His Wild Blue Air

Day 11

A nudge to her lower leg slammed her back into the real world and the sounds in her head were once again replaced by the voice of nature. She cast her gaze downwards to see Dog sniffing her boots. Her eyes shifted over a little to see a patch of yellow fading into the snow at the bottom of a tree.

She smiled and patted her dog again before resuming her walk. She found that the frozen lake was no longer frozen as she reached the end of the path. Her feet were rooted to the ground as she stared ahead at the shimmering lake.

Ethan had promised her that he would coach her in swimming against her wishes. She shivered at the thought of swimming, yet she also found herself marginally thrilled at the thought of him coaching her.

God, what was happening to her?

She stroked the top of her neatly tied hair with her free hand and exhaled in distress. She was starting to accept her more than platonic feelings for Ethan, but this - the delusions of them being happy together - was too far. They were ridiculous and no doubt impossible. She was sure of it.

Ethan and her were people of two entirely different worlds. They were the opposite ends of a magnet pole. He belonged to the high profile, the business-oriented and money driven clique. She belonged to this: small town and friendly and not entirely greedy. She would surely spiral if she ever had a chance to experience his world.

The fact that he was here, that he needed a break from his own world so much so that he made a spontaneous decision to book a room at her cabin, was proof enough that she most certainly did not belong in his world.

She made a deliberate shake with her head and stomped her foot just a little, determined that she would not, under any circumstances, get into something more than a friendship with Ethan Boyd. It was for his own good, even if it was at the cost of her own however temporary happiness.

**

She knew he was awake because she could hear him singing in the shower again. She told herself once again that she would stand her ground and would not weaken her defenses against his freaking charming smiles and looks and beautiful face. No.

Skylar immersed herself into the book she hadn't been able to finish for the past two weeks because a certain someone had been distracting. Nevertheless, his singing still managed to beat on her eardrums and invade her inner peace. Instead of losing focus, she allowed his baritone harmonize with her mind and surprisingly, she found herself able to read and enjoy his singing simultaneously.

She quietly patted herself on the back with a proud smile.

"What's funny?"

Skylar jumped with a distasteful surprised snort, the page she was reading horribly crumpled by her sudden movement. She turned towards the direction of the staircase where Ethan was staring at her with an amused smirk.

He playfully winced as his lips extended into a full blown shit eating grin. "Sorry." He did not sound sorry at all.

She groaned at him, marginally annoyed. She shut the book, knowing she wouldn't be able to read any further for now and uncurled her legs from beneath her, setting the book on the coffee table. She stood up and headed into the kitchen, Ethan tailing her.

"I see you woke up on time today," he commented.

She nodded, sitting down at her seat.

"I assume you had a good night's sleep?" He just wouldn't give up.

"The best," she deadpanned.

He shot her a coy look for a moment before smiling with a tame nod. "Good."