Page 42 of Best Hex Ever
She powered on, following as the amethyst led her around twists and turns. She didn’t bother to keep track of the path. She could use the same spell to get them out if she neededto.
Dina heard Scott before she saw him.
Panicked, shallow breaths came toward her from across a hedge, and when Dina turned a corner she found Scott sitting on the ground, his back against the hedge, head buried between his legs.
Dina fought the urge to smother him with a hug. If he waspanicking, too much physical contact could make it worse. She’d seen that before.
“Scott?” she said. His gaze shot up, his eyes reddened with tears. When he realized it was her, he quickly wiped his cheeks.
“I’m fine,” he said, clearing his throat.
“I don’t think you are,” she said, kneeling down beside him. “The claustrophobia?”
Scott sucked in a breath and nodded. “I lost the group and I just—”
“I get it.”
Scott raked his fingers through his hair and turned to Dina.
“Not very manly to be caught crying by the woman you’re trying to impress, is it?”
“According to who?” Dina laughed. “You’re still trying to impress me then?”
He stood, brushing dirt off his trousers.
“Is it working?”
“Hmm, you’ll have to wait and see. Let’s start by getting you out of here, shall we?”
“You’re my knight in shining armor, Dina. I’d follow you anywhere.”
There was a seriousness in his tone as he spoke those last words, and Dina found herself reaching out toward him. Cupping his face between her hands, she brushed away the last remnants of tears from his cheeks. God, his eyes were maddening. She could look into them forever.
“For the record,” Dina said, “I do think it’s manly to cry. It shows that you’re not afraid of expressing emotion, and that’s fucking hot.”
“Is it now?” Scott grinned fiendishly.
“Did someone tell you it wasn’t?” she asked out of curiosity. Scott frowned, as if he was remembering something painful, andshe felt a sudden distance between them. Someone had made him feel that way, and he didn’t want to talk to her aboutit.
“I’d like to get out of here,” Scott said, changing the subject. “But honestly I might have another panic attack if I get lost again.”
“That’s okay, I have a way of getting us out quickly.”
“Oh yeah?”
“I memorized the route.” He looked at her with an edge of suspicion, but was clearly too stressed to really give it much thought. The way he was looking at her was too raw; Dina could barely meet his eyes and at the same time she couldn’t look away. Before she did anything stupid she blinked her gaze away and pulled a silk scarf from her pocket.
“Do you want me to cover your eyes?”
“You want to blindfold me? I would have thought a common first date was more like dinner, maybe some drinks—”
“He had a panic attack two minutes ago and now the man is attempting banter,” Dina deadpanned, pinching the bridge of her nose.
“What is the purpose of said blindfold?”
“I figure if you can’t see the maze, then maybe you aren’t as likely to have a panic attack. But granted, I don’t know what triggers them for you,” she hastened to say.
Scott looked down at the silk scarf in Dina’s hands.
