Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 100202 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 501(@200wpm)___ 401(@250wpm)___ 334(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100202 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 501(@200wpm)___ 401(@250wpm)___ 334(@300wpm)
“Sure.” I flipped the placard on the photography sign to closed and walked back up the slope. We were only a hundred feet or so beyond the lift, but my legs burned and my lungs ached. I’d spent the summer filling my personal portfolio—not that it had helped me get into the local gallery—and not nearly enough time hiking.
The staff waved to Reed and me, and we stepped up to the white line as the chair approached. It was something I’d done a million times, and yet my nerves always flared at this moment that I’d trip, or fall, or lose my balance and end up on someone’s TikTok as the girl who couldn’t manage a chairlift.
We sat at the right time and were pulled into the air above the slope, the lone passengers on an empty lift. Awkwardness set in within the first twenty seconds. It wasn’t that I didn’t like Reed. He’d proven himself to be a good boss. Fair. Observant. All that. But now I didn’t only view him through my eyes but through Weston’s lens, which made this awkward as hell. He’d never sought me out, and I knew this had everything to do with me living with Weston.
A pang of sympathy hit me straight in the chest.
“It has to be hard,” I said quietly, looking over at him. The similarities between him and Weston were easy to find in the cut of his jaw and his cheekbones, but Weston was…harder and way less approachable.
“What?”
“Having him come home after all these years and still be a stubborn, aloof, jerkface where you’re concerned.” Not that he didn’t deserve it, but I couldn’t help but wonder if Reed even knew why Weston was so angry. At some point, the brothers needed to have it out if they were ever going to move forward.
Reed laughed, but the sound wasn’t happy. “Like you said, he’s Weston. I just…” He looked out over the skyline and sighed so hard I thought he might bring down the lift. “I just wish I knew he was okay. I pretty much forced him into coming back.”
“He’s okay,” I promised, thinking of the look on Weston’s face last weekend when we’d been flying. Then the look of absolute horror when we’d gotten a little too close in the hangar. The attraction between us was taking on a life of its own. My body was aware of his every time he stepped into a room, humming at a frequency I only felt around him. It was like hovering my hand over one of those static electricity balls—the current was undeniable. I found myself touching him on accident all the time, grazing his hand when I reached for a glass, or brushing my hip against his when we passed by each other. The tension in the house was a live, bare wire just waiting to burn the place down.
“I hope so,” Reed said.
“Have you been up with him? Flying?”
Reed shook his head. “He barely lets me in the hangar.”
A small smile spread across my wind-chapped face. “You should ask him. Seeing him up there is like…” I fumbled for words that wouldn’t give my attraction to him away. “He’s just in his element. It’s like the outer layers—the crunchy stuff—just slips away and he’s…Weston.”
Reed cleared his throat, and I felt heat flush my cheeks. “Ava told me you’re on a one-woman mission to get the guy to smile. I don’t know if I should thank you or warn you off.”
“Neither is necessary.” I looked him in the eye and raised my sunglasses so he could see the truth in mine. “He’s a pretty great guy, Reed. He’s solid, you know? Kind, even though he’ll argue that point, gentle when he needs to be, and oddly dependable for someone who I’ve only known a little more than a month.”
“Dependable.” He nodded. “Yeah. Weston’s always been the guy who gets it done, even when he didn’t have to.”
I kept my thoughts on that to myself. First, because Reed was pretty much my boss, and secondly, if there was a side to take in this little brotherly feud, then I was clearly with Weston.
The base of the lift was only a minute or so away, and the skiers beneath us became less and less frequent.
“Look, Ava was going to ask, but I figured it should be me,” Reed started, his face drawing tight. “Thanksgiving is in a couple of weeks, and we’d love to have you guys over to the house.”
I laughed, seeing straight through him. “In hopes that I’ll bring West?”
“West?” His eyes flared. “Guess you really do know him.”
My smile fell. “I can’t promise he’ll come,” I said as we neared the exit. “But I’ll see what I can do.”
Relief washed over his features. “Thank you.”
We hurried out of the lift, and my heart stuttered at the sight of Weston and Sutton waiting for me. His mouth was curved into a smile at something Sutton had said, and her arms gesticulated wildly as Reed and I approached.