Sweet Subterfuge

Chapter 92

Larissa was so tired that her exhaustion and anger gradually overpowered her rationality, so much that she no

longer cared about the disparities between her and Kevan’s social status, which consequently made her lose

her fear of him.

“I just have ten dollars,” Kevan told her without a hint of guilt on his face.

The price of one cable car ticket was twelve dollars.

Larissa was rendered speechless.

Eyeing the endless mountainous terrain, she carefully replaced the cap of the mineral water before supporting herself up by holding onto the metal railings on both sides of the trail.

“Let’s go,” she said weakly.

Kevan stood unmoving.

“Are you sure?” He raised his brows, the doubt in his voice apparent.

“We have to get to the top before we get hungry anyway.” Larissa squeezed the bottle with one hand and

grabbed the metal railings with another, plowing ahead with her head down.

Kevan jogged in front of her and blocked her path.

“What?” Larissa looked at him, puzzled.

Kevan switched his bottle from his right arm to his left.

“That’s dirty.” He angled his chin toward the railings she had been clutching onto and stretched out his right

arm. “Hold onto this.”

His palms were paler than most, and as clean as the rest of him.

As for hers-

Hers were flushed a dark shade of red. There were also specks of fallen paint stuck to the parts of her hands where she’d gripped the railing earlier.

She withdrew her hand in shame. “It’s fine. It’s already dirty anyway.”

Kevan bent forward slightly and grabbed her hand without another word.

Her palm was burning hot, but his was still cold.

The scalding heat within her body was momentarily relieved, and she instinctively gripped his hand tighter.

Her initiative shocked him to no end.

The heat from her body flowed into his bones continuously through their joined palms, warming his heart.

This kind of limited physical contact was hardly enough for him.

His head throbbed, as if there were an imaginary voice shouting in his ear, “Not enough–not nearly enough-”

But given their current situation-

Kevan turned and faced the front again.

Then, he banished every other distraction from his mind as he placed his foot onto the next step.

Larissa had been somewhat reserved at first as she tried her hardest to match his pace. And yet, toward the end, she allowed herself to be dragged along by him like a lifeless puppet.

Along the way, they stopped to rest multiple times. She ended up draining what was left in her own bottle and Kevan’s unopened bottle of water. Content from NôvelDr(a)ma.Org.

Starry Mountain was very tall. The closer they got to the peak, the lower the surrounding temperature.

Although the skies were clear when they were at the foot of the mountain, it started drizzling as they neared the halfway point.

Kevan pulled her up and removed his jacket, covering her head and buttoning it up for her. Only her face was left exposed.

In just that short moment, the rain had soaked through the back of his shirt, rendering his originally white shirt translucent as it plastered against his skin tightly.

Larissa tried to take off the jacket and return it to him but he stopped her at once.

“Don’t.” He pressed down lightly on her head, his tone authoritative and leaving no room for defiance.

Larissa followed him closely, no words exchanged between the two of them. All she thought about was how tall and imposing his silhouette was in that instance.

Then, about a century later, she became so tired that her head spun, and her vision flickered. An incessant buzzing had permanently taken residence in her ears as she lifted her feet mechanically, only to stumble forward into his back as she stepped onto nothing but air.

Kevan’s arm shot out and caught her securely at once.

He turned around, looking at the woman semi–collapsed on his back, her eyes half–closed, and sighed. “We’re here.” he told her.