Page 35 of Callous Shot

Tilly was balanced on the footstool in front of Dan. He was carefully combing through her hair with a purple comb, separating out strands with his fingers, a look of intense concentration on his face that I’d only ever seen him employ on the ice.

I came to a sudden halt, sucking in a shaky breath as I forcibly pulled the words back.

His head shot up when I appeared in his peripheral vision, his bright blue eyes widening with shock when our gazes connected. The air seemed to grow close, like it did right before a thunderstorm, and I swiped my tongue across my dry lips, at a complete loss for words.

I couldn’t look away.

This had been a big, big mistake.

Tilly jerked upright, breaking the weird moment. “Link! I didn’t know you were here.” She smiled widely. “Your nemesis is giving me Zelda hair.”

“My name’s Dan,” Daniel said, visibly gathering himself. “Hello, Bell—Lincoln.”

“Hello, Daniel,” I returned, just as formally, and his lips twitched almost imperceptibly.

Tilly stared between us. “He’s much nicer than Ganon.”

Traitor.

“I am, aren’t I?” Daniel smirked, and I glared at him.

Mike appeared behind me, nudging me with his elbow. “Mind moving, mate? You’re taking up the doorway.”

“Sorry.” I stepped into the room, allowing Mike to enter with a tray with three mugs of tea balanced on it. He placed them down on the coffee table before sinking onto the wingback chair and then jerked his head towards the empty space on the sofa. Next to Daniel.

I turned my glare on him, taking up a position against the wall with my arms folded across my chest. I fought with myself for a moment before I gave in to the inevitable, watching Daniel braid my cousin’s hair. He’d returned his full attention to her, but I knew he was fully aware of my presence because he was biting down hard on his lip, his body a tense line as he worked his fingers through Tilly’s hair. There was also the fact that my uncle was watching him over the brim of his mug, making things doubly uncomfortable.

“When did you learn to plait hair?” Mike said. It was an innocuous question, but I recognised it as part of his interrogation tactics. Tactics he’d successfully used on me in the past.

Daniel carefully secured the first braid. “Uh, I think I was eight or something.” I thought that was all he was going to say, but to both Mike’s and my surprise, he continued. “It took a lot of YouTube tutorials, but I wanted to be able to do it for my mum. My dad used to do it for her sometimes, so I wanted her to be able to carry that on, y’know.” He lifted one shoulder stiffly.

Fucking hell. I swallowed hard.

Mike glanced towards Tilly and seemed to come to the same conclusion I’d already drawn. We couldn’t continue this line of conversation with my cousin in the room. He pasted on a smile, giving Daniel a simple nod before returning to studying him as he continued working on the second braid. This time, my uncle’s expression was thoughtful, and all I could do was hope that he wasn’t taken in by Daniel’s natural charm. Charm that absolutely didn’t work on me. In fact, it made me want to crawl out of my own skin.

When Daniel was finished, my tea had gone cold because I’d forgotten all about it, too busy trying to get my head around the fact that this was actually happening and wasn’t just an incredibly vivid hallucination. Mike rose from his chair, coming to stand next to me, dipping his head to my ear.

“Play nice while I get Tils to bed. No raised voices. I’ll be as quick as I can.”

“Don’t leave me here with him,” I hissed.

“Play. Nice.” He straightened up, clearing his throat. “Go on, Tils. Show us your hair.”

“Is it finished?” She glanced back at Daniel, and he nodded, bringing an instant smile to her face. Jumping up from the stool, she bounded over to the mirror that hung over the mantle bracketing the squat stone fireplace. “It’s perfect,” she breathed, her eyes wide as she twisted around, trying to see herself from all angles.

My gaze slid to Daniel, to find him already looking at me.

My stomach jolted.

“Play nice,” Mike reminded me in a low voice before crossing the room to Tilly. “Come on, Tils. Bedtime.”

“Dad…” she began.

“Now, please. Say goodnight to Link and Daniel. If you’re quick, we can finish the end of the episode we were watching yesterday.”

She sighed dramatically. “Okay, I suppose so.” Returning to Daniel, she surprised us all by throwing her arms around him. “Thank you for my hair. You’re definitely not a baddie like Ganon. I like you.”

He patted her back gently. “I like you too.” When she bounded over to me, I noticed his cheeks were flushed, and his eyes were wide and troubled. What was that all about?