Maggie
Shortly after our drinks arrived, Frick and Frack—AKA Peter and Jeremy—texted and we had them join us at the restaurant.
Together, we all decided to split a couple pizzas and, from there, the conversation fell easily into what sick moves they’d managed to pull off while they were carving through the snow.
Every now and then, Sam would shoot me a sympathetic look, knowing that I had no idea what they were talking about, but in truth, their company was a welcome break. Between what the woman in the shop had said and the lady on the plane’s insinuation, my mind was going a mile a minute and I was beginning to look at Sam in a way I definitely shouldn’t be.
Okay, so, yeah, he was sexy. That was a no-brainer.
I shot him a furtive glance, taking in the corded muscles of his forearms and the lock of dark hair that constantly flopped onto his forehead. And sure, he was sweet and attentive. He looked after me and made sure I always had a fresh drink and that I wasn’t cold or hot. He held the door for me and pulled out my chair when we went to restaurants. Hell, he’d been looking forward to this trip for months and he’d sacrificed an entire day just to make sure I got here safe and didn’t spend my time sulking.
Still, that didn’t mean he had feelings for me. He hadn’t argued when I’d mentioned us being like brother and sister or anything.
No, this whole line of thinking was ludicrous. Sam was a good friend. That was all…wasn’t it?
After all, Trevor had loved me once and he never did any of that.
Admittedly, that wasn’t the best example, but it proved my point all the same. In Sam’s shoes, Trevor never would have missed the chance to hit the slopes with his friends. He hadn’t even skipped the business trip that fell on my twenty-fifth birthday years back.
But Sam was there, my brain supplied helpfully.
Again, not an indication that he had feelings for me. People were just different. Sam was one of the good ones. And if he liked me surely I’d have known by now. He’d have told me or…something.
“Is that your phone?” Sam turned to me and I blinked, only realizing that I’d been so engrossed in my own thoughts that I’d totally zoned out.
“What?” I asked, confused.
“Don’t you hear that vibrating noise? I think it’s your phone.”
I listened hard and then heard the low, gentle hum he was talking about.
“Yep, probably you-know-who again.” I sighed, but fished the phone from my tiny handbag all the same on the off chance it was a family member with an emergency.
It wasn’t Trevor, though. He had called—I had seven new missed messages from him since I’d left for the airport, but I also had three missed calls from my friend Deanna. I hadn’t spoken to her in more than two weeks because she’d been away on a long-awaited safari, but now more than ever I really needed to hear her voice.
“It’s Dee. She must be back from her trip,” I told Sam. “I know the pizza will be here in a minute, but is it cool if I step out for a sec and take this?”
He waved me off. “Go give her a call and make sure she’s good and all. I’ll make sure these jackals don’t eat all the food.”
I clasped my phone a little harder as I made my way onto the fairy-lit patio of the restaurant.
Bracing myself for the cold, I sat on the iron bench against the wall and dialed Dee’s number. It only took a few seconds before the line clicked to life.
“Hey,” I said, trying my best to sound normal. “Everything okay? I saw—”
“What is going on?” she demanded, talking even faster than usual, which was saying something.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“I stopped by your place to show you pics of my amazing trip and Trevor was sitting outside your door with a bunch of wilted flowers looking like a sad sack.”
I pinched my nose between thumb and forefinger. “Was he?”
She hummed her confirmation. “He must have had two dozen roses and he wouldn’t say a word about what happened between you guys or where you were, but I figured it wasn’t good.”
“Well, I can tell you that I’m in Colorado,” I said.
There was a sharp intake of breath. “Like with Sam? Isn’t he supposed to be in Colorado right now?”
“Yes, I’m with Sam.”
“I knew it,” she exclaimed, sounding oddly gleeful. “You sly little devil! So you finally opened your frigging eyes and ran away with that sexy beast and Trevor is trying to win you back? How did it happen? Don’t leave a single detail out,” she demanded.
My spinning mind tilted on its axis and I gripped the icy iron bench for support. “Hang on, nobody ran away with anybody,” I said with a forced laugh. “I went to Trevor’s apartment yesterday and found him balls-deep in his assistant.”
“No,” Dee gasped. “That rat bastard. I knew it. I always said—”
“You always said he was a nice guy and a great catch,” I reminded her.
“To your face,” Dee said casually as ever. “Because you weren’t ready to hear anything else. So what, are you, like, heartbroken or—”
I rolled my eyes as I thought through my reply. “I’m getting through. Sam offered to bring me out here to get away from things for a while. I’m hoping by the time I get back, Trevor will have given up because, obviously, there is no way I’m getting back with him.”
“Obviously,” she agreed. “That scum. Oh, I hate men like him. They think they’re so fancy with their offices and their assistants. You’re better off.” The words came out in an angry rush.
“Thanks, I think so too.” In fact, with every hour that passed with me not missing a single thing about him, I realized it more and more.
“But let’s get back to Sam,” Dee pressed.
“What about Sam?” I echoed, my pulse quickening. What had prompted all that crazy nonsense she’d been spewing about us running away?
“Well, you’re there with him, right? So…”
“Dee, don’t be ridiculous,” I snapped, my cheeks heating. “I don’t know why the second I’m single the whole universe thinks I should get together with Sam of all people.”
“The whole universe, huh?” Dee said, and I could hear the smile in her voice. “Tell me, has he been taking good care of you?”
I glanced through the wide glass windows of the patio and caught sight of the pair of massive pizzas being set on our table.
Saved by the dinner bell.
“Look, Dee, I’ve got to go. I’ll call you back the second I’m home so you can fill me in about your trip, okay?”
“Oh, no way, you chicken shit. Don’t think you’re getting off that easy. You guys belong to—”
In a panic, I clicked off. No way was I sticking around to listen to her conspiracy theories. Especially when they made my palms sweat and my heart race.
Instead, I rushed back inside, slipped back into my seat, took a massive hunk of cheesy goodness and slathered it with Parmesan, garlic, and red peppers.
“How is Dee?” Sam asked as he took his own piece.
“Crazy as ever,” I said, and to my eternal gratitude, the conversation ended with that.
For the rest of dinner, I listened quietly while the guys planned their courses for the following day.
I managed two more slices and another toddy before we called it quits and all headed back up to the lodge. The closer I got to that sprawling beacon of light, the better I felt. I was desperate for a few minutes of alone time to reflect and refocus. Nothing like a long, hot bath to get the airplane germs off of me. After everything today? I could use a few minutes away from Sam, too.
It wasn’t that he was bothering me—he never bothered me. It was just that every time I looked at him I heard the voices in my head that seemed suddenly intent on reminding me that he was a man and I was a woman. And that, when I looked at him now, I wasn’t just seeing my friend Sam. I was seeing...well, broad shoulders and striking blue eyes. Shaggy brown hair and a sculpted, toned frame.
I looked away as we reached the concierge desk and sidled up next to Sam as he requested my room key.
“We’ll meet up with you guys some time later or…not,” Jeremy said, waggling his eyebrows before leading Peter to the elevators.
But my attention was squarely on the man behind the desk, whose face looked strange…
“I’m sorry,” the man said, mouth pinched with regret as he looked up from his computer. “We contacted you back on the number provided shortly after you called us this morning. We weren’t able to get you a second room.”
My shoulders sagged. “No rooms?” I repeated blankly.
He looked me in the eye. “No rooms.”
“Shit, I’m so sorry, Mags. My room has two queen beds,” Sam said. “You can bunk with me. You’ll have your own bed and we can try another place nearby tomorrow if you’d rather.”
“I couldn’t do that. You paid all this money for a nice vacation and now I’m—”
“Making it more awesome by being here. Don’t be ridiculous.” He turned to the concierge and handed him a five. “Could you please bring her bag to room 417?”
“Surely, sir.” The concierge nodded and then slid another key toward us. “Your key, ma’am.”
I took it, then turned it over and over in my palm, like if I just flipped it fast enough, a magic solution might appear.
But was this really a problem? I’d stayed at Sam’s house a million times. I’d fallen asleep in his lap just the other night. What was the big deal with sharing a hotel room?
Yesterday, it would’ve been no big deal at all. Now though? When I was seeing him with new eyes? The eyes of apparently everyone around us…
It was everything.
With a deep breath, I followed Sam up the steps and down the hall until we arrived at the room. He opened the door for me and I stepped inside, glancing from the mirrored bathroom and soaker tub to the wide, queen-sized beds with homey quilted comforters. It was a true ski resort and I flopped onto the bed gratefully before glancing out the windows and catching sight of the fresh flurry of snow that had begun to fall.
“I bet they have Christmas movies still if we ask,” Sam said.
I shook my head just as someone arrived and set my bag down at the foot of my bed. I thanked him, placing a discreet tip in his palm, and he disappeared with a swift nod, clicking the door shut behind him. The sound echoed through the room like a shot and my face went white hot.
“I’m going to take a shower, I think. Get the travel off of me,” I mumbled.
“Okay, then. I’ll be here.”
I opened my bag and grabbed my pajamas before rushing into the bathroom and turning on the comforting spray. As the steam began to rise and coat the mirrors, I stripped down and then stepped into the walk-in shower. Water sluiced down my back and hair as I closed my eyes and sucked in a steadying breath.
This awkward feeling—the knot in my stomach whenever I thought of Sam lately—would pass. It was just all the influence of the people around me and the shock of Trevor’s infidelity that had me reeling.
The idea of actually being with Sam...
I shook my head as my entire body tingled. It was impossible. If it didn’t work out, I would be ruining one of the most important relationships in my life. I just had to remain cool, calm, and collected. Keep my head on straight. And when everything was said and done? I’d feel normal around Sam again. Just like I always did.
Or had I?
My mind drifted back to that time we went to the beach last summer and I’d caught sight of him stepping out of the ocean looking like a Greek god with his broad, muscled chest and six-pack abs. Lord knew I didn’t feel normal that day. And although I’d pretended my dream man that night had been some faceless fantasy, I was pretty sure, if I was being honest with myself, that he’d looked an awful lot like Sam.
Or when he and Melanie had first gotten together and I’d eaten an entire pint of mocha chip ice cream in one sitting because I’d felt all weird inside but couldn’t put my finger on why.
I let out a muffled curse and squeezed my eyes closed, trying to make these thoughts stop.
I stayed like that for a solid ten minutes, using the breathing techniques I’d learned in yoga until I felt marginally better, then I soaped up quickly and rinsed off. By the time I stepped from the shower and climbed into my pajamas, I was ready to face him.
No big deal. It was just Sam, after all. We’d crawl into our respective beds and watch some bad movie on TV. Totally normal, just like every other night we’d spent together.
I just had to keep reminding myself of that.
Walking back into the room, I pasted on a smile and got ready to suggest a movie, only to find my gaze drawn to Sam’s chiseled, naked chest. He was changing into his pajamas, too, and the low-slung fleece pants did nothing to make him look less like an off-duty superhero.
Son of a—
“Movie?” I croaked.
He grinned. “Great minds. But first, I wanted to say—I know you’re going through a lot with this Trevor thing and, for what it’s worth, I think you’re better off. I never thought he was the one.”
Are you applying for the job? I wanted to ask. Instead, I swallowed hard. “Thanks.”
“I mean, he just wasn’t good enough. Not for you.”
I climbed into my bed and snuggled down into the pillows and then turned to look at him. The knot in my belly tightened at the solemn expression on his beautiful face.
“I appreciate that, Sam. You’re a good friend.”
He turned away but not before I saw a flicker of…something in his eyes.
Something that made my whole body go up in flames.