by LK Collins
“She always that quick?” I holler over to Willow.
“No, she must be showing off.”
I smirk and make my way down to the bottom, loving the feeling of the alcohol coursing through my system and not focusing on anything else but my next move.
I lose sight of Quinn, and once I reach the bottom, I don’t see her. Then I look to my left, and she’s in line for the chair lift. I throw my arms up at her, and she gets on a chair, riding up to the top…alone.
“Man, she dogged you,” Ted says, and I get in line with the group riding up by myself. With the flask in hand, I take advantage and finish it.
The alcohol is flooding my veins, and I realize how it makes me feel warmer. When I get off the lift, Quinn is waiting for us. “Why’d you dog me?” I ask her, using Ted’s word.
“I told you to catch me, but I guess you were too slow. So now it’s your loss.” I laugh at her remark as she reaches into my pocket and takes the flask out. She’s gonna be pissed that I drank it all, so I strap up my left foot into my board and get a head start, laughing as I hear her coming after me.
Up ahead I spot a grove of trees and bank left, turning into them. I have to slow my speed, and when I glance back, Quinn is still following me. Once my board comes to a complete stop, I unstrap both of my feet and look at her, desire running through me as I step to her.
“You drank my entire flask?” she huffs, and I don’t answer her, just stalking towards her, wrapping my arms around her body, zoning in on those sexy fuckin’ lips.
She doesn’t protest or say another word; she just stands there all bundled up and naturally beautiful. The only sounds are her ragged breathing and the tall pine trees as they sway in the wind above us.
“I’m gonna kiss you,” I tell her and then my lips are on hers. Our cold noses seem warm against the bitter chill, and I relish in the feeling. Her lips so full and soft, I love how she tastes. Her tongue strokes in sync with mine, and I don’t want to stop.
Holding her body close to mine, she whimpers, and my cock begins to grow—
even in the frigid winter temperature, she can still turn me on. God, she tastes so amazing. I want more with Quinn. I need to have more. I will have more. I’ll have every single bit of her if it’s the last thing I do.
Chapter 7
Quinn
Walking back into the lodge after a day full of skiing, my legs are so sore and tired. I don’t feel like I can take another step, and as I sit down, relief heats my limbs in the most delicious way.
“Hey, did you see Ari at all today?” Willow asks me.
“No, I thought he was just in here drinking.”
I glance over at Merritt who is bullshitting with Ted and Jacob, the three of them oblivious to Ari’s absence. “Do you guys know where Ari is?” Willow asks them, and they all three give her a blank expression and shake their heads.
She walks away from us and over to the bar, asking the bartender a question. “What did he say?” I ask her as she comes back to us.
“He doesn’t know shit.”
“Should we go back to the house?” I offer.
“I think so; it’s not like him to just disappear. You know he loves skiing.”
Loading up in my car, Merritt sits in the front seat. Since our kiss in the trees, nothing has changed, and I like that. “Where do you think he is?” I ask him
“You wanna know my honest opinion?”
“Of course I do.”
“He’s probably banging some chick he met today.”
“Really? You think so?”
“I do. I bet he met her at the bar and after getting pissed about work…” he trails off and I couldn’t imagine Ari doing that. He’s such a nice guy on these trips. “You look shocked.”
“I am.”
“Why? We all fuck.”
“I know, I just think of Ari like a brother, so I can’t imagine him doing that.”
“Well, you don’t know the guy I do.”
“Is that the way you are?” I ask him, wondering if he’s only coming on to me so we can fuck.
“No way,” he’s quick to answer like he’s the total opposite. With my hands wrapped tightly around the steering wheel, I put my car in park back at the house, and I can’t help but wonder if he’s lying. “What, you don’t believe me?” he asks, sensing my doubt.
“Not really.” And I’m not sure if it’s that I don’t believe him, or I’m just trying to push him away. Men have me so twisted up lately, I don’t know what to believe anymore.
“Whatever, Quinn, you don’t know me.” He gets out of my car, pissed, and I follow behind him, heading inside and straight for the liquor, needing a fuckin’ drink.
“Ari?” Willow calls out, and before he can answer her, Ari is in Merritt’s face, shoving him backwards. “Did you really think I wouldn’t find out?”
“What the fuck are you talking about, man?” he challenges back, looking down at him.
“My stocks, man. You fucked me.” Ari shoves him again.
“I didn’t do shit, man!”
“Fuck you!”
“You don’t know the whole story.” And this time Merritt pushes him back, obviously agitated, so hard Ari falls to his ass. He flies to his feet and swings, catching Merritt with a hard right hook in the face. The sound of Ari’s fist against Merritt’s skin echoes in the room, and I close my eyes clenching the bottle of tequila. The noise somehow pierces from my gut to my head.
I open my eyes and thankfully Ted and Jacob have jumped in and are pulling the guys apart.
“That’s enough,” Willow shouts, and Merritt has his hand over his face, blood streaming down his arm as he walks away from all of us and towards our room. Running after him to make sure he’s okay, I realize I’m still holding a bottle of liquor as I enter looking for him. I find Merritt in the bathroom, leaning on the counter with a towel pressed to his face where Ari’s fist hit him, and I pass him the bottle.
“You okay?” I ask and he nods. “What’s he talking about?”
He takes a swig and looks right at me. “After he left, he’s been waiting for the money from the stock he had in the company. My father has been stalling on signing off on them, dicking him around and shit. So I had them transferred into my name and was going to pay him what they were worth. I hate seeing him get screwed over by my dad, you know?”
“And now he thinks you bought them behind his back?”
“Yeah, and what pisses me off the most is that he’d even think I’d do something malicious to him. He’s my best friend.”
“Then talk to him.”
“No, fuck him, he swung first.”
Obviously, Merritt is letting his feelings get the best of him, so I figure I can’t push him. “How did he even find out?” I ask.
“Probably my dad. He’s been trying to drive a wedge between us since he left the company.”
“Why would your dad do that?”
“You don’t know my father. He needs to control everything; he was pissed at me when he found out I bought them.”
Merritt takes another swig, and I place my hand over his, wanting to look at his face. Holding on to the towel, he lets go, but looks down at me and even in this crazy ass moment, it seems I’m all that matters.
Gently, I lift the towel, but his face is still bleeding, split wide open. “How’s it look?”
“Not too bad,” I lie and press the towel back against his face. As I hold a little pressure, he winces. Staring into my eyes, he reaches up and runs his thumb over my bottom lip. My insides heat from the touch, the effect he has over me is unreal. I’m not sure what to do. My mind is telling me one thing, but my heart, my poor damaged heart, is telling me another.
However, before I can battle with the decision any longer, we are interrupted by Kami as she brings in ice and a first aid kit. “How’s it look?” she asks, and I stupidly respond, still in a daze, “Good.”
I pull the towel away. The bleeding has slowed, and Merritt looks in
the mirror at his face. “You think this looks good?” he complains.
“I meant it looks better.” I open the first aid kit and find a few butterflies to place over the cut. “It might need stitches,” Kami adds, and he brushes her off, taking another swig of liquor. I’m tempted to take the bottle from him, he’s been drinking all day, and now with this, he might end up fighting with Ari again.
“Or not…let me know if you guys need anything else. We’re ordering pizza for dinner. Any requests?”
“A veggie one, please.”
“Merritt?”
“Nah, I’ll probably be leaving soon.”
Kami leaves, and Merritt is giving me that look again, making my heart race a million miles a minute. “Leaving, why?”
“I don’t know anyone here, and I’m not about to deal with Ari and his shit when I was just trying to help.”
“But, you know me.”
“That doesn’t help right now. I shouldn’t have come. I have a ton of work to do.”
“Merritt, I get that you want to go, but Ari is your best friend, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Then talk to him before you leave. Trust me—you don’t want to run from your problems.” Hearing the words myself makes me feel like that is what I’m doing, pushing aside the pain of my breakup this week. But maybe that is what I need to be doing, in order to get past what I’ve been through. I’ve gotta let it go, the same way Merritt needs to let the drama with Ari go too.
He studies me as I look at the cut on his face. “Are you sure you don’t want to have a doctor look at this?” I ask him.
“Yeah, it’ll be fine.”
“Okay. But, before you make your mind up and leave, I want you to know, I’m sorry about accusing you of not being a good guy,” I tell him, feeling bad for insinuating such a thing earlier. Cleary he is a nice guy—look what he did for Ari.
“It’s all good. You just went through a breakup, so your heart is guarded, I get that.”
“Thank you.”
“Of course. So I guess I’ll go and see if I can hash this shit out with Ari.”
“Yeah? You want me to come?”
“No, Mom, we’ll be good, I promise.”
“Mom?” I respond back to him, my mouth gaping open.
He winks and kisses my cheek—his lips on me again are a surprise but have me wanting more. I don’t know what it is about him that makes my insides a flustered mess. I’ve never had a man make me feel like this, ever.
Chapter 8
Merritt
“So we good, man?” I ask Ari after I explain everything and we finally get to the bottom of the shit my dad tried to pull.
“Yeah, sorry I jumped to conclusions.”
“It’s all right. You know I’m always gonna look out for you.”
“And I appreciate that.”
“Of course, brother.”
“You know your old man is fucked up, though, right?”
“You don’t have to tell me. I deal with it on the daily and only because soon the company will be mine.”
“Damn straight it will.”
We exchange a hand slap and then go downstairs. The group is all seated around the dining room table, and Quinn smiles when she sees us together. The doorbell rings, and Ari and I grab the abundance of pizzas that were ordered. “Jesus, how many pizzas did you think we needed?” Ari asks Willow.
“What?” she replies, acting like it’s no big deal.
As we set the pizza down in the kitchen, Quinn comes over to us and says, “So, are you guys good?”
“Of course, thanks for pushing me to talk to him,” I tell her.
“Anytime.”
“So in order to keep the peace going, I’m declaring tonight pizza and water night,” Willow announces.
“What?” The room erupts in chaos at her crazy ass remark. But I’ve learned that when it comes to Willow, she’s a bit controlling, and you just don’t argue.
“I’m serious, Ari, you had way too much to drink today, and the rest of you were hitting the flasks all day.”
“Come on, Willow,” Kami pleads.
“Nope! It’s gonna be an early night. We have ice fishing in the morning, and after skiing all day, we could use a chill night and some rest.”
Ari walks over to the fridge and grabs a beer, twisting the top off and dropping the cap to the floor. Willow is stunned as he slams half the beer and says. “How about pizza and beer night, nothing hard?” She rolls her eyes as everyone cheers like a bunch of kids who just got their way with their parents. I glance at Quinn, and she smiles back at me, both of us knowing our bottle of tequila is still in our bathroom.
I grab a beer from the fridge then take one out for Quinn too. As I pass it to her, she smiles, the most adorable expression on her face. “Did they get your veggie one right?”
“Uh huh, it’s kinda hard to mess up, though.”
“I wouldn’t know; I don’t eat veggie anything.”
I open one of the boxes and pull out a piece of pepperoni. As I eat it, Quinn says to me, “What do you say we go take a few shots?”
I wipe my hands clean, loving the idea. The rest of the room is engulfed in conversation making it easy for us to slip away. I lock the bathroom door, so we aren’t interrupted again, and Quinn hops up on the countertop. “So, is Willow always so controlling?” I ask her as she unscrews the bottle.
“Yup, but she’s always been that way, and we’ve all learned to accept her because she really does have the best intentions.” She knocks back a swig then passes me the bottle.
“It can be annoying though.”
She nods and the room is filled with an awkward silence, and I’m not sure what to do. I take a second drink, the alcohol burns, but I love it, and then give her the bottle again. “So ice fishing tomorrow, you ever been?” I ask her, things…still awkward, and she grins.
“Every year, you?”
“When I was younger. I used to fish all the time, but never ice fishing. Now with work, I don’t do much of anything else.”
“So…if your work is so crazy, how come you came on this trip?”
“Ari has asked me for the last three years straight, and I turned him down. This time, I was gonna do the same, but the truth is, I needed the break. My dad and I are at each other’s throats.”
“Why do you work with him? He sounds really terrible.”
“Oh, he is. He has that dumb old school mentality and thinks everyone has to do what he says ‘cause he’s ‘the boss.’ My opinion doesn’t always matter; it’s just about closing deals and making money.”
“Can’t you go elsewhere?”
“I could, but he’s set to retire soon, and then the company is mine. I’ve worked so hard, and it’s right at my fingertips.”
“Wow, that’ll be awesome.”
“It will be. I turned down a full-ride basketball scholarship to Duke, so I could work for my dad. So I’ve gotta make sure this pays off.”
“You play basketball?”
“I did. I always wanted to join the NBA, but it was such a gamble and working for my father wasn’t. It was a sure thing, the safe thing, you know? Enough about me, what about you?”
“Oh, there’s not much to me,” she gets shy, and I’m not sure why.
I snatch the bottle back from her, and she laughs at me.
“Don’t be stupid. I told you, now you tell me,” I nudge.
“Umm, let’s see, I graduated from CU Boulder in Colorado with a Master’s degree in finance and got hired at the first firm I applied to. That was three years ago. Now, I’m an investment advisor with them. I was recently promoted after signing the biggest client they had in the Denver office this year.”
“No shit, that’s fucking awesome.”
“Yup! Not my proudest moment, though, considering the client was my ex. But the job is sweet, and even though things with him ended badly, as least I got something out of the deal.”
“That’s kinda funny.”
“No, it’s not!” She glares at me and snatches back the bottle, her sexy blue eyes glimmering in the bright light of the bathroom.
“What else?”
“What do you want to know?”
“You have siblings?” I ask her.
“No, you?”
“No. What about your parents?” I ask.
“They live in Denver in the house I grew up in. I go to dinner at their house once a week.”
“Lucky! I wish I had that. The last meal I ate with both my parents was when I was a kid.” I’m not even sure why I told her that. It makes me sound like a bitch, but all the alcohol has me spinning.
“I’m sorry.”
“Not a big deal, my dad was always busy working, so he was gone, now I’ve joined him.” Stepping to her, standing between her dangling legs, I lean in, not even thinking as I brace my weight on the countertop and blurt out, “I want to kiss you again.”
“Quinn?” Willow calls out before she can answer, knocking on the bathroom door.
Hanging my head down, the moment—yet again—ruined. I look into her eyes and she responds, “I’ll be right out.”
“Are you okay?”
“Yup.”
“Have you seen Merritt?”
She looks at me with wide eyes and I holler out to her. “I’m here; Quinn was just checking my face.”
Willow rattles the doorknob and I hide the bottle under the sink, then unlock the door and ask Willow as I open it, “Do you think we should replace the butterflies yet?” The question distracts her. She studies the cut on my face as I stand really close to her and then she says, “No, it looks good.”
“Cool, thanks for cleaning it.” I walk off leaving the girls like nothing was going on with Quinn and wink at her, looking back at her still sitting on the counter, in the exact spot where I left her. My cock wants her and is pissed at me for leaving her. But before the night is over…I’ll have her.