Chapter 129: Asher
The door swings open like a bomb going eff, and a charm of voices humble in with the cold.
*Vin, no way did you tr actually bake something?
servelor. Ten land, too chippen
Tyler’s right behind her. “Whos, it smells like cinnamon hemen in herr “
I step back instinctively, letting Penny take the attention. She smiles, modest and warm, even as her hands fidget on the edge of the counter
The rest of the herd piles in–Jonathan, Rebecca, a couple of the merr prys Everyone looks flushed and windblown, cheeks pink from the cold, bonts beaving snowy prints on the banhused.
Tyler beelines for the tray. “You guys didn’t poison these, right?”
Penny
“only yours.”
They laugh. And for once, it’s not grating. Not really.
Someone takes a bite and groans like it’s life–changing. “Okay, okay, not bad.”
“Not bad?” Penny puts a hard on her hip.
The guy reaches for a second one. “Alright, alright. You’re hired.”
I move to in the bowd in the sink just as the barns to me
“We should change.”
I glance down, Right Flour still dusts my forearm. Chocolate smudged the hem of my sleeve. She doesn’t look much better–agar streaked across her cheek there’s a little bit of four in her hair, and her clothes are covered, too
Tyler’s already licking icing off his fingers. “Hey, since you’re going back anyway, can you grab my duffel? It’s by the couch–I’ll be staying in the main lodge
from now.com.
CM course..
I nod. “Sure.”
He claps my back like a damn bellhop. “You’re the best.”
Pty and I head out, walking the short path hack to the cabin. Snow crunches under our boots. The sky’s bleeding orange now, creeping up fast.
liked that,”
she says softly b
I glance down. “Baking?”
She smiles. “You, baking”
beside me.
I shake my head, biting back a smirk. “Don’t get led to it.”
We reach the cabin, and inside it’s dim and quiet gara Tyler’s duffel while she gathers her own stuff to change. Her fingers brush flour off the front of her sweater absently. Her skin still smells like sugar and warm sandl
“Shower first? Lad.
1/3
Chapter 129: Asher
“You go ahead,” she says, flopping down on the rider of her bed.
I head into the bathroom. Strip. The second the hot water hits my shoulders, 1 brace both palms against the wall and lower my bed. Borthe
The water’s almost too hot–hqu 1 lik Let it burn the tension out of my spine. My trans ache a little under it. Or maybe it’s is my head. I’m
I wash fast.
The fing on the mitter blus everything, but I wipe it down with the side of my forearms. My reflection shoes back.
Wet hair, heavy jas, dark eyes
And the mess of my torso–deep ridger along my ribs. The thick one on my shoulder. The that cuts across my hip like a smile carved wing. Pale linen. Twisted reminders.
I used to be proud of what I did. Of surviving. Now I just feel… marked. Brutalized, Not like a hero, Like a fucking monster that made it out of something no one should’ve survived.
Then I reach for the towel, dry off, and
Fuck
I forgot to bring a shirt.
1 grit my
teeth and crack the door. “Penny?”
Her voice drifts from the bed. “Yeah?”
“Close your eyes.”
There’s a pause. “Why?”
“Just… do it.”
Another pause. “Are you coming out naked?”
“No lust–please.”
“Tine, fine.” Her voice is laced with amusement. “Eyes are closed. My innocence is intact.
I step out fast, towel low on my hips, a fresh shirt clenched in one hand,
She laughs. “You know, for a guy who clearly works out, this much modesty is kind of-
“Penny”
She falls silent. I pull the shirt on fast, the fabric dragging over the raised skin like static. Only when it’s on do I say, “Alright. You can look.”
Her eyes shop open. Hayes”
“You know you’re fit, right? I’m sure girls tell you all the time. But to assume seeing you shirtless would actually at me thar’s bold,
moet, then crouch in front of her slowly not like I’m mocking, but like I’m stalking, he knee bends, my elbows resting lazy on it, handloom, relaset. But every muscle in my body is tight, coiled, waiting for the slightest sign the contied a line I shouldn’t.
She’s on the edge of the bed. Fuzzy socks, sweater sliding slightly off one shoulder, knees brushing mine as they ring just a little. Innen Unawan. Killing the
Chapter 129: Asher
“You think you’re funny, huh, princess?” My wire is lowe, tough cut the edges.
Her breath catches. Just the smallest sound. But I hear it like a shot.
“A little bit,” she whispers.”
My gaze drops to her lips, just for a second. Then I lean.
inch and I could taste the ghost of cookie dough and cinnamon on her mouth,
“Dangerous game.” I murmur.
She blinks up at me. “Why?”
slow enough to watch her pupils flare. Close enough to feel the heat off her skin. One
I don’t answer. I just stare
unblinking, unreadable, letting the question hang in the space between unlike a lit match.
She’s blushing so hard I could drown in it.
Her thighs tense. Her fingers twist in the hem of her sweater. 5
And still…she doesn’t move away.
Her ne knocks against mine again. I feel it like a jolt to the gut.
I want to drag the pad of my thumb along her jaw. Want to tilt her face up and taste the breath from her lips. But I don’t. I can’t Not yet.
So I smile instead – slow and sharp and full of all the things I’m not saying
Then I rise, lowering over her again, and step back.
“Your turn for the shower,” I say, voice calm but loaded.
She exhales like she’d been holding her breath. “Right. Yes, Shown. That thing people do.”
She disappears
into the bathroom, flustered and muttering something about soap and sanity.
I sit back down on the bed, jaw tight, pulse to
fast
I didn’t survive what I did to get
et taken out by a girl in a flour dusted hoodie and fuzzy socks,
But hell if she isn’t the most dangerous thing I’ve ever faced,
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