Page 43 of Did It Have To Be Gnomes?!
Before I could answer, Winter slammed the door shut, pulled me into his arms, and breathed into my hair. “Are you okay? Are you hurt?”
“I’m… I’m okay.”
“You’re trembling.”
“I’m fine. Are you hurt?”
“No. I’m good.” He kept hold of me as he spoke to Lyric. “The gnomes attacked us, but it was like they planned it. They shut the door, surrounded us, and… and holy shit, we need to get out of here. Come on.”
“Wait. What? They surrounded you? A planned attack? What the hell, Win?” Lyric said, but Winter ignored them, ushering me down the hallway with Lyric trailing after us.
I wasn’t about to complain when I had a sweet and hot guy’s arm around me, protecting me from evil little creepy crawlies.
“Win?”
“Get outside, Lyr. Right now. We’ll talk when we’re out there.”
“Yeah, okay.”
It only took a minute or two to get outside and beside my truck. Winter let go of me and gently pushed me against the side of the truck so I could lean on it. To my surprise, he grabbed my still-gloved hand, removed the glove, and stuffed it into my pocket. He held that hand with his ungloved one and used his teeth to remove his other glove. Once he had that one in his pocket as well, he grabbed my free hand in his.
Since he was holding both of my hands, he was standing directly in front of me, staring at me with an intensity that made my face flame. He was already a few inches taller than me, but with me leaning like this, I had to tilt my head back to meet his gaze.
His ice blue eyes stared back at me for a long, intense moment before he asked, “Are you alright?”
I sighed and let some of the tension out of my body. I was still shaking a little, but it was already starting to settle. “Yeah… I think so. You?”
He nodded, then moved to stand beside me, and without letting go of my hands, he whipped his arm around and over my head so he could rest his arm across my shoulders, hands still clasped to mine. He gently tugged me into his side, and I went without question.
No one ever touched me this much in my entire life.
I’d never wanted anyone too.
But Winter was different, and I was planning on soaking it up as long as I could. Who knew when this might happen again, if it ever did?
I still couldn’t believe the guy I’d had a crush on since I was a teenager was holding me like this. I couldn’t believe Iwantedhim to.
Once I was settled there, Winter turned to his best friend. “Are you okay?”
Lyric nodded, though they stood in front of us with their arms crossed. “I’m not the one who got attacked.”
“Just checking.”
Before I lost my nerve, I said to Lyric, “I’m really sorry about earlier. I believe you, and I apologize. I… I’m not used to people… being, um, considerate.”
Lyric’s entire face softened. “It’s alright. We don’t really know each other, so it makes sense that you don’t trust me… yet.”
Theyetcaught my attention. It was a nice notion that we might become friends, even if I didn’t truly believe it. No one ever stuck around. Never had, and I highly doubted anyone ever would.
But I wasn’t about to say anything like that, so all I did was nod. “Thank you for understanding.”
It was thrilling yet strange not being able to pick up any emotions from him. Was this what other people felt like when talking to another person?
They waved me away. “Seriously, don’t worry about it. We’re good, My-My.” I blinked at the random nickname that I’d never heard anyone use before in my life, but I didn’t have a chance to comment because Lyric said, “I think I know why the gnomes are acting so crazy.”
That took me aback. “You do?”
“There’s dark magic here, and I think I know where it’s coming from.”
