Above and Beyond (Twist of Fate 4)

Two weeks…hell, with the way I’d treated him, Lucky would be completely over me in two days if he wasn’t already.

Chapter 16

Lucky

"Like I said, Lucky, don't let it get you down. Any one of us could have made the mistake." My classmate, Luiz, patted me on the back and sent me a smile before adding, "I'll see you later, okay? My parents are driving in from Seattle, so I have to play tour guide.”

"Yeah, sure. And thanks." While I appreciated Luiz's words of encouragement, I knew that not everybody would have made the same mistake I had. Tying a monkey’s fist knot was something Xander had taught me the very first year I’d gone to live with him and Bennett. Under normal circumstances, I could've touched the nylon blindfolded and known the knot was wrong, but nothing about the last two days had been normal. So I’d thrown the monkey’s fist and watched in horror as the entire thing untied itself into a puddle of rope on the ground instead of winging across the river the way it was meant to.

In search and rescue situations, every rope toss could be the difference between life and death, and I’d fucked it up.

Even if my mistake hadn't had potentially life-threatening consequences, the fact that it had been Zach who’d witnessed it was just icing on the shit show of a cake that was my life. I would've liked to have blamed the error on my lack of sleep, but the reality was that I’d been so frazzled about being around Zach and having him actually speak to me that I hadn’t even given the knot itself much thought. I'd spent so much of the last two days just trying to avoid any kind of interaction with Zach that I'd gotten sloppy and had merely tied the wrong kind of knot. Not surprisingly, Zach had used the opportunity to lay into me. Before I'd made the monumental mistake of sleeping with the man, I'd let similar encounters just roll off my back, but I could safely say I was no longer immune to Zach's criticism.

Not that I had been before, but somehow it had been easier to accept it. Now it just felt like insult added to injury.

I heard someone call my name from behind me but instead of turning to see who it was, I quickened my pace. I was tired of all the invites I was getting to join my well-meaning classmates for coffee or parties. They clearly knew something was up with me, but I’d been selling them all the same story—that I’d just been feeling a bit under the weather.

As far as I was concerned, the night with Zach had never happened. No, it wasn't that simple to forget about the whole thing, but I sure as hell didn't want to go telling anyone about it. Even Min didn't know the truth. As far as everybody else was concerned, I was just having a bad few days and needed some time to myself. There was no reason for them to know that I’d become numb to the world around me.

Instead of exiting the building through the regular door, I made my way to the side entrance where I wouldn't have to deal with anyone else. I was just reaching my hand out to push the door open when strong fingers closed around my upper arm and drew me back. "Lucky, wait."

Even if I hadn't recognized his voice, my body knew his touch. How it could have memorized the weight of his fingers or the feel of his skin after just one night together was beyond my understanding, but it was yet another thing I had to figure out how to forget. I automatically yanked my arm from his grip. The old me had always been looking for a reason to get Zach to touch me, but now that was the very last thing I wanted.

I had the satisfaction of watching Zach's eyes darken with an unfamiliar emotion as he pulled his hand back. The numbness that had been keeping me company was replaced with a stark pain exploding inside of my chest. "Don't touch me," I hissed. I didn't recognize my own voice.

Zach took a step back, clearly startled by my reaction. I didn't blame him. I hadn't been expecting it either.

"Lucky, I just wanted to—"

"What? What did you want, Zach?" I asked bitterly. "How about I save us both some time here. No, I'm not going to tell anyone," I said as I ticked up one of my fingers. "Yes, I will be more careful next time and not make such foolish mistakes in class that force you to actually speak to me," I continued as I ticked up another finger. "Yes, I agree we should pretend the whole thing never happened and just try to stay out of each other's way," I finished as I held up a third finger.