Page 60 of Ice To Meet You

I widened my eyes. Why did this man want a photo with Matteo?

As Matteo moved past me, the back of his gloved hand brushed against mine, sending a jolt of electricity up my arm. With an easy smile, he clipped back onto the safety line and leaned out—backwards—over the forest. My heart stuttered. He was nearly horizontal, completely unfazed by the dizzying drop beneath him.

Nearby, the blond kid posed for a selfie, holding his fingers in a strange pose I recognised from the skater kids near the gallery. Then, without hesitation, he threw an arm around Matteo’s shoulders and joined him in the reckless lean.

I glanced around, my pulse spiking. Was no one in charge here? Would someone—anyone—stop this madness?

After their impromptu photo op, the kid sent me a wink before clipping onto the next zipline. “See you on the ground!” he called back. Then, with a shake of his head, he muttered, “Incredible,” before vanishing into the trees with a whine of metal.

As if in slow motion, I turned to Matteo. He avoided my gaze, fussing with a harness that had, quite clearly, done its job flawlessly just moments before.

“Now, I need you to focus on this next ride. It’s the last line and by far the longest.”

I narrowed my eyes into the wind. “Nope.”

He looked up, meeting my gaze. “Nope, what?”

“I’m not moving from this spot until you tell me what’s going on.”

He drew his dark brows together. “What do you mean? Nothing’s going on.

I shook my head and folded my arms over my harness, making it clear I wasn’t going anywhere. “Really? Nobody asksa random zip-liner for a photograph. Or greets them like they walk on water.”

Matteo shrugged, checking yet another clip on his harness. “Maybe it’s the familiar face curse, again.”

I tightened my eyes even further. “Oh, come on. I’m not stupid. You were allowed to look after our gear at the safety briefing … something that would be so against any company’s health and safety policy it’s not funny. Then there was the general staring from the staff, and those two women at the ‘introductory’ course.”

“The kid’s course,” he smirked.

I sucked in a breath, pushing down the hot fizz in my chest. “Whatever you want to call it. Those women giggled over you like you were the grand prize in a reality dating show.” I paused, taking a breath. “They knew who you were, didn’t they? That man knew who you were. He was excited to see you. I’m surprised he didn’t ask to kiss your feet and polish your carabiners. What’s going on, Matteo?”

He rubbed the back of his neck—again—the gesture an obvious “tell.”

He leaned against the tree trunk next to me. “Okay, look. I’ll admit. I’m a little well-known in a certain field.”

My skin prickled. “What field?”

He let out an enormous sigh. “I’m a content creator.”

“Where?”

His dark eyes bored into me. “Social media platforms.” When I didn’t respond, he continued. “Instagram and TikTok mainly. A bit on YouTube. They’ve probably seen me there.”

I chewed on my bottom lip and the platform creaked below our feet in the wind. “No. It’s more than that, isn’t it? How well known are you? How many people follow you, Matteo?”

He shifted on his feet, avoiding my eyes again. “Well …” His voice barely rose above the rustling leaves around us. “Around nine hundred thousand followers last count.”

My mouth fell open, words failing me.

“What?” he asked. “It’s across all platforms. There’s plenty of people with more, like?—”

“I don’t care if it's across all platforms, word of mouthandtelepathy. That’s insane.”

He opened his mouth to speak, but I got in first.

“How the hell did you get nearly a million followers?” I still couldn’t believe it.

“Honestly?”

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