Total pages in book: 120
Estimated words: 112917 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 565(@200wpm)___ 452(@250wpm)___ 376(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112917 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 565(@200wpm)___ 452(@250wpm)___ 376(@300wpm)
“I want to take you skiing,” I said a few mornings later. Yes, we’d spent the bulk of those few days in bed, sucking, jacking, and frotting until we were both hollowed-out shells with more desire than stamina remaining. But being the voice of reason still wasn’t easy.
Zane stood in front of the bathroom mirror with a towel around his slim waist, getting ready to shave his face. He’d just gotten out of the shower, and I knew he had plans to lure me back into bed as soon as he downed his first cup of coffee.
The man was insatiable, and I couldn’t blame him for wanting to make up for lost time when god knew I wanted the same. If our hands and mouths weren’t exploring each other’s bodies, we were pretending to work in separate rooms. In reality, I carried my laptop into the sunroom several times with the lamest excuses of “needing more light” or “keeping an eye on him” while he worked on his songwriting.
More often than not, we’d end up making out on the sofa until finally orgasming and forcing ourselves back to work for a little while. It had been amazing… but exhausting.
And then Lou had texted to ask what the fuck we were doing—
Lou
You’ve missed your long run for three days. You okay?
—and I’d panicked.
Zane wanted to try cross-country skiing, so we’ve been training in the home gym. Can you help me arrange for an outing?
Thank fuck the first heavy snow had fallen the day before. Both of us needed some fresh air… and I needed to cool my fucking jets.
It wasn’t that I was falling too hard and too fast for my principal. No, that had already happened months ago.
It was that I’d fallen into the silly daydream that we were meant to be together. That Zane reciprocated my feelings and would be open to turning our physical “practice” sessions into an actual emotional connection.
Just last night, as I’d carried a sleeping Zane from the sofa, where we’d fallen asleep in front of the fire after a heavy make-out session, into his bedroom, I’d imagined slipping into bed with him and pulling him right back into my arms.
Instead, he’d done what he’d done each night since our first kiss.
See you in the morning, Bear.
And I’d left him there. Alone.
Which was probably for the best. I’d needed the reminder this wasn’t an actual relationship. And he seemed to be sleeping well without me in there. I’d kept an ear out for any cries of distress, but I hadn’t heard any. It seemed I was at least tiring him out enough to sleep through any nightmare disruptions.
So that was good.
“Skiing?” he asked, staring at me in the bathroom mirror.
“Yes. Lou and the locals have arranged for us to go to a local trail. A guy just came by and dropped off some rental equipment. You up for it? Let me show you a few things?”
“I’ve never been on skis before.”
“Lie. I happen to know you went one time in college with your friends.”
“Skiing in Connecticut doesn’t count. Everything was so numb from the cold I bailed out to the avant ski lodge as soon as the other guys hit the lift.”
I let out a huff of laughter. “Après ski, not avant.”
“When you go before you ever hit the slopes, it’s probably called avant.”
“This isn’t downhill,” I reminded him. “It’s very different.”
Zane’s phone dinged with a notification, and he grabbed it off the counter and unlocked it. “Yes,” he said distractedly. “Much more like running… which isn’t my favorite.”
I took his phone from his hand and turned him back toward the mirror to finish getting ready. “You love running.”
He pulled a face. “I love having run. Not the same thing.”
“Imagine how beautiful it will be. The sun is shining, and the sky is an impossible blue…”
Zane’s semi-bare body was a thousand percent more beautiful, though, and if I stayed here drooling over it, we’d never get out the door. “Dress warmly and meet me in the kitchen. I’ll fix your coffee.”
I walked out of the bathroom…
And only then did I look down at Zane’s phone.
I instantly recognized that the new email had come from the same dummy account as the last creepy message Zane had received, and the subject line? Missed You.
Skin crawling, I clicked into it.
To Zee,
I waited for you in New York. Are you scared? If you’re thinking you’re safe with him, you’re wrong. He’s not meant to protect you. You’ll be in my sights again soon enough.
See you soon.
Semper in scopum.
I cast a glance at the bathroom, where Zane had begun humming happily as he resumed shaving, and my stomach churned.
I should tell him about the email… probably. He had a right to know, definitely.
But damn it, the man also had a right to a few days of rest and relaxation. A few days when the world would stop stealing fragments of his peace. A few days without someone using him as a pawn in their schemes.