Page 49 of Fear Me Not

“I want to get out of here, Levi. I’ve had enough of being trapped within these four walls and all the madness going on. I need to breathe fresh air again and see the horizon.”

“The weather has cleared enough for us to take a hike, if you want.”

Her eyes brighten. “Really? You’d do that? You’d take me out for a hike?”

“Of course, though we’d need to make sure we’re back before dark, and you need to wear the right clothing, too. No arguments.”

She grins. “I’ll wear anything you tell me to.”

I let out a low growl. “Now, that sounds like an offer I can’t turn down.”

She thumps me playfully on the arm. “You know what I mean. When can we go?”

“No time like the present. Let me grab some things, and then I’ll meet you by the front door in thirty minutes.”

She gives a squeal and stands on tiptoes to kiss my cheek.

My heart is in serious danger of defrosting if she keeps this up. I watch her skip off and then shake my head.

Is Blake going to be pissed at me for taking Aspen away from Windridge Hall? Probably. Do I care? Definitely not. He still thinks he’s the special one in her heart, but he’s wrong. Maybe he was at the start, but I’m not sure she’ll ever fully forgive him for the lies he’s told. It would take some serious, on his knees groveling, and I’m not sure my father has that in him.

Thirty minutes later, I find her already waiting and ready to go by the front door. For the first time since the accident, her pale blue eyes are shining. She’s genuinely excited about this hike, and I like that. Being outdoors is the one thing—other than sex—that makes me feel alive. When I’m in nature, I feel a part of something. Like I matter. Or maybe I don’t at all.

We leave Windridge Hall, side by side, and I lead her east, through one of my favorite trails. Even with the ground thick with snow, I still know exactly where it is. My strides are longer than Aspen’s and she has to take lots of smaller, faster steps to keep up with me, so I deliberately slow down. I don’t want her to struggle.

We walk in companionable silence, our breath creating frosted plumes in the air. Before long, we’ve left Windridge Hall far behind us, and I don’t know about Aspen, but I find I can breathe easier. I wonder what her goal is in asking me to take her out like this. Does she just want to put some space between herself and the hotel and maybe my father, or is it that she wants to spend some time, just the two of us? Or does she have more nefarious reasons to be out here, such as she’s looking for a way to escape or hoping to come across someone else she can ask for help?

I know it’s possible, and truly, who could blame her if that was the case? She’s tried to run once before and failed. What reasons have we given her to make her want to stay?

I glance over at her as we traipse through the snow. She’s fully wrapped up in snow gear that’s several sizes too big for her, and she looks cute as hell. Her nose is red, her cheeks pink, and her eyes are screwed up against the brightness of the sunlight. Coils of her red hair spill in soft waves from either side of the hat pulled down tight over her forehead.

“What?” she demands, catching me staring.

I can’t help grinning. “You look fucking adorable.”

“No, I do not. I look like an idiot.”

“A cute idiot.”

She pokes her tongue out at me, and it takes all my self-control not to wrestle her straight out of the clothes. Not that it would be much fun having sex out here. We’d both freeze within seconds.

Tree branches hang heavy with snow, some almost brushing the ground. The ground beneath them has a much lighter coverage, some almost bare. We duck beneath them, careful not to disturb the heavy limbs.

Something hits me on the back of my head. “What the⁠—?”

My first thought is that it’s snowfall from the trees, but when I glance over my shoulder, Aspen is standing there, a mischievous glint in her eyes and her gloves crusted with snow. She threw a fucking snowball at me.

“Right, that’s it.” I stoop down and gather up a handful of snow, squishing it into a ball.

She sees what’s coming and turns to run, laughing and squealing as she does.

I throw the ball, and it hits her square in the back.

“Hey!”

She bends to create another snowball and spins to throw it back at me.

Her hat falls off into the hood of her jacket, her hair spreading around her shoulders, snow catching in the strands. She’s so fucking beautiful, I swear my heart stops for a second. We’re both laughing, out of breath, our faces flushed.