I grabbed his wrist and twisted his arm so I could shove him over onto his back. When I landed on top of him, our faces were inches apart. His cheeks were pink, and his eyes were bright. The white clouds of our exhales mingled and dissipated in the crisp morning air. Had a stranger come along in that moment and been told Parker had been jilted only the day before, they wouldn’t have believed it.
I loved seeing him happy and playful, but when my body wanted to suddenly grind down against him with my hardening dick, I froze… and I realized just how long it had been since we’d wrestled in the snow.
Parker’s eyes searched mine as the air between us stilled. All around us was the magical silence of a snowy mountain trail. I wanted to bottle this feeling and savor it, keep it close to my heart like a damned locket necklace from a fairy-tale story. Me and Parker alone in the snow.
Together. Just him and me.
I pulled off a glove with my teeth before reaching down to brush a chunk of ice away from one of his eyes.
Parker grabbed the back of my head and pulled my face down, pressing a firm kiss to my cheek and staying there for a beat.
“I love you,” he murmured with his hot breath into my cool skin. It wasn’t the first time he’d said the words, or even the hundredth, but it always felt like the first time. My heart erupted like a fire ant hill that had been kicked over. Stinging creepy-crawlies scattered everywhere, looking for cover.
Instead of saying the words back—words he already knew because I, too, had said them hundreds of times before—I grabbed a pinch of snow and shoved it in one of his ears before shoving away from him, snapping back into my skis, and hauling ass down the trail.
Because running away was the only way to keep from kissing him back.
Only, when I did it, it wouldn’t be on the cheek.
7
PARKER
I loved the way I felt after a long, physical day outside. My muscles were comfortably tired, and my brain was no longer on overdrive. The bar Julian had brought us to looked like any old catchall tavern in small-town Colorado, all still decked out with pink hearts and cherubs for Valentine’s Day. It seemed to function as a local hangout, bar and grill, and also made the best local brew, according to the table full of Aster Valley guys Tiller and Mikey had brought with them.
Tiller kept staring at me as if trying to assess how fragile I was, like I might be one Cupid decoration away from losing my shit and blubbering all over him about being left at the altar.
“Stop,” I said before stealing a mozzarella stick from one of the platters in the center of the table and leaning back to put my arm on the back of Julian’s chair. “I told you, I’m fine.”
“No, I know. I just think… maybe you actually do need to take Erin’s advice about trying something new. Having an adventure.”
The first thing Tiller and Mikey had asked about when we’d sat down was what had really happened to call off the wedding. I’d explained Erin’s note. By the time Sam and Truman had shown up and asked the same question, I’d been ready to scream. Thankfully, Julian had repeated the basics for them so I hadn’t needed to.
“How so?” I asked. “I live a pretty adventurous life as it is. Besides, I don’t particularly love adventure if they involve travel and shit. You know that about me.”
Tiller nodded. “For one, you could take us up on the offer to move here and take over the ski school. It’s one of the elements we didn’t have in place in time for a full opening this winter. I’m not all that thrilled hiring just anyone to run it when one of my best friends is the best ski instructor in the state.”
Their offer had been tempting. Hell, I could just imagine how fun it would be to live and work among my closest friends here in Aster Valley. But I couldn’t imagine leaving Rod high and dry. When he’d offered me the management of the Vail store, complete with the ski-school contract, it had been a dream come true. I’d been able to quit competitive skiing but still spend most of my days doing what I loved.
“I don’t know how I could ever leave Rod,” I admitted. “But now, with everything that’s happened…”
Julian’s foot nudged my leg under the table. “He loves you, Parks. He’d understand.”
Sam met my eye. “Just think about it. It’s your future, not Rod’s.”
Thankfully, Julian knew I didn’t have the mental energy to tackle more of this discussion tonight, so he changed the subject to an important finance meeting he, Tiller, and Sam had scheduled for Friday. As they talked about the logistics, I let my eyes wander around the crowded space.
I noticed a group of women at the bar giving our table the once-over with interest. I turned to Finn Heller, who was a friend of Tiller and Mikey’s and also a famous actor. “Beware the fangirls,” I teased with a tilt of my head toward his admirers.
He waved me off with a hand, but his partner, the slightly older sheriff, sighed. “This is my life now.”
Before looking away from the ladies at the bar, I noticed a man near them. He was tall and good-looking in a rugged, fit kind of way, like someone from one of the outdoor fitness accounts Julian followed on social media. He wasn’t looking at Finn. He was looking at Julian. With noticeable interest.
I forced myself to turn back to the conversation at hand. Which was a mistake.
Tiller tilted his head as he studied me. “Why don’t I have any memories of you hooking up with girls when you visited me in Houston? I don’t think you were with Erin most of those times, yet you never took any of the jersey chasers back to your room as far as I knew.”
I shrugged. “I’m not really into hookups. I always worried about getting someone pregnant or hurting the woman’s feelings somehow. Seemed easier just to… not.”
I felt Julian’s eyes on me, but I was determined to ignore him. He, too, assumed I was heartbroken over my breakup, and he’d misconstrue this little bit of information if given half a chance.
Tiller beat him to it. He leaned forward with a frown. “I always assumed it was because you were still in love with Erin, even when you were broken up.”
“No,” I said with a laugh. “Not at all. Believe me, it wasn’t some kind of old-fashioned chivalry. And I did date other people during our breakups. Sometimes. But I’m just not wired for casual hookups.” I shrugged. “Maybe that’s Erin’s point, though. Maybe I should try a random hookup and see if that’s what I’ve been missing all this time.”
It was a joke. The same one I’d used with Julian earlier. I had no interest in picking some woman up in this bar tonight, or ever. But unlike Julian, who knew not to take my nervous joking seriously and also knew hookups weren’t my speed, these guys ran with it. Within moments, they were pushing me away from the table to go to the bar for another pitcher of beer. As soon as I saw the three attractive women sitting at the bar, I knew what my friends’ motivation was.
“You’re that guy,” one of the women said as I approached the bar.
I looked behind myself to see if Finn had followed me, but he was still at the table.
“I mean, technically, I am a guy…” I said with a grin. “But I think you mean—”