Page 124 of Sweet Nightmare

My heart gives an embarrassing little jump.

No.

Absolutely not.

I ignore the tiny gallop in my chest. It means nothing.

Maybe Mrs. Han’s breakfast gave me heartburn.

Yes. That has to be it.

Heartburn.

Because anything else is completely unacceptable.

“All of this is mine, princess.” He tilts his head, a mocking smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. “And what am I doing here? Well…” His eyes flick toward the shattered icicle beside me. “Apparently, saving your life.”

He pauses, his smirk deepening. “Maybe try saying thank you.” Then he adds, “Do you even know what that means?”

Yuck.

What an ass.

I ignore the jab because I have manners.

More manners than he deserves, actually.

“I was doing perfectly fine,” I say through gritted teeth.

His eyes drop to the shattered ice around my boots before returning to my face.

“Yeah.” His gaze lingers on mine. “Looked like it.”

“I also didn’t need saving.”

He raises a thick brow. “Maybe I should’ve let you become a tragic snow-death statistic. Seems fitting.”

My lip curls in disgust.

“How dramatic. That wasn’t going to happen.”

Okay. It absolutely would have happened if I’d moved a second later.

But he doesn’t need to know that.

“You’re standing under a fucking tree covered in ice during a blizzard.”

“I was looking at the fountain.”

“You were looking at a fountain during a storm.” His eyebrows draw together. “Couldn’t you have done that through the fucking window?”

“I could have.”

“Then why didn’t you?”

I glance at the fountain.

“Because it doesn’t look the same through glass.”