For The Holidays (Gaming The System Book 9)

by Brenna Aubrey

  My legs were dangling from the chair lift and I couldn’t pull my eyes off my skis, which wobbled back and forth as I kicked them nervously. I half wished one of them would fall off my boot, down, down, down into the snow. Poof, never to be seen again and then—whoops!—no crazy-ass ski race!

  Beside me, Lucas gripped his side of the chair in response to the wobbling and turned to me as a wind kicked up.

  “Jesus, Kat, what are you trying to do, dump us off the chair?”

  “What, you’re such an expert with skiing, why would you be afraid of that?”

  “Because I don’t fly?” He shrugged. “What’s the matter, trying to take out the competition?”

  The ski lift stopped momentarily, right when we reached the highest point. The wind kicked up, and a flurry of ice and flakes rose on the breeze, stinging my eyes. I still refused to lower my goggles.

  I blew out a breath and shook my head, muttering, “This competition is so lame.”

  “What?”

  “I said, This competition is so lame!” This time I yelled it. I may have started an avalanche down a hidden canyon somewhere nearby. But damn it, I was frustrated.

  “About time you realized that.”

  I arched a brow at him. “Maybe you should have chimed in when Jordan came up with the stupid idea.”

  He gestured with open hands. “Because I thought you wanted it, too. You know, since you’re always looking for a reason to compete with me.”

  “People who live in glass houses shouldn’t challenge their wife to a ski race!”

  “Um, what?”

  “We compete about everything. It’s not just me, is it? You do it, too.”

  He shook his head. “I don’t—”

  “Then why don’t you tell me why you’ve been going to such pains to keep your work troubles a secret from me? Maybe you don’t want me to find out because somehow that means I’m winning because I like my new job?”

  His face clouded and he looked away.

  “See? Proof that we both do it,” I concluded, taking his lack of denial for agreement.

  He looked back at me. The lift still hadn’t started up again and I had no way to tell what was holding it up. Maybe someone had fallen when descending? Didn’t bode well for us.

  I turned to him and raised my brows, expecting him to speak.

  “Why the hell are we doing this?” he finally asked.

  “It’s not my fault!” I squeaked. “Jordan started it.”

  “Fucking Jordan.” He ground out between clenched teeth.

  Another beat passed and the lift jerked to a start again. We both burst out laughing at the same time.

  I shook my head. “Too bad he’s not here or I’d kick his ass with my ski boots on.”

  “I’d dump him headfirst into the snow,” Lucas contributed.

  “I can’t believe he even put us up to this.”

  “And twisted our arms to get us to perform, like dancing monkeys to place bets on. He wanted us to do it on a black diamond run, too. Can you imagine?”

  “Fucking Jordan!” I yelled so loud that it echoed across the valley. Another beat passed and we were quiet. I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye. “Just ‘cause he put us up to this doesn’t mean we have to do it.”

  He sighed and fixed his knit beanie on top of his head. “I feel obligated. The boss is watching now.”

  I peered at him out of the corner of my eye. “Is work going that badly? And why didn’t you tell me? Maybe I could help.”

  He heaved a long sigh and shook his head. “Okay I confess. I didn’t want to tell you about the bullshit I’m dealing with because you’re doing amazing at your new job and I’m not doing that great at mine.”

  I looked at him like he was an alien. “But… both Jordan and Adam said you’re doing a great job.”

  Lucas unconsciously looked toward the platform where all our friends stood perched at a perfect vantage point to watch the beginning of our race. Right now, they were stuffed behind the trees and we couldn’t see them. “Because they don’t know. I’m struggling with two of my employees who are at each other’s throats and threatening to quit every other day if I don’t fire the other one.”

  I threw my husband a look. “Yeah, I’m sure they’ve never had to deal with childish employees, ever.”

  He blinked a few times. “You… have a good point.”

  “I do have them sometimes.” I sent him a self-satisfied smile.

  He took in a deep breath and sighed heavily, his breath billowing out like a cloud. “Man, that felt good to finally confess.”

  I shot him a slightly guilty look and swallowed. “I have something to confess, too.”

  He turned to me expectantly.

  I bit my lip. “I may have…exaggerated my skiing abilities.” He blinked, and then there was a sudden and noticeable change in his body language. His shoulders slumped. Was that relief? I cleared my throat. “You should know by now that I’m ninety percent bravado, five-percent pluck and a three percent lucky.”

  “And the other two percent?”

  I swallowed, studying the slope ahead under our chair as we climbed higher. “That’s the crazy.”

  “You’re not crazy, Kat.”

  “I got us into this race, didn’t I?”

  He shook his head vehemently. “No, we just agreed that Jordan did it.”

  I laughed. “Oh, yeah.”

  “I think we’re both suffering from a big misunderstanding.”

  I bit my lip. “I was planning to tell you that first night in the diner after dinner. But the whole thing just blew so far out of proportion. Everyone’s stupid Canadian jokes were making me fed up, so I exaggerated my skills. A lot. And then Jordan baited you—”

  “Adam was right there. I wasn’t going to back down in front of my boss.”

  I tucked my head down. “Why are we always competing with each other?”

  He shrugged helplessly. “Maybe because of how our relationship started out? I’ve been complicit in it too….”

  We both turned to look ahead. The chair was approaching the top of the slope and it was time to slide off. “We’re gamers. Of course we’re competitive. Just… I wish it didn’t have to be with everything, you know? Ultimately, we’re on the same team.”

  As the slope rose to meet us, we both descended and headed, side-by-side toward the beginning point of the intermediate run. From the distance, above us on the slope, came the distant sounds of cheering and calling. Our heads both pointed up, up, up ‘til we caught sight of them on the observation area. A cluster of our friends all bundled up and madly waving.

  Lucas gave a long, forlorn sigh.

  “I think it’s time for the dancing monkeys to rebel,” I said.

  His brows rose almost to the brim of his knit cap. “Excuse me?”

  “Let’s refuse to race. We’ll just go down at our own pace.”

  His eyes narrowed. “This isn’t some trick so you’ll beat me, is it?”

  I shook my head. “I’m dead serious. Besides, you’re a way better skier than I am. I wouldn’t have a chance. I’m admitting that now. Out loud.”

  His expression grew sheepish. “Then I have another confession to make…”

  “Oh?”

  “I ski like shit. Rich kid or no. European winter vacations or no, it’s never been my thing.”

  I lost it, right there on the slope. I started laughing so hard, even as people pushed past us to start their run. “Oh my god, we’re such dorks. Let’s get off this mountain and go play some Steep on the PlayStation. Good healthy competition.”

  His grin widened. “Only problem is that the only way off this mountain is down. But we can always go together.”

  “I’d suggest holding hands, but Imma need both my poles for balance. However, let’s make a pact not to laugh at each other, okay?”

  “Sounds good to me. Let’s just make this a leisurely trip down the mountain on our way to sitting cozy by the fire and pretending t
o ski on a console game.”

  Together we flashed a thumbs up at our friends who watched from above. Then, with a “Here goes nothin’,” we pushed ourselves down the hill.

  Easy peasy, lemon squeezy, right?

  Well… not exactly.

  Chapter 30

  Lucas

  New Year’s Eve day in a Canadian emergency room waiting for results on my wife’s x-rays was not my idea of a good time. Yes indeed… the last day of the year and I’d ended up putting my wife in the hospital.

  I shuddered to think of what might have happened if we’d actually been racing. It could have been so much worse, but still, it was bad. I sat up, paced in a circle, sat back down, fiddled with my wedding ring. I couldn’t sit still, and I wouldn’t rest easy until Kat was back from radiology.

  “Sit down, man, you’re making me nervous.”

  I turned an acid eye toward Jordan. “Oh, well, excuse me. It’s just my wife in there with God knows how many broken bones…” I gestured wildly with my arm in the direction they’d wheeled her twenty minutes before.

  Jordan blinked and cast a concerned glance in the same direction. “She’s all right. I mean, she’s gotta be all right. Kat’s a tough girl, right? Really tough.”

  We’d been rushed down the mountain on a snowmobile to the first aid station at the bottom where she’d been checked out on the spot.

  She hadn’t hit her head, but her ankle was painful and swelling like a balloon. And there was no putting weight on it.

  I just hoped she hadn’t fractured anything. Damn it. That would be painful and a long recovery, and since it was her ankle, possible surgery depending on how bad it was.

  My stomach knotted and I ran a hand through my hair.

  At least Jordan had the decency to look worried.

  The nurse showed up to tell us that Kat was back in the examining room. The doctor was looking at her X-rays and would be in shortly. I shot out of my chair to follow her. Jordan did the exact same thing.

  He’d come with us while the rest of the group waited back at the mansion. Jordan had insisted, and though Mia might have been the more obvious choice in order to be with her best friend and offer medical advice if needed, Jordan wouldn’t hear of it.

  I turned to him. “Haven’t you done enough?”

  “Man, I just want to make sure she’s all right so I can text everyone and give them some news. Hopefully good news.” He looked stricken. Almost guilty. Good. It was his big ol’ mouth that had gotten us into this in the first place.

  When we got into the room, Kat was doubled over and moaning, crying.

  Holy Shit.

  “It hurts. It hurts so much. Damn. Ohhhh.” When I went to her, she all but fell into my arms from the top of the examination table and I wrapped them around her tightly.

  “Shh. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

  “Jordan is the one who should be sorry!” she half shouted. Fuck. It must really hurt because I had never seen her like this. I mean, she cried, of course. Once in a while. For emotional reasons. But she seemed to tolerate pain well under normal circumstance. This must have been real agony.

  “Tell him to go away. I don’t even want to look at him.”

  I shot Jordan a death glare over my wife’s head.

  Jordan threw his hands up. “I’m going. I’m going I just wanted to say I’m so sorry, Kat. I take full responsibility. It was totally stupid to pit you two against each other, and I really feel like shit. Please can I—”

  “Gooooo!” she howled into my chest, and with a sigh of resignation, he backed up. His gaze met mine and his hands were up helplessly.

  Then he turned and was gone.

  A minute later, Kat asked me if he was gone and I reassured her that he was.

  Then she pushed away and straightened. “Good, because I have no idea how much longer I could have kept that up.”

  I blinked and stared into Kat’s face. Clear eyes, no hint of crying whatsoever. “What?”

  “Oh, he deserved it. Do not even tell me you think he didn’t deserve a little guilt trip.”

  I scratched my forehead, puzzled. “You had me going there, too.”

  She waved a hand. “Yeah, sorry. You were collateral damage. I just want him to stew on that for a while.”

  I shook my head. “So… you aren’t in pain?”

  She shook her head. “They shot me up with something before they took me to radiology. I don’t feel a damn thing. But Jordan doesn’t need to know that. Maybe I can get a billionaire to wait on me hand and foot for the rest of the time we’re here. Maybe I’ll make him dress up in something funny or figure out some other way to humiliate him.”

  My lips thinned. “Well as funny as the idea of all that is, Jordan is still technically my boss.”

  Her eyes widened. “Oooh I know, maybe he’ll give you a raise to appease his guilt!”

  I laughed. Not long after, the doctor came in to inform us that it was just a severe sprain and we were discharged shortly thereafter. I, of course, had to hear all about the superiority of Canadian health care from my Canadian wife. She wasn’t wrong, after all.

  Jordan hardly said anything to us on the way back to the mansion, sufficiently cowed. Eventually I’d clue him in.

  He had huge bouquet of flowers waiting for her in our room. A gigantic “I’m sorry” mylar balloon floated above it near the ceiling. Kat broke up into hysterics the minute I carried her through the doorway and she saw it.

  “I’m going to ask Anna to get a gigantic balloon of a moose with a maple leaf on it for him and tell him he has to fly home with it tied to his wrist like a four-year-old.”

  And we had fun dreaming up other possible humiliations for Jordan.

  A few hours later, Mia and Adam stopped to say goodbye and check on her on their way out the door for their special overnight stay in a secluded location.

  And even I couldn’t help but notice how amazing they looked in their finest attire. Adam was actually wearing a dark suit with a gray tie and Mia had on a short royal blue dress made of crushed velvet paired with shiny black heels.

  Wow.

  Kat’s eyes widened. “Mia! No fair! You have all the glam, and I have none, and it’s New Year’s Eve. You’re going to go dancing tonight, aren’t you? And here I am with my ankle the size of a rugby ball.” She sighed and then gave her friend a lopsided smile. “You’re so beautiful! Happy one-year anniversary, you two!”

  Mia bent and gave her a hug. Adam asked how she was doing, bent, and kissed her on the cheek. Neither of them would leave until we reassured them that we had everything we needed. Copious ice packs. Her filled prescription bottle. And doctor’s orders to keep her off her feet and her injured ankle elevated.

  Only then was Mia satisfied, and with some relief, Adam took her by the hand and led her away. On their way out the front door, the rest of our friends lined up to wish them a happy anniversary and send them on their way.

  And they were off.

  And… we were alone in our room.

  My wife, despite her injury and supposed lack of glam, was looking incredibly fetching with her slightly loopy lopsided smile, her disheveled flame hair and her cheerful eyes.

  “Come here. You are supposed to be at my beck and call, right? So I’m officially becking and calling you.”

  “I think it’s beckoning,” I corrected as I approached her.

  Her blue eyes gleamed and she licked her lips. “Mmm. I love it when you speak private school rich boy to me.”

  “I could do other things that you love even more.”

  “As long as I don’t have to be too athletic or use my foot, I’m all in.”

  I laughed. “Unless you are thinking of some weird-ass position I’m not familiar with, then no foot action necessary.”

  With a lot of laughs and even more kisses, I pulled her against me, hastily unbuttoning the front of her nightshirt. Once it fell away and her prefect naked breasts were revealed I sucked in a gasp of arousal. “Oh, you
have no idea how thankful I am that you didn’t sprain your boobs.”

  She fell back flat against her pillow laughing deep from her gut. “Well thank God you didn’t sprain your mouth.”

  “Yeah let me show you exactly how healthy my mouth is feeling right now…”

  And I covered very inch of her body I could reach with kisses. No competition here. Just good old-fashioned teamwork. Rewarded in orgasms.

  Chapter 31

  Jenna

  “William,” I called out, dragging my handsome boyfriend’s attention away from still more of his sketching in the reading nook. He’d been as concerned about Kat’s welfare as the rest of us, but he’d also been beyond annoyed about having to stand out in the cold to watch the race—such as it was.

  He’d hardly left the fireside since we’d returned to the house. I was afraid my sweetie had had enough of the cold weather, the mountains, and the snow and was ready to get back to sunny Southern California. And while the weather wasn’t exactly warm at home by our standards, it was practically tropical next to these high altitude and high latitude winter temperatures.

  Which made me smile all the more when I thought of the surprise I’d been cooking up for the past couple hours while William warmed up by the fire and perfected his sketches.

  “I need you to take a trip with me.”

  He looked up from his sketchbook, puzzled. I was taking a risk of frustrating him by being too figurative, but he’d catch on quickly enough. It wasn’t like I was about to prolong it.

  “What? When?”

  I climbed the three steps up to the elevated nook and took a last look at the mountains as the dusk was coming in, turning the skies purple and blue. So beautiful… “We’re going to the tropics. Right now.”

  He blinked at me. “What?”

  I smiled and held out both my hands for him to take. “Put the book down and come with me, please!”

  With a deep sigh, as if I had just assigned a million chores for him to do, he complied and put his pencil and book aside. Then he stood and took one of my hands. “I’m sure I’ll understand soon because I have no idea what you’re talking about right now.”