Page 57

THIRTEEN
We finishedthe puzzle by the time the day gave into night. My focus was purely on the pieces in front of me because I couldn’t look at Alden anymore.
He wasn’t a teenage crush. He was a forever crush, always in my periphery. Except now, he was right in front of me, and I literally couldn’t leave. I wished I were the type of woman to get hurt and never like a man again.
Instead, I was a glutton for pain.
As the night’s cold air seeped into the house, I found an extra sweater to layer on and huddled under the blanket that was thrown on the pullout couch. I was not built for this kind of never-ending cold.
“Already going to sleep?” Alden asked.
“Maybe I will once I finally feel warm again.”
The space between his eyebrows creased and hechecked the fire. It was still burning bright, giving us blessed warmth.
“Get up here,” I said.
He slowly turned, an eyebrow raised. “You say that like you’re about to murder me.”
“I’m tired of needing you for warmth. And I’m tired of you being warm. It’s unfair.”
“You could just be tired ofme.”
“Are you tired of me?”
He looked back at the fire. “You can tell me to fuck off, you know. There aren’t a lot of places to go, but I’d make it work.”
I didn’t miss his diversion. Maybe admitting it would make it harder for the both of us.
“You’d freeze anywhere else but here.”
“Seems like a small price to pay for everything I’ve done.”
What a line. With him saying things like that, it was no wonder my crush never went away.
“It’s fine,” I replied. “You don’t need to pay a price.”
“But you don’t need to be miserable.”
“We’re stuck in my grandmother’s house during the snowstorm of the century. It’s going to be miserable.”
“The situation can be, but not you. Or at least not you when I’m the one causing it.”
“But youhavecaused me misery.”
The room went silent for a long time.
“Yeah,” he said with a sigh. “I have.”
“Do you regret it?”
“Every day, Stella.”
My heart skipped a beat. I couldn’t stop thinking ofwhat if?
What if he’d given us a shot?
What if he liked me?