"I’m not blushing," rlina said way too fast, focusing hard on the chips in her hand like they might sohow protect her from whatever Craig was doing to her.
Isabel raised an eyebrow, smirking like she’d just won a bet. "Suuure you’re not."
lissa didn’t say anything, she didn’t have to. One slow, knowing look from her sister was enough to make rlina’s cheeks burn even hotter.
She shoved another chip into her mouth and mumbled, "Can we not?"
Isabel laughed, already turning back to Carlos’s over-the-top story about sneaking into a soccer match without tickets. But rlina couldn’t follow a single word.
She placed her phone on her lap, determined to act normal, but her mind was already gone. Lost in the ssages. Lost in him.
Her screen lit up again.
CRAIG: Hey, I saw you blushing. I was only teasing. I don’t like you that much, idk.
The smile fell from her face.
RLINA: I really don’t care.
She saw him glance down at his phone from across the field, then lift his head and flash the smallest, cockiest smile. He shook his head, looked away, and typed again.
CRAIG: I didn’t imagine it, right? The way you lted into when we kissed...that was real.
Her mouth parted slightly. She stared at the ssage, pulse quickening.
Her fingers hovered over the screen.
RLINA: It shouldn’t have happened...
She hesitated.
Deleted it.
RLINA: It didn’t an anything...
Backspaced again.
Her thumb paused above the keyboard, then typed:
RLINA: It was horrible.
She hit send before she could change her mind.
CRAIG: Liar. You almost died just now typing that. Don’t get struck, rlina.
RLINA: It was, to be honest.
CRAIG: To be honest...I’ve been thinking about that kiss nonstop. And right now? I want to do it again...slowly. Just to feel you fall apart all over .
rlina exhaled softly, her thighs pressed together again, the ache between them blooming fast. That one damn ssage had her body hot and restless. She bit her bottom lip harder, pulse thudding in places that had no business reacting to a few words on a screen.
Her fingers curled tighter around the phone. God, she hated this...how easily he got under her skin. How just a single text could have her dripping with mory, dizzy with want, craving more.
She shifted, suddenly self-conscious, her eyes darting to lissa and Alistair. They were both distracted, thankfully, but if any of them caught even a glimpse of the conversation, it’d be over. She’d never hear the end of it.
The idea of soone grabbing her phone, seeing these texts was enough to make her stomach twist.
She glanced up again.
Craig was watching her. But this ti, the usual smirk was gone. His face was still, serious. His expression unreadable. His gaze held hers for a mont before he looked away again, lowering his head slightly as he typed.
Her phone buzzed.
CRAIG: I want you, rlina. In ways I probably shouldn’t say over text.
Those words. They hit her like a wave and she lted instantly.
She re-read the ssage, heart stumbling over itself. Of all the things he could’ve said, of all the gas he could’ve played, this wasn’t one of them. Not this ti. This felt different. Real.
She couldn’t believe Craig had said it. Admitted it. Out loud or as close as a text could get.
For a so seconds that felt too long, she sat there, staring at her screen, trying to breathe through the chaos stirring inside her. Then, she typed back.
RLINA: Please stop.
The reply ca almost imdiately.
CRAIG: I can’t.
Her chest tightened. She glanced around to make sure no one was reading over her shoulder.
Isabel and lissa were busy arguing about much money they had left, and Alistair had started a new round of jokes with Carlos. They were all laughing. None of them knew her entire world was flipping upside down in her palms.
She took a shaky breath and typed again.
RLINA: You can. We have to do better than this.
It was the sensible thing to say, the right thing. She knew that. She also knew she didn’t believe a single word of it.
The screen lit up again.
CRAIG: No. Aren’t you even tired of pretending?! Because I am. I’m so tired of pretending.
The words hit harder than they should have.
She stared at them, heart pounding, everything else fading into a muffled hum. Her fingers hovered over the keyboard, over and over. But this ti, she didn’t know what to say.
She was feeling so much emotions, it scared her.
She stared at Craig’s ssage again.
’Aren’t you even tired of pretending?’
Her throat tightened. And in that mont, beneath the glow of festival lights and the echo of laughter around her, the truth settled like gravity—she was tired too. Tired of acting like he didn’t affect her. Tired of pretending none of it ever ant anything.
Maybe she had been for a long ti.
Before she could think of a reply, another ssage ca in.
CRAIG: You wanna take a ride?
She gasped softly.
A ride? With him? Now?
She glanced across the field again, but couldn’t see his face clearly in the blur of neon lights and moving bodies.
Her heart stuttered in her chest. The idea was tempting...too tempting. But then the mories ca rushing back.
Him brushing past her like she didn’t exist. A whole month went by and he ghosted her, didn’t say a word to her in the hallway when they bumped into each other school, even at the Villa, like they were nothing. Like she was nothing.
No.
Not tonight. She wasn’t gonna make things so easy for him, because of a few possibly tipsy texts.
She typed back.
RLINA: I’m here with my siblings. I can’t leave them.
Three dots appeared on her screen, like he was typing sothing.
Then they disappeared.
No reply.
She swallowed hard, locked her phone, and shoved it into her pocket like it hadn’t just broken her heart a little. lissa and Isabel were already tugging at her arms, dragging her toward a small booth with dark curtains and candle lights.
"Fortune teller?" rlina asked.
Isabel grinned. "Co on, it’ll be fun!"
"No, no, no...hard pass!" rlina protested, but it was too late. They were already pulling her forward.
Inside, it slled of incense and sothing faintly tallic. The woman behind the table had a face full of piercings, long black nails, and eyes that felt like they saw right through her. Her voice was low and raspy.
She spoke in fast Spanish, muttering things rlina didn’t quite understand. She reached out with one bony hand and brushed her fingers over rlina’s palm.
"El corazón no miente..." the woman whispered, voice low and raspy like the wind crawling through dead leaves.
Isabel stiffened beside her, translating slowly, "The heart doesn’t lie..."
The woman’s gaze darkened. Her fingers tightened around rlina’s palm.
"Ten cuidado... lo que más deseas es lo que más te destruirá."
Isabel froze.
rlina’s stomach dropped.
"What did she say?" lissa asked.
Isabel swallowed hard. "She said... ’Be careful. What you want most is what will destroy you.’"
rlina jerked her hand back.
"Okay, we’re done!" lissa said way too loud, already halfway out the tent. They scrambled out into the cold night, laughing nervously as they distanced themselves from the booth.
But even as they laughed, rlina couldn’t shake it. Not the chill. Not the look in the woman’s eyes. And definitely not the tiny bit of sadness, she felt creeping in.
Her phone stayed stubbornly silent. She hadn’t heard back from Craig.
And he was nowhere in sight.
The night was ending, the energy shifting. Carnival workers were packing up, the rides were slowing, the crowd thinning. Her cousins were giggling and recounting the weird fortune, but rlina’s mind was elsewhere.
Maybe she should’ve said yes.
Maybe she should’ve taken the ride.
She barely said a word on the walk back to the car. They piled in, jackets pulled tight, cheeks red from the cold. lissa was still complaining about how creepy the fortune teller had been, while Isabel tried to lighten the mood with jokes.
But rlina’s thoughts were spinning in loops. She kept glancing at her phone, hoping and expecting sothing.
Nothing.
Just when they hit the road, the car ahead of them slowed to a stop. Then another. Soon, red taillights lit up the stretch in front of them like Christmas.
"Què pasa ? (What’s going on?)" Isabel asked, craning her neck.
Carlos rolled down the window from the driver’s seat. A uniford officer approached, flashlight in hand. His breath puffed into the frigid air as he leaned down.
"La nieve ha bloqueado el paso principal. Tenemos quitanieves en camino, pero tardarán unas horas. Tendrán que hacerse a un lado y esperar. (Snow’s blocked the main pass. We’ve got plows coming, but it’ll take a few hours. You’ll have to pull over and wait it out.)" The officer said.
"Snow block?" Isabel asked, then a groan erupted from the back seat.
"You’re kidding," lissa muttered. "We’re really gonna be stuck here?"
Her dad and aunt had been called. Everyone was told to stay put and remain close to security.
So they did.
They pulled over near an old roadside diner that hadn’t seen business in years. A row of stranded cars had already claid the snow-covered lot, most with passengers sitting tight or stepping out to stretch. Those with alternate routes had already turned back. But for those like them with nowhere else to go, this was it.
lina leaned against the side of the car, arms folded, her breath misting the frozen air. lissa was next to her, chatting with Carlos and Alistair, who had taken to rating every car that passed, as if it were so kind of snowstorm edition of Top Gear.
"So many Land Cruisers today," Carlos muttered.
"I’m waiting for sothing sexy, like a BMW," Alistair replied.
And as if on cue, lissa’s eyes widened. "Whoa," she whispered, pointing down the road. "That’s a hot car."
lina didn’t even look up, still scrolling through her phone, lost in a fog of thoughts.
But the others had turned, craning their necks.
"No way," Carlos breathed. "That’s a Ferrari F8 Spider."
"Black. Clean. Damn," Alistair added.
The sleek sports car purred up the lane, slicing through the snow like it wasn’t even there. It rolled to a smooth stop a few feet ahead of them, idling quietly in the hush of winter air.
Isabella whistled low. "Dios mío. Qué bombón, (Oh my God, what a hottie)" she muttered.
That made rlina look up.
At first, she didn’t see what Isabella saw. Just a parked car. Engine still humming. Windshield catching the light.
The driver’s side door opened.
And then—
A boot hit the pavent.
Then a leg. A broad shoulder.
And finally, him.
Craig Lesnar.
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