The hotel had a room full of equipment and cold weather clothing for guests to borrow for the snowy pursuits. Susie was trying to find a snowsuit short enough in the leg and wide enough in the hips to fit her when Helen stormed into the room.
Susie stiffened, embarrassment and hurt curling inside her.
It was embarrassing because Allen had been sleeping with this young female for at least two months before she found out – and in retrospect, Helen’s winks and smirks made a lot more sense. But it hurt because undoubtedly most of his pack knew what he was up to with Helen every full moon, and none of them considered it worth taking the time to tell her. Jules swore she had no idea, but Susie wasn’t sure about anyone else.
“How dare you?” thundered Helen.
“How dare I what?” muttered Susie, pointedly not looking at the bristling five-foot-ten wolf shifter.
It was even more painful to see Helen now because she looked radiant and glowing from recently giving birth – as if she weren’t already beautiful to begin with.
“Allen is mated to me!” howled Helen. “We have a cub – there’s no room in our mating for you.”
“Okay…”
Helen gave her a look of contempt. “He told me about your little idea for you to become his second mate.”
“My idea?” squawked Susie.
“Well, it is not happening, okay? Just keep your grubby human hands away from Allen.” She poked a clawed finger in Susie’s direction. “You couldn’t keep him interested, and now he’s mine, so just stay away from him, or else.”
Helen’s eyes flashed amber from her beast, and she flipped her hair over her shoulder before she flounced away.
Dear lord – the weekend was off to a cracking start.
*
Susie let out an oof as she landed on the snow with a thud. What the hell? Shouldn’t the snow be soft? This was as hard as regular ground!
“Nice effort, Susie, try to stay standing,” called the instructor.
No kidding. Helen wasn’t taking part in the snowboarding, but she was present, watching and giggling every time Susie made a fool of herself. She had a few pack females around her, braying in time with her over Susie’s misfortunes.
Stupid, mean girls.
Most of the pack already had experience, and so they were enjoying themselves on the slopes, but the few who hadn’t – like her and a few thirteen-year-olds – were getting instructions. So far, she was the worst of the bunch.
A spray of snow hit her, and she blew it out her mouth, ready to yell at whoever did it. But the anger withered the moment she saw Barlow grinning at her. He easily came to a stop in front of her. He looked like he’d been doing this for years, and damn, that snowsuit was like an extra layer of skin on him. It was hard to stay mad when faced with that sight.
“Having fun?” he asked, grinning.
“Sure, I love cavorting in the snow.” She flapped her arms sarcastically.
“You making sexy snow angels?”
“How did you guess? Now come on, help me up.”
With perfect balance, he leaned over and managed to pull both her and her board into an upright position.
“How long have you been snowboarding?” she asked.
“An hour.”
Susie gasped. “You mean this is your first time?”
Barlow shrugged. “Sure.”
“That’s just not fair.”
He chuckled and started brushing snow off her.
“I’m pretty good at all sports.”
He reached her butt and took an inordinate amount of time brushing the snow away from it.
“I think you’re done back there.”
“Can’t be too careful.”
Susie burst into laughter, before wobbling and clutching him a little tighter.
“Don’t let go,” she breathed.
“I’m not going to,” he growled softly.
Out the corner of her eye, she noticed Allen make his way over to Helen.
“I wouldn’t mind if you kissed me to make him jealous,” murmured Barlow.
Susie wouldn’t mind kissing Barlow either, but if she did, it wouldn’t be for that reason. “I’m not trying to make him jealous, and I’m not interested in using you, either.”
Barlow cocked an eyebrow at him. “You told your friends we were dating.”
“No, they just assumed…” And she didn’t try very hard to disabuse them of that notion.
“You don’t like the idea of us kissing?” He gave her a look that could smolder at a thousand paces.
“I don’t want you to think there’s a chance this might lead somewhere. I like you, but I’m not interested in a relationship.”
Barlow grunted. “Who said I was?”
He pulled off his glove and cupped her face; his warmth felt good against her freezing skin.
“You’re cold; we should go inside. Unless you want to do more snowboarding?”
“Nah, I can fall over and bruise my ass indoors as well as I can out here.”
He helped her back in, and she pondered what he had just said.