Chapter 6
I kept my distance from Peyton and Rita for the next few days. I kept using Shane as a cover to ensure I had a proper reason to stay away. He wasn’t a fool, though.
One day, after a meal, he asked me to join him in the Sweet Shack, a small hut in the backyard. Each guest could only use the but once. He told me he wanted to talk to me.
There was an unspoken rule that the hut was for people to confess their feelings. At that point, I didn’t really understand the rules, so I agreed without thinking anything was wrong. After all, I felt bad for troubling him all the time.
To my surprise, the first thing he said to me when we sat down in the hut was, “You’ve been coming to me quite regularly for the past few days… Have you fallen for me?”
This shocked me. I hurriedly waved my hands in denial. When he saw me racking my brains trying to think of an explanation, he laughed and looked at me with his bright eyes. “I was joking. You like Peyton, don’t you? He’s nice, handsome, hardworking, and rich. He’s charming. I’m not surprised you have feelings for him.”
I wanted to lie. At the same time, I didn’t want to be dishonest with someone who’d helped me a lot in recent days. After a moment of hesitation, I admitted it. “I do like him a little…”
Not really. I liked him a lot.
“But…” I thought about the love letter he’d written in my past life. The love and pleading contained within it had been overwhelming.
I suppressed my bitterness and smiled, trying to look carefree. “I know he likes Rita. I won’t do anything to disturb them.”
Shane blinked, looking surprised. “Wait, what? I thought…”
He suddenly became excited when he met my confused gaze. “How about we try each other out, then?”
He looked like a dog with a bone as he suddenly leaned close. His eyes were so bright that they were enough to move anyone.
“Why?” I reflexively moved away.
He sensed my discomfort and cleared his throat in embarrassment. A flush slowly spread across his face. “Because… I think I’m starting to fall for you.”
“What?” I was flabbergasted.
I didn’t give Shane a proper answer that night, but I also didn’t reject him outright. He took it to mean I was giving him a chance to prove himself and started showing me what he could do.
Everyone misunderstood us, thinking that we were mutually interested in each other. Even the live stream viewers started shipping us.
In truth, I just wanted to see whether I was capable of falling for someone else. The feeling of loving someone I couldn’t get was much too torturous, after all.
The only problem with this was that Peyton would show up when Shane and I had barely spent a few minutes together. Then, Rita would hurry after him.
€ 2 2 = 6
Initially, I thought it was just a coincidence. Shane felt something else was up, though.
Once, when I was thinking about something, he suddenly leaned close enough for me to feel his warm breath fan over my neck. “You have something on your hair.”
I instinctively wanted to dodge. That was when Peyton appeared out of nowhere and snapped, “What are you two doing?”
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Chapter &
+15 Bonus
Shane looked like he’d expected this. When he saw Rita looking for Peyton huffily, he chuckled bitterly. “Right, I’m going to stay out of this. It’s obvious your feelings for each other are mutual.”
He turned and left, even taking Rita with him. Meanwhile, I was stunned by his words. I hurriedly turned to Peyton and explained, “Uh, he’s off his rocker sometimes and doesn’t make sense. Don’t take his words to heart, Mr. Grant…”
I was worried he would misunderstand Shane and me, but my tone seemed to upset him more. I saw a flurry of emotions in his eyes—they looked like they were about to overflow soon. I also saw pain and suppressed self–deprecation in his gaze.
I wondered whether my eyes were playing tricks on me when I heard Peyton say in a low voice, “I feel like… you really hate me.”
I immediately rebuked him. “How could I?”
He stalked toward me, his gaze locked on mine. He was like a hunter eyeing his prey. “Why have you been hiding from me,
11
then?
Because I didn’t want to be a third wheel!
Besides, why did he look like I’d left him after using him when we barely knew each other?
Damn it. My heart was going to cave for him.
‘I could only lower my head and say, “Well, you’re always with Rita, aren’t you? It wouldn’t be nice for me to keep hanging around you two. What if she gets upset?”
Peyton stiffened, seemingly not expecting that to be the reason. After a beat, he asked in disbelief and hesitance, “Do you think I like her?”
I sounded even more hesitant as I asked in return, “Don’t you?”
Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.
