“You found it!” I rush to his side and grab the notebook. Dad’s familiar scribbles peer back at me as I flip through the pages.
“More like it found me.”
I hand it back to him and sit next to him on the couch. “What do you mean?” Blake’s still standing in the doorway so I wave him over and he sits in the chair closest to me. His hair’s sticking all over the place and his face is still flushed from our kiss—and it’s grossing me out how unbelievably sexy he is in Dad’s hoodie and track pants.
Dad sets the notebook on the table and stretches his arms out in front of him. “I had a visitor at the brewery today.” He pauses long enough for my head to explode.
“The notebook fairy?”
“No...”
“Dad, you’re killing me.”
He glances at Blake. “This isn’t a conversation for outside this house.”
Blake shifts in the chair. “I can go.”
I reach toward him. “No, you stay here. Dad, he’s fine.”
Dad levels his gaze at Blake. “She may have forgiven you, but you still have to earn back my trust.”
Blake looks like he’s ready to bolt. “Yes, sir.”
“Dad, stop it.”
He holds my gaze for ten excruciatingly long seconds, then nods. “Frank Vines from Mischief stopped by to chat.”
Blake coughs. “Brianna’s dad?”
My head whips between them.
“We had a pleasant conversation about business.”
“I don’t buy that,” Blake says. “Nothing about that man is pleasant.”
I tuck my leg underneath me. “Do you know him?”
“I haven’t spoken to him since—in years, but I know he’s a tyrant.”
“Yeah, a tyrant with a soft spot for Switzerland.” I watch Blake for a reaction but his face is a mask.
“Anyway,” Dad continues. “He had the notebook and said he wanted to return it to me.”
“Just like that?”
He leans back and pokes me in the side, making me jump. “Not everyone has the loving, understanding relationship that we do. He implied that his daughter gave it to him thinking he’d be thrilled. Business has been slow lately and while he insisted it isn’t anything to worry about, it seems she had a different impression.”
“So she stole it to help his business.”
“He was careful not to say her name or that she actually took it, just that it was given to him.”
“Are you calling the police?”
He shakes his head. “He swears he didn’t read it.” I open my mouth to protest and he holds up his hand. “I don’t believe that either, but he knows that showing up in my brewery with it in his hands is enough ammo if I wanted to press charges. Same thing if he came out with one of our recipes. I trust that he’s going to do the right thing.”
“You trust him but you don’t trust Blake?” Blake shoots me a dirty look and I mouth ‘sorry.’ I don’t mean to keep making him uncomfortable, but that doesn’t make sense.
“You’re more important than the brewery.”
I roll my eyes.
“I’m serious.” He looks at Blake. “I apologize for putting you on the spot, but I watched what Cally went through when you two stopped talking, and frankly, that doesn’t make me your biggest fan.” He turns to me. “I can always come up with new recipes, but you’re my only daughter and your mom would kill me if I screwed this up.”
I melt against his side. I don’t want to cry in front of Blake—again—but I get emotional when Dad gets all fatherly on me. He wraps his arm around me.
Blake stands. “I should go.”
Dad releases me and rises. “No, no. You kids stay here and watch a movie.” He moves around the coffee table and rests a hand on Blake’s shoulder. Blake’s a couple inches shorter than him but he stands tall, looking him in the eye. “I’m not saying I won’t ever trust you. I see how happy you make Cally, and that means a lot to me. Just keep doing that and I’ll come around.” He shoots me his pointer finger. “I’ll be in my office.”
Blake watches him leave, then faces me. “Brianna stole your dad’s beer book?”
I exhale loudly. “At the party. But before I tell you about that...” I move toward him until there’s no space left between us and slip my arms around his neck. He lowers his lips to mine and everything inside me turns to mush. What is it about a guy in a hoodie? We’re just getting into it when I hear the refrigerator open in the kitchen.
Which means Dad just walked by and saw us making out.
I jerk away from Blake and plop in the center of the couch.
He shifts from one foot to the other. “He’s not gonna, like, kick my ass or anything is he?”
“No, but I probably shouldn’t sit on your lap.”
He grins. “Too bad.”
Ten minutes into an action movie and I’ve wiggled my way against his side. His arm is around my shoulders, holding me close, and every so often he presses a kiss to the side of my head. When the movie ends, I stretch lazily against his side and realize with a start that this is the closest I’ve been pressed up against him without a thousand layers or my ski jacket between us.
He must be thinking the same thing because he scoops my legs across his lap so I’m facing him. His face is an inch from mine, but he pauses. “Is your dad gonna walk in here?”
I grab the remote and switch channels to another movie. “Only if he hears the credits.”
His eyes close and he brushes his lips over mine. My fingers twist into his hair, pulling him closer, and he deepens the kiss. This! This is what I’ve been waiting for! Just me and Blake and a kiss so good it’s making my toes curl. I lean back, tugging him with me, but he stops with a hand on the back of the couch. We’re both breathing heavily, our lips almost touching. “Your dad,” he whispers.
I glance at the doorway but don’t hear anything. The desire to be a good daughter battles with my need for Blake. I close the gap and kiss him again, but he pulls away. “I don’t want to make him hate me even more.”
“He doesn’t hate you.”
He smiles. “He will if he comes in here and I’m on top of you.”
Heat flares in my belly at the thought, then sinks lower, warming me in an even better way.
“I should probably go home soon.”
I flop back onto the couch, my legs still sprawled over his. “Stupid curfews.”
He runs a hand from my ankle to my hip, settling at the curve of my waist.
“You can’t do that if you’re leaving.”
His eyes darken and he leans over me, his eyelids heavy. “Maybe one last kiss.”
My arms are around his neck before he can change his mind. The intensity between us makes me want things I shouldn’t be considering when Dad could walk by any second, but the risk of getting caught makes me kiss Blake that much harder.
When we finally break apart, my mind is fuzzy. All I see is him.
He leans back and I disentangle myself. We stare at each other for another minute before I stand. “I’ll get your clothes.”
Once he’s changed—and I’ve fantasized about what he looks like behind the closed door—I lead him to the front door to send him off into the blizzard.
He stops me from opening it. “Do you need a ride tomorrow?”
Right, skiing. With everything that’s happened I forgot that I don’t have a ride. “Actually, that’d be great.”
“Is ten okay?”
I press a kiss against his cheek. “Perfect.”
He exhales against my neck and I shiver. “Good night.”
“See you tomorrow.” I close the door and swoon like the lovesick lead in a rom-com. All I need now is to race up the stairs, flop onto my bed, and clutch my hands to my chest and the part will be mine.
I’m no less swoony the next morning. I slept like a rock—probably all that frolicking in the snow—and wake to a text from Sophia asking about the date.
It was heaven.
Did he finally explain?
Yeah, and then some.
I don’t want you to get hurt again...
Me neither, but he’s so hot.
LOL.
But seriously. I get it now.
Too much for texting?
Yeah. I’ll call you later. He’s picking me up to go skiing soon.
This is getting serious.
Is it? I don’t know if I’d call this serious—not yet—it just feels right.
Maybe.
Be careful.
Gah, between you and Dad...
We love you.
xoxo
Now that I’m thinking of him, I have an intense urge to talk to him. I settle for texting.
Good morning.
That’s a nice way to wake up.
And now I’m imagining him in bed with a lot less clothes and much messier hair and I kind of wish I hadn’t let him leave when I did.
We still on for ten? I ask.
Unless you’re ready sooner.
The sooner the better. Does that sound desperate? He knows how much I love skiing so hopefully he’s thinking that.
I miss you too.
Even though he can’t see me, I blush.
Be there in half an hour.
I start to reply my standard sign-off with Sophia—xoxo—then quickly erase it. No need to scare him off now that we’re finally—I don’t know—together? Back together?
I crawl out of bed and trip over my laptop. Ugh, I still have to write my life-changing event paper. Moving to Colorado is definitely the number two event that changed my life, and not just for the obvious reasons. I’ve never lacked a backbone or followed along with my friends just because they said to, but all the drama with Brianna’s shown me that I’d rather stand up for myself and have no friends than be bullied around. If we’d stayed in Vermont I might not have ever learned that about myself. Convincing Mike to ditch Brianna is just a bonus.
Dad’s at his usual spot in the kitchen, an empty bowl of cereal and full cup of coffee in front of him. And his notebook by his side where it belongs. “Wasn’t sure if you needed a ride.”
I pour myself a cup and grab a banana from the counter. “Blake’s picking me up in a little bit.”
He raises an eyebrow. “Does this mean you’ve forgiven him?”
“I haven’t completely let him off the hook. I made him explain all the crappy things he’s done and there was a lot more going on than I realized.” I tell him the highlights of our date—leaving out the kissing, even if he did see us—and how Blake explained why he acted the way he did, including what happened with his brother.
“Wow, that’s a lot to deal with at his age.”
I cock my head. I don’t mean to compare me losing Mom to Blake losing his brother, but I didn’t expect that reaction from Dad.
“It was awful when your mom died, but we’ve never dealt with the kind of guilt that Blake carries with him.”
I pick at the banana peel. “I guess I didn’t think about it that way.”
He smiles. “Don’t be too hard on him.”
I top off my coffee and kiss his cheek. “I better go get ready.”
An hour later, we’re cruising down the highway in Blake’s Jeep, my skis and his board strapped to the roof and our boots and helmets in the backseat. When we arrive at Eldora, I reach for the gear in back while Blake stands on the running board to get our equipment. His shirt lifts in the front, revealing a patch of his belly, and I can practically feel the drool running down my face.
He pokes his head inside to smile at me and I flush. The shit-eating grin hasn’t left my face since he picked me up. He hops down and for the first time in forever, I’m actually nervous to ski. It’s stupid because he’s seen what I can do and thinks I’m amazeballs, but I can’t help feeling like I need to impress him. I guess hanging out with guys all the time has rubbed off on me. They’re always showing off to impress a potential mate.
Blake slides his hands over my waist and nuzzles his nose against my cheek, and my insides turn to mush. “Ready?”
I shake my head.
He pulls back to look at me. “I thought you were in a hurry to get here.”
I duck my head so I’m not looking in his eyes. “I was... but then you went and did that and...” My face is so hot I’m sure I’m melting the snow in the parking lot. I look up at him through my lashes, expecting to find a teasing smile, but his face is serious. I rise on my toes and he meets me halfway, kissing me like he did last night outside my bedroom.
We break away, both of us breathing heavily. He presses a gentle kiss to my lips. “If we keep doing this we’re never going to get out of the parking lot.”
That wouldn’t be so bad. Except I need the practice. I pick up my gear and we head for the lodge. In another ten minutes we’re on the chairlift to the terrain park.
He rests his hand on mine. “I didn’t know if we’d ever do this again.”
‘This’ could be so many things. “Me too.”
“Have you been practicing for the Dash?”
“Amber led me through the race course on Wednesday but I want to be more familiar with it.”
“Want to hit that first?”
“I thought you weren’t entering?”
He shrugs. “I’m not, but that doesn’t mean I can’t race you.”
Lightness fills me. That, and adrenaline. “Oh, it’s on.”
Skis by nature go faster than snowboards, but Blake is stronger and more agile than Amber and he doesn’t waste time cutting from side to side. From the second we drop off the top lip of Corona, he’s crouched low, barreling straight down the mountain. His aggressiveness shouldn’t surprise me, but I’ve never seen him on a straight-away so I didn’t know how intense he is.
I especially like that he isn’t going easy on me.
Everything’s a blur except the trail ahead. I shift my weight from left to right, letting my edges do the work, while the rest of my body remains in a tuck. I whip past him midway down the run, but let up enough so that we hit the final drop side by side. We both catch air, and for a moment the entire world stops. We’re flying feet apart from each other, our bodies locked in position, trees and other skiers frozen in time. My heart yearns to look at him but I stay focused on the bottom of the run.
The chairlift.
The finish line.
My knees bend as I land and I don’t let up until I reach the line of people waiting for the chairlift. Blake slams to a stop seconds after me, his spray barely missing a couple kids from our school.
A huge smile lights up his face. “Not bad. Go again?”
I beat him three more times before he calls mercy and we make our way to the terrain park. We pause at the top, assessing the boarders already there. He shifts so our arms are touching but his attention stays on the tricks. “I knew you were good, but you’re good.”
“Thanks?”
He smiles. “Almost makes up for the fact that you don’t board.”
“What?!” I smack his arm and he pretends to lose his balance.
“I’m just saying.”
“Yeah, well say this.” I push off, but instead of the big jumps like I normally do, I cut for the series of boxes and rails. They aren’t my favorite, mainly because they’re so hard on your gear and you have to wax more often, but I can hang. I go easy on the first rail—a simple one-eighty mount, then one-eighty dismount. The box is next so I twist to start in reverse, then let my skis carry me off. I stay backwards leading up to the next rail, spin to land on the rail going forward, then take a deep breath and pull off a full three-sixty dismount. I come to a stop at the bottom and watch for Blake.
He hops forward to gain momentum and takes the first rail with a one-eighty mount and dismount. He copies my motions on the box too, and by the third rail, I’m bouncing in my boots. Follow the leader!
He slows before reaching me and grabs my waist as he comes to a stop. He brushes a kiss across my lips and my eyes flutter closed. His face is as cold as mine but somehow his lips are still soft. I lean into him, kissing him back, when a snowball bursts against his helmet.
We both jump. Luke is tossing another snowball in his hand, smiling.
Blake shakes snow off his head. “I thought you were getting your beauty sleep.”
He shrugs. “Ian convinced me I’m already beautiful.”
“Well, let’s go!” Blake squeezes my arm. “I go first this time.”
Ian catches up to us when we’re in line for the lift, cutting through people until he’s next to Luke.
At the top, Blake eyes Luke. “No flips?”
He holds out his hands like he could go either way, and Blake nods. “Follow me!”
We take turns being the leader and all the stress from school and the party and even Blake melts away. I’m in my element flipping and twisting and hanging with the guys, and it’s like I’m finally home.
Until we get to the top of the lift and the Snow Bunnies are there.