Caleb was bummed he was taken off the party cabins, grumbling every time he saw me return.
“You’re the newbie. I should get pick of shifts.” Caleb huffed, tossing down his order sheet.
“Stop whining.” Neil set down another string of orders in front of me.
“But why does she get to do the cabins? Those were mine.”
“They aren’t yours.” Neil tugged at his jacket, his tone full of warning. “You do what I tell you to do. You are lucky to even have this job, as I am well aware of how many times you stay and party, getting high with the guests.”
Caleb went silent, his head focused on his deliveries, his Adam’s apple bobbing.
“That’s what I thought.” Neil swung around, walking away from us.
Even though I was glad I was no longer on Rhys’s room, I still couldn’t stop myself from looking for a six-o-six room order, wondering what he would think when he saw Caleb at the door. I had no doubt he would get a clear message.
Chapter Eighteen
Rhys
“Rhys!” Graham met up with Shaun and me as we came down from our training session. My leg felt good, but Shaun still didn’t want to push it. My confidence was on the rebound after I’d been able to do several tricks with ease.
Anything was an improvement from earlier. Shaun had spent half the morning yelling at me for getting into a fight by threatening to kick my ass if I did it again.
“You are lucky the jackass isn’t pressing charges. I had to sweet-talk his coach all morning to not talk to the Snowboard Association. And you know how I don’t revel in kissing anyone’s ass.” Shaun orbited around in a circle like a flapping vulture. “You know Jesper would love to take you out any way he can.”
“He hit me too.”
Shaun glared at me. We both knew it was a bullshit excuse. I had punched first.
“And Jesper wants to beat me on the snow. But this would make him look as if he won only because I wasn’t there.”
“Don’t underestimate that prick. He will do it solely to spite you.” Shaun rubbed at his head. “And right now, I’m furious enough to turn you in myself.”
Shaun continued to nag at me all day, but it was nothing compared to the memory of Hannah running from my room earlier. Or the soft sound of her moans…
When Hannah left, I went from thoroughly confused to pissed off. I was done with her back-and-forth games. The FIS Snowboard Championship was in a couple of weeks, and they had to be my only focus.
“Good news and bad news.” Graham zipped his jacket to his neck, frozen air turning his breath into vapor. The sun was going down on the clear freezing day, and the temperature dropped steeply.
“What’s the bad news?” I stopped in front of him and alongside Shaun.
Graham frowned and glanced down at his phone. “The magazine reporter cancelled the dinner tonight. Says she wants to interview Carrie instead. Loves the idea of a woman snowboarder on the cover instead.” He ground his teeth. “Maybe you could call Carrie tonight…or stop by…you know, to say hi.”
“Graham…” I growled, folding my arms. “I’m not going to call Carrie, or crash her dinner, just so I can maybe get a mention in a magazine.”
“What would it hurt?” He tugged down his beanie, his feet moving, trying to stay warm. “It would be nice of you to tell her good luck. Anyway, after the stunt you pulled last night, you need to get in her good graces. She would help a lot. You guys getting back together would take the focus off the pictures of you attacking Jesper splashed all over the front page.”
Damn cell phones. You couldn’t do anything nowadays without being captured on film.
“I’m not getting back together with Carrie for publicity reasons.”
“You guys are going to eventually anyway. Why not make it now?” Graham tipped one shoulder in a shrug. “At least call her.”
“Graham, you know why I won’t call Carrie. It would mean more to her than merely wishing her luck. And I’m not going to use her to get myself a mention. It’s pathetic.”
“Kid, you had two cancellations this week from sponsors and magazine interviews. After the fight last night, they are clearing the deck, labeling you troubled.”
I had already heard that, while Jesper was coming out the endearing victim. This morning the papers claimed their dimpled champion had been attacked without cause because I had anger management issues. All hinted my rage stemmed from my tragic past.
“And they aren’t interested in the injury anymore. You don’t really have to get back with Carrie, but if they think there is a possibility.”
“Good night, Graham.” I moved around him. Shaun followed me, shaking his head.
“Wait,” Graham called after me. “You’re going the wrong way.”
I stared between him and the door to the lodge. “Um…I’m pretty sure I’m not.” Was he drunk?
“That is my good news. I finally got you into a private cabin and had your stuff moved over there already. It has a hot tub and balcony overlooking the mountain.”
“Awesome.” I nodded, curving back around toward Graham, who held out a set of keys. “Thanks.”
“That’s what agents are for, right?” He tossed me the keys with Cabin Eight written on the key ring.
“Hot tub, huh?” My mind tried to picture all the sexy snow bunnies I could fit into one tub, but my mind kept returning, maddeningly, to just one.
No. She made her position clear this morning. Actually, this might be a good thing. I’d get away from the hotel, away from where I was bound to run into Hannah. The more distance between us, the better.
Tomorrow was Christmas Eve. Shaun would be leaving Christmas morning for his daughter’s place, so I had the cabin all to myself. It was time for one of my infamous parties. More space and a larger bed to fill with other girls.
Presents to myself.
Chapter Nineteen
Hannah
The lodge was slammed Christmas Eve. The lobby was filled with families and carolers, parties packed every banquet room, and the restaurant had a waiting list over an hour and a half long. Rooms in the lodge went silent, but the kitchen was lined with tickets from the private cabins, looking as though most of them were having parties of their own.
I wiped at the sweat on my brow as I packed a crate full of appetizers. The kitchen felt like a sauna as cooks and servers hustled around me. The sounds of calls for orders and the sizzling of the grill burst constantly in my ears.
“You’re done!” Freddie threw my last appetizer on the counter. “Get out of here!” Getting large orders to the cabins was a little more difficult. Caleb and I would have to go together for most of the deliveries. We put food in heated boxes on the backs of snowmobiles to get to the farthest ones.
“Caleb, are you ready?” I stuffed napkins and utensils into a bag.
“Yeah.” He grabbed one of the boxes, his face shiny with perspiration. “This is a massive order. Must be a big party.” He grinned.
“We aren’t guests. You know that, right? We can’t stay and party with them.” I heaved up the other overloaded box, then both of us walked out the side door.
“Who will know?” He winked.
“Uh. Neil.” I nudged him with the crate, grabbing my jacket along the way. “Also, if too many orders line up on the counter waiting for us, Freddie will have a herd of kittens.”
After strapping the containers down and getting our gloves and jackets on, we both took off for the farthest cabin up the hill. In the daylight and without a shitload of food, it was a nice walk, a salted path taking you straight to the lodge. Some nights we’d walk to the closer cabins in the snow. It was nice to breathe in the crisp, fresh air, get out of the hot kitchen and stroll under the stars. But taking the snowmobiles was even better.
Usually on the way there, Caleb and I were careful, not wanting any food falling off. But on the way back we had fun tearing through the snow, spinning and racing back to the lodge. Tonight was the first time I smile
d in several days.
Now Caleb and I pulled up to the last cabin, two black SUVs in the driveway. Music and voices pumped from the house and deck, the place bursting with people and activity.
We gathered up the order, walked to the front door, and rang the bell. It took four rings before the door swung open, a girl in a bikini top and towel answering the door. “Yeah?” She swayed, her eyes glazed with alcohol.
“Your food delivery.” Kind of stating the obvious.
“Not mine.” She pointed at herself, slurring. “Not my place.” With that she skipped off, heading back out the open French doors. The sounds of splashing, squealing, and yelling drifted over the music. A horde of people crowded the hot tub. A guy stood on the deck railing while they chanted, “Jump, Jump. Jump.”
He let out a cry and leaped into the snow below, triggering a round of cheers from the hot tub group.
Ahhh. Polar Bear Plunge. People did it all the time, but drunks jumping down into unknown snow mounds did not strike me as smart.
“Hey.” Caleb grabbed a random guy with red, curly hair walking by, his lids half-mast, a happy smile on his stoned face. “Can you point out your host?”
“Hey…I know you!” The guy held up his hand in a high five. “You partied with us last weekend.”
“Yeah, hey, man.” Caleb smacked his palm. “It was fucking raging.”
They went back and forth about how great the party was and how high they got while I cocked my head at them and let out a loud sigh.
“Sorry to interrupt, but can you please tell the person staying here their food delivery is here?”
“Sure. Oh, there he is.” The redheaded guy pointed behind me.
I swung around and saw a guy walking down the stairs with a tall beautiful blonde wearing an extremely tiny bikini.
You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.
My throat caved in, and I felt the need to vomit.
Rhys.
Seeing him ripped the air from my lungs, and the world around me buzzed into a haze. I thought I had been safe working the cabins with his room far away, but there he stood, looking amazing in dark jeans and a gray henley. His hair looked messed, as though fingers had been running through it, his lips swollen.
He took another step, his dark eyes drawing to mine, his feet coming to a halt.
Movement behind him dropped my gaze to the hand clutching his elbow, probably the very hands that had been running through his hair. The stunning girl inched possessively closer to him, appearing confused at why he stopped. Her puffy mouth also looked like it had been abused. Assaulted by his.
Jealousy raged painfully inside my chest, rocking against my rib cage like a headbanger.
Did I walk away from him first? Yes.
Did I make it clear I wanted nothing to do with him? Yeah.
Did I secretly hope he’d still want me? Uh. Okay. Yeah, I did.
I should have known I wasn’t anything to him. But what he told me, what I shared with him had to count for something.
“Dude, Axton!” Caleb waved at him. “Didn’t know you moved here. Awesome, man. Where do you want the food?”
“The dining table’s fine,” he said, his eyes never leaving mine.
“Cool.” Caleb started to head into the other room. “Uh. Hello, Han? You coming?”
Crap.
I tore away from the hold Rhys’s gaze had on me. My cheeks heated up. Everyone had seen me completely entranced by him. I couldn’t be mad about him being with another woman; we weren’t anything. But it bothered me more than I wanted to admit to myself.
I clenched my jaw as I unpacked the food container. A tingle climbed my spine, spreading out across my back similar to roots. He was behind me. I could feel his presence like tiny electric shocks. I busied myself, acting as though I didn’t notice.
“Rhys?” a girl’s voice purred. “Come in the hot tub with me. Or we can go back upstairs.”
Don’t react. Don’t react.
“Go ahead and get in; I’ll be there later,” he responded emotionlessly.
I couldn’t see her, but I heard her huff, then the sounds of her stomping as she headed outside.
“Your bill?” Caleb held the receipt. “Want it added to your tab?”
“Yeah.” He spoke the one word, but I felt it vibrate through me.
“Okay.” Caleb started to pack all our carry stuff and travel toward the front door. “Maybe I’ll stop by after my shift, if it’s cool with you?”
“Sure.” Again it felt like he was talking straight at me, half noticing Caleb.
“Shit, Hannah, we got to go. Neil just texted me.” Caleb’s voice moved to the other room. I stood frozen at the table, my back to Rhys, the feel of his stare pinning me to the floor.
I was scared to turn around.
“Hannah!” Caleb yelled. “Come on!”
I gripped my crate with white knuckles and swung around, keeping my gaze on the door and nowhere else.
“Hannah?” Rhys rumbled my name, my body instantly responding with desire, as if he were the only one with my trigger button, flaring up my spine, pricking my skin, and clamping down on my lungs. He stepped in front of me, grabbing the container I held, his black irises fixed on me. He yanked it from my hands, tossing the empty box to the side, and walked me back into a wall.
“Don’t do this,” I whispered.
“Do what?” he challenged, placing a hand on either side of my head. “What have I done? You’re the one who ran from my room after dry-humping me.”
Cringing, I turned my head to the side. It sounded so adolescent and cheap. It had felt so much more than that.
“You started it. Not me.”
“I know.”
“I told you to leave me alone, but you didn’t. You came back to my room.”
I pinched my mouth together, still not able to look at him. I was a mess. I couldn’t even decipher what the hell I wanted.
“Hannah!” Caleb yelled my name from the front door.
“Give us a minute,” Rhys growled back at Caleb. Over his shoulder I could see Caleb’s eyes widen, taking us in.
“Shit. Yeah. Sorry.” He thumbed back toward the snowmobiles. “I’ll be out here. Waiting in the fuckin’ freezing snow.”
“I have to go.” I tried to move from the wall, but Rhys didn’t budge, blocking my way, his mouth already too close to mine. “You should get back to your company anyway.”
His gaze moved down me, a smirk hinting on his mouth. “Jealous?”
“No.”
“Sure.” He scoffed, leaning closer to me. “I don’t want her. I want you. I really want to take you upstairs, spread your legs, while I fuck you.”
A ragged breath rattled through my lungs, my thighs igniting with the thought.
“No. We can’t.” I swallowed, my chest quivering with air. “We can only be friends.”
“Friends?” His eyebrow bowed. “What kind of friends?”
“Not the ones with privileges.”
His lips quirked into a sad smile. “Then I doubt you and I can be friends.” He dropped his arms and retreated. My body instantly went cold. Lost. Deprived. “Better get back to work.”
I nodded, slowly peeling myself off the wall, everything in me screaming to stay, to follow him upstairs, but my feet kept moving to the door.
“Hannah?” I peered over my shoulder at him, a resigned expression on his face. “Good night.”
My hands rolled into balls, feeling the meaning underneath the sentiment. I turned and walked out the door, my heart twisting with his goodbye.
Chapter Twenty
Hannah
Wind rushed around me, my body leaning into the curve, my fingers brushing the powdery snow, sending a thrill up my arms. The conditions were perfect today, begging any snowboarder to come out and cut through the powder. My heart thumped in my chest as the exhilaration propelled through my body like gasoline.
I hit a ledge and my body soared into the air. It felt as if I were fl
ying, the buzz of the run pumping my chest with life.
I forgot how amazing this was.
My knees bent stiffly as I came down, slicing and cutting through the last section before I glided to a stop at the end of the hill, a smile separating my lips.
The frosty morning air rushed into my lungs, scraping away the last bits of sleepiness. The sun sparkled off the snow like a field of diamonds, luring me even deeper into its thrall.
My inclination to snowboard kicked in on Christmas morning, as though I were still a kid. This had been my brother’s and my tradition. Our parents would get us up early so we could open presents together before they ran off to work. Bryan and I would then head out to the slopes and spend all day goofing off. Some may think it was sad to have your parents work on the holiday, but honestly, it was always the best day. Perfect. Just Bryan and I tearing it up until we were so hungry we’d go have lunch with Dad at the lodge. He’d let us feast before we ran back out again.
This Christmas morning found me on the hill, like so many years ago. Drawn to the snow, to the feel of my board ripping through it, as if it were instituted in my blood.
Earlier I had stared out the window, coffee in hand, still in my PJs, feeling the pull, as if an enchantress called to me. A nightmare had me up at dawn, filling my bones with the sounds of snapping. My lungs wrapped in white, choking on the imaginary weight. Screams freezing my chest and flushing my body with sweat, rocking me out of my bed, taking me to the windows overlooking the familiar snowy peaks.
I watched the sun rise over the mountains, brushing the shadows with purples and blues. The beauty sang to me, reminding me of its blissful purity and not just the emotionlessness.
“You’re not going into work, are you?” I jumped at the sound of Siena’s voice. Dressed in her uniform, she looked slightly hungover and tired from some party, but still gorgeous, with her long natural curly hair and creamy olive skin. She was truly stunning. Someone I could see on a magazine cover.
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