#Vacay

by Cambria Hebert

  I leaned over, tucked the hair behind her ear, and kissed her temple. Against her ear, I whispered, “I think it’s about time you make me another baby.”

  Under the table, she smacked my leg. “Behave.”

  “I can’t help it you look so damn beautiful sitting there, sweetheart. This is your fault.”

  Her eyes rolled, but her lips pulled into a smile.

  “I’d say he’s not normally like this, but it’d be a lie,” Alex announced to the room. “What can I say? My bro is an ass.”

  “There’s one in every family,” Braeden quipped, shaking his head.

  “Yeah, and in our family, it’s you,” Drew cracked.

  “I feel the love,” B grumped.

  Rimmel popped up from the chair beside him and threw her arms around his shoulders. “But we do love you!”

  Braeden smiled and patted her back.

  When she sat down, he turned to his other side to glance at his wife. She was blond just like Bells.

  “You got nothing to say about your brother insulting your husband?”

  Ivy leaned forward, pressing her lips to his and effectively ending that conversation. Braeden made a sound, and his hand slid around the back of her head, holding her firmly in place.

  Romeo cleared his throat, and Braeden lifted his head.

  “So what’s this about hitting the mountain?” Trent asked, drinking coffee.

  Alex sat forward and nodded. “Yeah, bro. You can’t just make that offer, then not finish.”

  I blanched. “Right.” I’d totally gotten distracted by my wife and her wandering hand.” Linking my fingers with hers, I sat forward. “We want to take you guys out, get you on a board.”

  “Or skis,” Alex added.

  “Perfect conditions for it today.”

  “Hells yeah!” Braeden agreed.

  Trent and Drew nodded almost instantly, too, and then everyone turned to look at Romeo.

  Honestly, I was surprised he hadn’t been the first to speak up. When we met before, he’d been pretty enthusiastic about coming to Colorado to do this. As athletic as he was, I figured he’d be the first in line for the ski lift.

  “What say you, Rome?” Braeden asked, leaning around Rimmel to look at him.

  Rubbing the back of his neck, he seemed to debate. “Sounds good...” He began.

  “But...?” I foreshadowed.

  Rimmel sighed. “But my husband doesn’t want to take me skiing because he thinks I’ll kill myself.”

  “Or someone else,” Trent added, glib.

  “Hey!” She gasped, glancing down the table at him.

  He gave her a crooked smile. “Sometimes you can’t even walk right, sis.”

  Braeden cackled. “He’s got you there.”

  Rimmel crossed her arms over her chest and glanced at Romeo.

  His face turned sheepish. “The thought of you on some skis kinda scares the shit outta me, smalls.”

  To my surprise, Rimmel giggled. “It is kinda scary.”

  “Bro, I thought you were going down for that,” Alex swore, blowing out a breath.

  Romeo laughed and draped an arm over Rimmel’s shoulders. “You guys go ahead without us.”

  “No!” Rimmel declared, pushing his arm off her to sit up. “That’s ridiculous. You go. I can hang out here.”

  “I’ll stay with her. We can check out the resort shops.” Ivy volunteered.

  “Shopping,” Braeden muttered.

  Ivy kicked him under the table. “It’s better than Rim being alone all day.”

  “You’re right, baby.” He agreed, contrite.

  “You don’t have to do that,” Rimmel told Ivy.

  “I know,” Sabrina said, sitting forward. “The guys can all go to their macho skiing competition.”

  “Um, it’s not a competition when you have an Olympic medalist around,” I muttered.

  Bellamy giggled.

  Sabrina sighed loudly. “Careful, you’ll tip over out there with that big head of yours.”

  I gave her a large, tooth-filled grin. She was always so unimpressed with me. I liked it.

  “Anyway.” She continued dramatically. “We can go tubing!”

  Bellamy sat forward. “Yes!”

  “Tubing?” Rimmel asked, skeptical.

  Bellamy shook her head. “It’s so fun. It’s like sledding but with a tube. And we have a lift so we don’t even have to walk up the hill. We just get to do the fun part.”

  “That sounds fun.” Ivy agreed.

  Rimmel smiled. “Sure! Let’s do it!”

  “Wait a minute... How big is the hill you’ll be tubing down?”

  Rimmel rolled her eyes and looked at Romeo. “Roman Anderson. I’m a grown woman. I think I can manage to sit on a tube and slide down a hill.”

  He grimaced, and I glanced at Alex and grinned.

  “Our little sis is growing up.” Braeden hooked an arm around her neck and rubbed his palm over her hair, glanced over at Trent and Drew.

  “We can all meet up after at the Tavern for dinner,” Sabrina suggested.

  “Let’s do it.” Romeo finally agreed.

  Rimmel bounced out of her chair and into his lap. He caught her as though the action were nothing new and chuckled low.

  After a few minutes, everyone started clearing the table, and we made plans to meet over near the slopes. Once the kids were all bundled up and Noah was in my arms, we went to the door to take them to their grandparents’.

  Romeo saw us out, while the rest of the family ran around getting ready for skiing.

  Before walking out the door, I turned back. “Your wife really that clumsy?”

  Romeo made a choked sound, then nodded sagely. “Dude, she’s a hazard.”

  Noah reached up and tugged the hat off my head and laughed. I tickled his stomach, and he giggled more.

  “Well, tubing is definitely the way to go, then,” I told him.

  He nodded. “For sure. At least this way when she falls, she won’t have far to go because she’ll already be sitting down.”

  I laughed. “I’ll see you out there.”

  Romeo nodded.

  From behind us, Charlie gave a deep woof and his nails clattered across the floor as he came running.

  “Wait!” Rimmel called, running after him.

  As if on cue, she tripped on air and pitched forward. Smoothly, Romeo glided forward and scooped her up.

  Rimmel laughed and tossed the bacon in her hand to my dog.

  Over her head, Romeo gave me a look as if to say, See?

  I was still laughing when he closed the door behind us.

  Romeo

  “Rimmel.” I beckoned from the doorway, leaning against the wood frame as I watched her dig around in the suitcase, her shapely little ass high in the air.

  “Hmm?” she said, straightening to glance over her shoulder.

  The second our eyes met, the air around us changed instantly. Her brown eyes deepened when she realized I was staring.

  The sweater gripped in her hands fell to the floor.

  “Come here.”

  She swallowed thickly but did as I demanded, closing the distance between us with every step she took.

  Before she reached me, I pushed off the doorway and stepped into the room, kicking it shut behind me. Picking her up, her legs wound around my waist instantly, her arms hooking around my neck.

  “I think we need to go over some ground rules.”

  Behind her glasses, her eyes widened. “Ground rules?”

  I nodded once. “You definitely need some rules if you’re going to go sledding.”

  Her mouth fell open when she realized I meant to give her instructions before I let her out of my sight.

  “Roman Ander—”

  I cut off the scolding tone with a kiss, stealthily slipping my tongue into her mouth to stroke hers. She melted just like she always did and leaned closer. I laid her across the bed, though her legs remained locked around my waist. The weight of my body pressed he
r into the mattress as I angled my mouth in a different direction, deepening the kiss.

  Her fingers skirted up the back of my neck, delving into the hair at the base of my skull. Small ripples of pleasure broke out across my scalp, and I moaned low in my throat.

  Just before I lost myself completely, I retreated until I was able to gaze down into her face.

  “Rule number one.” I began.

  “You cannot be serious!” She fumed.

  I kissed the tip of her nose. “Do not go off on your own.”

  She snorted that cute snort of hers. “I’ll be on a mountain filled with people.”

  “Don’t talk to strangers.”

  “You’re being ridiculous.”

  “Sled down the hill on your butt. Don’t be trying any fancy moves like going on your stomach.”

  “Who would do that?” she complained.

  I paused, and she snorted again. “Oh, wait. You would.”

  I didn’t disagree. “On your butt.” I reminded.

  She turned her face away, but I caught her chin and gently turned it back. “It’s a crime not to obey your husband.”

  “You’re stupid.”

  I grinned.

  “Wear your hat and gloves the entire time and keep your cell with you at all times.”

  “Anything else, master?”

  I suppressed a grin. “Don’t hurt yourself.”

  She made a rude sound.

  “One more thing.”

  Rimmel sighed rather dramatically, grabbed the neck of my shirt, and began to push me off her.

  “Don’t let any other man hit on you. You’re mine.”

  She paused in shoving to glare at me. “Don’t worry,” she said saucily. “No other man is going to want such an uncoordinated dimwit who needs a set of rules to hang out with her friends for the day.”

  “Kiss me with that sassy mouth,” I demanded.

  “No.”

  I kissed her anyway, and she yielded because Rim was powerless to my touch.

  When at last we broke apart, I grasped her chin and forced her gaze back up. “I only give you rules because you’re my whole life and I want you to be safe.”

  “Romeo.” She sighed.

  I smiled because she was totally not mad at me anymore.

  Rimmel

  “Oh my gosh, I haven’t done this in forever!” Bellamy laughed when she skidded to a stop nearby.

  I watched her roll out of the giant air-filled tube onto the snow, lying face up.

  The sky was bright blue, not a single cloud in sight. The bright rays of the sun were almost blinding, the way the beams reflected off the pure-white snow. Even though I had on sunglasses, I was squinting behind them.

  “You live here!” Ivy teased. “You mean you don’t do this all the time?”

  Sabrina and Bellamy both laughed.

  “No way. Living at a ski resort, one that your family owns and operates, is a whole lot different than coming to one for vacation,” Bellamy explained.

  Sabrina nodded. “And then we had kids... which makes it even harder to get out and do this stuff.”

  “All the more reason for us to make the most of today!” I exclaimed, grabbing the handle of my tube.

  This was the first time I’d ever been tubing. It was really the first time I’d ever actually hung out in the snow, you know, beyond throwing occasional snowballs at Romeo and building a snowman with the boys. Honestly, I was surprised I was having fun. I thought for sure I’d be freezing cold and clumsy the entire time.

  Turns out even I could sit on a tube and ride it down a snowy mountain. Who would have thought?

  As the four of us got in line for the tow, I gazed across the wide landscape toward the ski slopes. Lots of people were out today, and everyone looked like they were having a good time. I watched one skier cut over the snow, creating a dust of white behind them as they went. The way they zig-zagged over the terrain made it look easy, though I knew it wasn’t.

  I wondered how the guys were doing and if they were having as much fun as we were. Knowing them, they were having the time of their life.

  “You go ahead of me this time.” Ivy motioned when it was our turn to be towed back up the mountain.

  The resort had this amazing feature so the people tubing didn’t have to walk back up the hill they were sledding down. Instead, you sat on your tube and grabbed onto a handle and got pulled to the top!

  I flopped down into the center of the tube and reached for the handle. I didn’t even have to tuck my feet inside because I was so short they barely hung over the edge.

  Ivy was right behind me, with the other girls right behind her.

  “Let’s go to the very top this time!” Bellamy called up to us.

  “Yeah!” I shouted back and threw a hand up in the air.

  So far, we’d only gone down the shorter run so Ivy and I had a chance to get used to the tubes and mountain. I admit I’d been skeptical about how much I’d like this, but I was already planning on buying a few tubes for the house because our kids would love doing this.

  Once we were all towed to the very top, we stood side by side and took in the view.

  “Whoa,” I mused. “This is gorgeous! It’s like a winter wonderland!”

  “Sure beats any view I had in California.” Sabrina agreed.

  I turned toward her. “You’re from California?”

  Sabrina nodded. “Where the sun always shines.”

  “I grew up in Florida,” I told her.

  She laughed. “Ah, a fellow warm weather gal.”

  “Okay, so after this run, let’s meet around the same place we just did.” Bellamy planned. Her long blond hair hung in waves from beneath the BearPaw cap she wore. “Maybe we can do a few more runs, then head inside for some hot chocolate.”

  I agreed instantly. “Definitely! This has been fun, but I don’t think me and the cold will ever be besties.”

  Ivy grinned. “We can check out some of the shops, too.”

  “Good plan.” Bellamy agreed and dropped the tube in her grip on the ground to jump right on. “See you at the bottom!” she called, and Sabrina gave her a big push.

  Bellamy let out a joyful cry and slipped down the hill.

  My stomach dipped a little watching her. I didn’t realize how much higher this path started until I gazed all the way down and watched as the other sleds soared away.

  “I’ll walk down to the shorter path with you,” Ivy offered, obviously noticing my sudden wariness.

  Her arm linked in mine, and the sound of our jackets rubbing together made me smile. Glancing over at her, I peered above the thick brown fur lining the hood of my coat.

  “No way! Just wait until Romeo hears that I pulled this off.”

  Ivy laughed and pulled her phone out of her pocket. “Get on.” She gestured to the tube. “I’ll take your pic.”

  Laughing, I went to sit on the tube, but it slid out from beneath me and I fell into the snow. “Hey!” I laughed and grabbed it before it could go down the mountain without me.

  Ivy laughed. “Here, I’ll hold it for you.”

  Sabrina came over and held one side while Ivy held the other.

  “I’ll hold it while you take the picture,” Sabrina offered.

  Ivy rushed back and snapped a few images. Then the three of us posed for a selfie.

  “Ready?” Sabrina asked when Ivy was putting away her phone.

  I adjusted the sunglasses on my face, then pulled the yellow beanie with a giant fluff ball on the top down over my ears a little farther.

  Nodding once, I grabbed the handles on the tube. “Ready!”

  Sabrina gave me a big shove just like she’d done for Bellamy. I screeched when the tube starting sliding and dipped over the first little hill.

  The tube picked up speed quickly, and for a second, I squeezed my eyes shut because, oh my goodness, it felt like I was flying! Quickly, I forced my eyes back open because I wasn’t about to miss the view. All around me, people yelled
and laughed. The wind was cold against my cheeks, making them sting, and snow flew up in the air around me, pelting me with icy flakes.

  I tried to look backward to see if I could see Ivy, but all I managed to do was fall sideways.

  “Ah!” I gasped, gripping the handles. I didn’t fall off, but the tube spun around, making me feel dizzy. Squeezing my eyes closed, I waited for the tube to right itself, and once I felt like I was going straight, I opened them again, only to see I was backward!

  I was still going down the mountain, but I was more toward the side of the run, no longer in the center, and my back was facing down so I couldn’t see.

  “Geez!” I exclaimed.

  Squeezing the handles, I used my body weight to try and spin around so I was at least facing the way I was going.

  Of course, my slight weight and body mass didn’t do much to help. Fighting with the tube, I cursed under my breath and then smiled because clearly Romeo’s foul mouth was rubbing off on me.

  “C’mon,” I said, giving the tube one last heave.

  Thankfully, I spun, and as I did, another tube smacked into mine.

  “Ahh!” I exclaimed when we collided. My foot got mashed between us and bent at an uncomfortable angle, making pain radiate up the side of my leg. Trying to yank it back into the sled only made the pain worse.

  A second later, the other tube bounced off mine, and the man riding it yelled out an apology as he continued down the path.

  Snow sprayed my face, splattering against the sunglasses and stinging my lips. Pulling both my legs into the tube and gingerly tucking them beneath me, finally I gazed back up.

  Surely, I was almost at the bottom of the hill by now. I was ready for that hot chocolate.

  It wasn’t the bottom of the tubing hill that I saw when I glanced up, though... It was a giant tree.

  And I was barreling right toward it!

  My scream echoed all around me, amplifying the sound and frankly scaring me more than necessary. The tree came fast, so close now I could see all the texture of the bark and just how hard it was going to be when I slammed into it.

  At the last second, I pitched sideways, throwing myself off the tube. The speed and force I was traveling at made me roll over the snow a bit before coming to a dramatic stop on my side.