Series: Fever Falls Series by Riley Hart
Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 92704 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 464(@200wpm)___ 371(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92704 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 464(@200wpm)___ 371(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
Normally, I might have cracked a joke or made a snarky comment about the drive over, but I knew better. I wasn’t about to test Sawyer at the moment, not after the miserable drive through the snowstorm, which we’d only been able to manage because he could follow behind a much bigger truck on the same route. There were times when I loved nothing more than pushing Sawyer’s buttons because there was something about his annoyed expression that was sexy as fuck. Then there were times when I knew better than to wake the sleeping bear. And with his jaw clenched and shoulders squared off, his demeanor making him look like one utterance from me might be enough to send him over the edge, I was content to stand by his side, being a good little boy…for now.
We waited a few moments until the door behind the desk opened and an employee in his late thirties or early forties—I assumed the clerk—stepped out of a back room, carrying several boxes.
“Oh, hey. Sorry,” he said, fumbling with the boxes for a moment. “I was just about to take these over to the café to stock up. The roads are pretty bad out there today. How was it getting here?”
“It was a challenge,” Sawyer answered. Running his fingers through his auburn bangs, he took a breath.
“Looks like it’s getting worse. They thought this storm was going to head a little farther north than it did, but apparently we’re right in the middle of it.”
“That’s about how it felt,” Sawyer said with a smile, as though relieved he wasn’t making too big a deal out of the intense snowfall we’d experienced as we’d made our way to the resort. “We’re with a pretty big group of guys,” he added. “They won’t be arriving until tomorrow morning. You don’t think it would take them long to get out here, right?”
As so often happened when coordinating group trips, between reserving the lodge and booking plane tickets on nearly sold-out flights, the best-laid plans became a series of shenanigans. Detailed in impossibly lengthy text and email threads, the gist of it was that two of us had to take a flight a day earlier than the rest of the crew. Fortunately, it wasn’t an issue to add a day to our reservation. And really, all it meant was that Sawyer had to tolerate my ass for the car ride to the resort, since the plane seats were on opposite ends of the plane—I swear, my ticket must’ve said Zone Q.
“Oh, no, if there are issues, it shouldn’t take long for your friends to get here,” the clerk reassured Sawyer. “We’re prepared for a lot of snow. We have situations every once in a while where we get more than we expect, but just keep an eye on the news and you’ll know for sure. Worst case, it might be another day before they can get out here.”
Sawyer eyed me, as though the thought of having to wait with me for our buddies for an extra day was less than ideal.
“So you guys are checking in together?” asked the clerk, whose name tag indicated he was named Bert.
Sawyer didn’t appear amused by the misunderstanding. “Not together,” he said through his teeth.
“Sorry. I should know better than to assume. Never can be sure with family, you know? You guys just seemed like—Never mind.”
Sawyer eyed me again, his brows pulled together, his face scrunched up. I couldn’t help but laugh.
“Honey bee, come on. This is a gay-friendly lodge. We can be out here,” I joked.
Sawyer shook his head and opened his mouth as though he was about to explain my teasing to the clerk when Bert added, “No need. People come here with all sorts of arrangements. My partner and I were off and on for six years before we were willing to say it was official. But check it out!” He displayed the black ring around his finger, winking. “Harder to run away when you know your significant other can walk away with a new boy toy and fifty percent, am I right?”
“I like the way you think, Bert,” I admitted. Although, Sawyer didn’t seem to appreciate our humor. “This one refuses to seal the deal with me. Can you believe it?”
Bert typed away on the keyboard on the desk before him, and Sawyer opened his mouth again like he was still itching to explain that he had no connection with me and that I was just kidding, but he stopped himself. I figured he didn’t see the point in wasting his time explaining away my kidding when he was still recovering from the drive we’d just survived.
“The reservation is under Alexander…Rush,” Sawyer said instead.
“Oh, you’re with that party. Oh…” Bert froze, his gaze shifting between us. “You’re traveling with Rush Alexander, Ashton Carmichael, Donnie Gibson, and #HottieFirefighter?”