by Heather Long
“Thank you, Josh,” I told him, because he deserved that much. “You helped make this very easy.” In more ways than one.
“My pleasure,” he said. “You guys stick to the greens this morning, but I think between you, you could do a blue before the end of the day.”
Yeah. Nope. Green sounded good to me.
“And if you guys want a little advice,” he continued, glancing from me to where Jake and Archie stared at him like they wanted to punch him. Really, the guy was being nice. Ian had a gloved hand over his mouth, but I swore it was just to hide a smile because his eyes were sparkling. Coop snickered next to me. “They’ve both got good control, but she seems like a risk taker… Take chair two up. Then follow the sign for the Little Dipper. It’s a longer trail, nice views, takes you right to the Big Dipper, and it’s the perfect thirty-minute ski down, nice and gentle slopes, clearly marked edges, no moguls. Easy peasy.”
Okay, he winked at me with that one, and Coop’s laughter dried up and he joined Jake and Archie in the glaring.
Rolling my eyes, I said, “Thanks again, Josh. I appreciate it.”
“Yes,” Jake said with far less enthusiasm. “Thanks again.”
After he skied off, chuckling, I glanced at the guys, and Ian just let out a laugh. “You were flirting.”
“No,” I argued. “I wasn’t.”
“You thanked him,” Jake snarled at me. Granted, there was no heat, but he was not a happy camper.
“I thanked him because he gave us a lesson and stayed really nice, even when you guys were being asses to him.”
“Sorry, babe,” Archie said with a shake of his head. “You might not think you were flirting, but you were flirting.”
“And Josh was definitely fucking flirting.” Coop was almost scathing. What the hell?
“That, and he was looking at your ass,” Jake continued, glaring after Josh, even if the instructor was gone.
“Wow, so I shouldn’t be nice or polite?”
They all looked at me like I’d missed the point, and I threw my hands up.
“You know what? Let’s ski.” Because that had to be easier. I was having fun, and I refused to have a fight.
They grumbled, but some of the pissiness seemed to evaporate by the time we reached the ski lift. A new thrill bubbled up through me.
“Dibs,” Archie said cutting ahead to join me. “Okay, the easiest way to get on the chair is to get ahead of it and then just relax and sit down. We’ll be in position before it gets here, but I’ve got you.”
The nerves were back. I hated heights. But I would gladly stab myself in the foot before I admitted it. Especially right now. Archie took my elbow as we got in position, and then we were seated and he pulled the safety bar down and we were off. Whoops from behind us had me twisting to see Jake and Coop taking the next one. Then Ian was on his own.
I needed to ride up with Ian next.
“Having fun?” Archie asked. He had both of his ski poles in one hand and slid his arm around me. There were way too many layers to really enjoy the contact, but I liked it anyway.
“Yes,” I told him and grinned. I’d put the goggles up on my head, and I kind of wished I had sunglasses. At least the goggles had tint so it helped to shade my eyes. “This is awesome, and if I haven’t said thank you for kidnapping me for Christmas, thank you.”
His eyes warmed. “My pleasure.”
“It’s certainly been mine,” I teased, and he threw his head back as he laughed.
The views from up here were breathtaking. My stomach dropped when I found myself looking down at these huge pine trees, but Archie gave me a squeeze.
“It’s totally safe,” he said.
“Yes, I know. Only about thirteen people have died from ski lift malfunctions since the early seventies.”
Archie loved me. He didn’t say a word about the fact that I’d researched that. He just hummed an agreement.
“And it’s beautiful up here,” I admitted. I kind of wanted to dig my phone out and take some pictures. I also didn’t want to rock the ski lift chair and end up falling out. Was falling out really a threat? Probably not. Still, better safe than sorry.
“It really is,” Archie said, and I caught him staring at me.
Laughing, I elbowed him gently. “I’m all bundled up like a bank robber in bubble wrap. Don’t make those eyes at me.”
“Maybe,” he murmured, and rubbed his nose against my temple just below the knit cap. His skin probably should have been cold, but it was warm to me. “But you’re still beautiful, and there’s this lovely idea of unwrapping you like a present.”
A shiver of want went through me, and I sighed. “That’s dramatically unfair.”
“So is the boner I’ve had since you shimmied your ass into those pants this morning,” he said with a grin. “But I’m managing.”
“Is that why you were growling at Josh and didn’t want him giving me a lesson?” I arched my brows.
He scowled, but the expression didn’t touch his eyes as he shook his head at me. “He was flirting with you, babe.”
“The girl at the ski shop was flirting with you,” I pointed out. “I didn’t get all growly and snarl.”
Archie chuckled. “You feel free to stake your claim on me whenever you want. They can flirt, but I won’t be touching any of them.”
I leaned toward him. “Exactly. Besides, apparently, I’m very dense when it comes to flirting.”
His whole body shook with laughter, and it colored his words as we were almost near the top. “See how they are leaning forward? Just as you get to the end, you’re going to push off from the chair and ski away from it, using the momentum because the lift doesn’t stop. Then we’ll swing out to the side and slow and wait for the guys. Got it?”
It was almost our turn. I should be way more nervous, but I just laughed. “Got it.”
I could feel his stare for the longest moment, and then we were up. I leaned back as he pushed up the safety bar, and we both scooted forward, and zoom, we were off. I wobbled a little as I skidded to a halt with far less grace than Archie, who skidded to the side like an expert. He and Jake were pretty awesome to watch on skis. I hadn’t really gotten to see Ian in action yet, but I was waiting.
One by one, the others joined us. Coop was a damn natural. I stuck my tongue out at him as he slid to a stop and turned so he landed right next to me. He chuckled and then wrapped a hand around my nape and kissed me.
For one second, my heart stopped and alarm rang through me. We’d been so careful about public displays, and then it fell away as his lips firmed against mine. He gentled the kiss only when I relaxed and sighed into it.
“If they weren’t both green, I’d leave them,” Jake drawled with more amusement than anything else.
A faint snap pulled my head back, and I glanced over to find Ian aiming his phone at me and Coop. “Just adding it to the collection,” he explained, but the smile on his face and the ease around us relaxed me even more.
“Hopefully, I don’t look like I have fish face.” All four of them laughed at me, and Jake cut close to give me a kiss and then he tugged the neoprene out of my pocket and secured it over the lower half of my face before setting my goggles where they needed to go. “I do know how to dress myself.”
I wasn’t really that irritated, but the habits they’d formed while I’d been hurt seemed to only be getting stronger. He messed with my knit cap and then winked at me. Ass. “I’m doing this to save us from the distraction hazard.”
“Her lips are a hazard?” Ian’s dry tone had me snickering. We also had other skiers moving around us as they came off the ski lift, but our little group didn’t get more than a few passing looks. Nobody here cared, other than we were kind of in the way.
Coop opened his mouth, and I stared at him. He gave it a beat and then closed it with a shake of his head. “Nope. That’s a trap.”
That made me laugh my ass off.
It took us another good minute to sort ourselves ou
t. The green felt a lot steeper than the bunny hill, and I could see the other swerve away from the trail we were going to follow, and that just made my stomach hollow out.
“That’s a blue,” Ian told me. “We’re not taking you down there your first time.”
“Uh huh.” I didn’t say they weren’t taking me down there at any other time, either. We could save that argument for some time between nope, I don’t think so, and never. I was good with that.
It took us a minute to sort ourselves out. Ian took point with me, and Coop followed with Archie, while Jake showed off, moving back and forth between us like it was nothing.
When he started skiing backwards down the hill though, I considered slugging him. When Archie and Ian joined in on the antics, showing off, I let out a little sigh and Coop moved closer to me. We were zig-zagging lazily, and the other three were easily ten yards ahead of us. I couldn’t even stay irked at them, because they were being adorable.
All three of them kept glancing back to check on us, but Coop didn’t seem to be in anymore of a hurry than I was.
“So,” he said. “I believe you won earlier. Have you decided on your choice?”
I grinned, even if he couldn’t see it behind the mask. While I hadn’t been thinking on it, I had kind of decided. “Yep.”
“What will it be?” He eyed me, and I was torn between watching him as I spoke and paying attention to what I was doing. I was still getting used to shifting my weight inside the ski boots and not picking my feet up to move.
“I don’t know if I should tell while we’re up here.”
Our erstwhile escorts had pulled away farther with their clowning around. But I was doing okay, and Coop and I seemed to be matching pace really well.
“And can I say that this is tickling the hell out of me? How many times did we wish for real snow at Christmas?”
“Too many,” he said with a laugh. “You can tell me anything anywhere. Don’t be coy. Especially after the instructor hit on you.”
“He did not hit on me.”
“He totally checked out your ass, and he was hitting on you.” Coop pointed a finger at me. “You miss that shit. We don’t. Hence why Jake and Archie wanted you practicing with them.”
“Uh huh.”
“What?”
“Nothing,” I told him over my shoulder. “You guys are adorable.”
His snort just made me grin harder. “You didn’t used to think it was so adorable.”
The grumpy grumble didn’t help his case.
“Well, before, I couldn’t get a date ’cause you wouldn’t let other guys near me.”
“Yeah, well, it worked out for me,” Coop said, a little cockier again.
“Worked out better for me,” I teased, and his eyes flared.
“What did you decide you wanted?” He circled us right back to where we’d started.
“You remember what we discussed on your birthday?” I didn’t look at him. “All the things you wanted?”
The half-strangled, “Yes,” did a lot for my confidence.
“I think I want to test one of those out.”
I wasn’t really certain what happened, but we went from cutting back and forth neatly to Coop crashing into me, or maybe I crashed into him. We went down flailing, and one of my skis snapped right off the way it was supposed to, and we lay there in a lump of limbs, staring at each other.
Breathless, I burst out laughing, and he followed. There were shouts from ahead, and when we tried to get up, my other ski got caught under his and we both pitched into the snow. I lay there for a sec, laughing too damn hard to get up, and Coop was no help. It was like some damn sitcom.
Only better.
Jake got to us first, but Ian and Archie were right behind him. They were all carrying their skis because they’d jogged back up in the snow. Or whatever.
I flat out giggled when Jake popped the lock on my ski and picked me up first, and then they got Coop up.
When they asked what happened? We busted out laughing all over again. Thankfully, neither of us were hurt, and we got our skis back on and resumed our leisurely pace with all three babysitters in attendance.
The rest of the day went like that—easy with the laughter. I was almost an expert on taking the lift up. We’d returned to the top three more times before we took a break for lunch. The lodge food wasn’t anything special, but it was filling and I was starving. I was also ready to strip out of my coat and just ski with the long sleeve shirt on because I kept getting hot.
Both Archie and Jake nixed that, but conceded I could probably unzip and take the neoprene off.
Score.
After lunch, we hit a different set of greens. The resort had quite a few. We’d do them once or twice, then switch to another. The views were always spectacular. The last one we hit also had what they called a black-rated run as well as a blue that forked off from it, and yeah, that looked like I’d be falling off the cliff. Jake and Archie kept looking at the blue, and I said, “You guys should do it. You know what you’re doing, and Coop can keep me company.”
Coop slung an arm around me.
“I can hang out, too,” Ian said when Archie and Jake still hesitated, but I poked him.
“I saw you look at that run just like they did. Go, we’ll be fine.”
“And if we’re not, that’s what ski patrol is for,” Coop offered up cheerfully, earning three death glares from the others.
“Go,” I ordered them. “I’m getting tired anyway.” That was the truth. “So maybe we’ll go grab hot cocoa or coffee or something if we beat you to the bottom.”
We were so not beating them to the bottom.
Archie pulled out his phone and sent a message before stowing it away and pulling his gloves on. “The car will be waiting for us when we get down there. Back to the lodge where we can soak those tired muscles in the hot tub and have dinner?”
Yes, please.
Coop and I waited for them to set off. The minute the guys started moving down the blue, I read the envy and the longing on Coop’s face.
“Do you want to try it?”
“Nope,” he lied through his teeth. “Because you don’t want to, and I’d rather hang out with you anyway. There will be other opportunities. Archie made more than one reservation for us to go skiing.”
He had, hadn’t he? I glanced toward the blue again, ignoring the people who hopped off the ski lift and either took off down the blue or the green. I didn’t mind just standing here staring out at the view.
“Coop, what if I can’t ever choose?” The question had been right there in the back of my mind for weeks.
“Then you don’t choose,” Coop said slowly. “And we adjust.”
That simple. I glanced over to find him staring at me steadily.
“Is that what’s worrying you?”
“It’s a little unusual.” It was more than a little unusual. “Let’s be real here.”
“I thought we’ve been real from the beginning.” The reproach in his voice had me lifting my chin a little.
“We have been…I guess. I just… You guys all agreed to date me, even if I was seeing the others, and I knew I’d have to choose eventually.” And the idea of choosing between them? No. I didn’t even want to entertain the idea. Call me greedy and selfish, I didn’t care. I wanted all of them. Nearly losing Ian the way I had cemented it. I wouldn’t risk any of them now. “The last few weeks…”
“Have been good,” he said softly, then pressed a kiss to my temple. “Stop worrying. Talk to the guys about it. Talk to them individually, or talk to us as a group. But I can tell you my answer right here and right now.”
I lifted my gaze to meet his.
“I’m in this for the long haul, Frankie. Cradle to grave. That hasn’t changed.”
There had never been a point in my life that I could remember where Coop wasn’t a part of it.
“I can share you with them,” he continued in the same soft voice. “I know how much you love me, and I�
��m secure in that. I hope like hell you know how much I love you, too.”
The corners of my mouth curved, partially in disbelief and partially in delight. He just took the words right out of my mouth. Literally. “You really are my best friend.”
“And I always will be,” he said with a wink. “Now, no more worrying. Those assholes adore you, and no one is here under duress. Talk to us. We’ll sort it out.”
“Oh, I might need to get drunk for that conversation.” Especially if it was all of us.
Coop’s grin turned wicked. “Or something.”
I raised my brows.
“Later,” he said. “Let’s go before they think we got eaten by the mountain.”
I laughed, but followed him, and yeah, I left some of the worry I’d been carrying behind and I was a lot lighter on the way down. I hadn’t even admitted to myself how much I’d been worrying. But we were having a blast.
I really didn’t want anything to go wrong.
“Stop worrying!” he called to me over his shoulder as he cut back and forth in the snow and I followed him. As tired as I was, this had somehow gotten a lot easier, or maybe the motions just made sense now. I didn’t care. “Frankie, I can hear you thinking.”
“Yeah?” I yelled. “Can you hear what I’m thinking now?”
“Yes,” he said with a laugh. “And I’d rather play with your ass than mine, thanks.”
I damn near tripped as I laughed and blushed.
But I did stop fucking worrying.
Chapter Twenty
All Four One
Somewhere between leaving the slopes and riding in the car back to the lodge, my legs had begun to stiffen and my back protested. I refused to complain, even if I was exhausted. It was late enough the sun had already begun to edge down, and the temperatures promised to drop a few more degrees. The forecast called for more snow, and I couldn’t wait. All the way back to the lodge, I had my head tucked against Coop’s shoulder and my eyes half-closed. I didn’t even realize I’d fallen asleep until I roused to Jake carrying me in the house.