird level, I felt her. But I don’t know her.

I don’t know anything about her life, family, or her career. Where are her parents? Why is Stella the one taking care of her? Is she even as good a figure skater as everyone makes her out to be? Hell, I don’t even know how she got that injury apart from hearing bits and pieces about it at this same bar, a week ago.

All I’ve cared about up to this point was getting her on her feet and leaving Iris Lake in the dust. And now I want to know more. I want to know everything and she’s shutting down on me. Electra is closing that door so fast, I can’t even slip my fingers underneath it.

Part of me is fighting me. Telling me it doesn’t fucking matter. No one else ever mattered so why all of a sudden do I care about this falling star? But that other—tiny in comparison, yet so eager—part is screaming to be close to her. To never leave her alone. To keep fighting for her when she is so clearly done fighting herself.

I don’t realize I’ve been watching her, this whole time until she says, “Are you going to eat or keep staring at me? Because if it’s the latter then we might as well leave. I don’t need you to be my therapist, Exton. I don’t need you at all, so maybe you should go back to your life.”

Her words shouldn’t strike that cord inside my soul, feeding the dark thoughts that had plagued me for most of my life, but they do.

No one needs you, Exton.

Your father didn’t need you.

Your team is clearly doing great without you.

You are just a babysitter. That’s it. She doesn’t need you.

I try to shake off those thoughts, to build up my own walls that she managed to crack, but that tiny miserable part of me is pushing back, telling me to keep fighting. And I do but using the only way I know.

“Keep spewing your venom, cripple, it’s music to my ears.” I try to inject as much lightness, carelessness into those words as I can manage while fighting to keep the anger inside me leashed.

“Fucking asshole,” she says through clenched teeth, but I’m already digging into my food, ignoring the pissed-off angry elf across from me and my own raging thoughts as I look around the lively bar that’s filled up to the brink in the thirty minutes we’ve been here.

Soon enough, I spot that same girl I flirted with my first time here and tip my chin with a small smile in acknowledgement to her wave.

I should go talk to Stacy. That’s what I would normally do. Or just fuck her long ago, but as I look at her—or any girl in here—I feel nothing. My dick doesn’t stir or beg me to go play around. Nothing.

Yet…last night and this morning, in bed with Electra, he was way too fucking eager and now as I watch the busty blonde hurry toward us, he doesn’t even bother to feign interest.

Stacy slides up with a chipper, “Hey handsome,” completely ignoring Electra on the other side.

“Hey, Stacy,” I answer but the smile is already wiped off my face.

“I was hoping I’d run into you again.” She puts her hands on the table, leaning onto it slightly while pushing her already large enough tits together.

But I’m not watching her, my eyes are on the angry elf across who is eyeing Stacy like she doesn’t know whether she shouldpull her hair out or call her out for being a shameless slut and not the sexy one either.

“Oh,” I say on autopilot because I can’t even remember what she said in the first place.

“Mm-hmm.” She bites her lip. “Wanna get out of here and pick up where we left off the last time?”

I finally lift my eyes up to Stacy just in time to see her winking with all kinds of promises.

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