Page 16 of Ski You Later (Alpine Glow #1)

With a glare at my new boyfriend, I just skate towards the entry slots and file onto the loading platform without looking back. A deep laugh comes from behind me, and Roman quickly places himself beside me. We both put our poles between our legs, as the chairlift scoops us up.

Without acknowledging the man beside me, I quickly pull out my phone and text Aurora about the situation. This would be the fastest fake relationship in the world if Jasmine caught up to Rora and she unknowingly blew up this whole plan.

She must be on the chairlift ahead of me because her response comes immediately and in the form of a thumbs-up icon. I don’t have any delusions that she won’t want all the details, but I’m grateful she’s not hounding me right now.

Putting my phone away and taking a big breath, I prepare for the conversation we’re about to have.

“What. The hell.” My words are clipped, giving him the benefit of the doubt before I completely explode.

“You’re welcome,” he says automatically. His tone pleasant as he acts like he just did me a great favour.

“Are you joking?” I ask plainly.

My words cause him to turn, caution entering his tone as he responds. “Yes?” The question lacing that word only causes my frown to deepen.

“Do you know what you just did?” My voice rises on its own accord, and I quickly tamper it back down.

With his eyes covered by his goggles, all I can see is his mouth hanging slightly ajar. “What I just did? You mean save your ass?” He questions indignantly.

I can’t help but scoff, my body involuntarily brushing against his as I look back up to him. “Save me? If by that you mean, make my life a hundred times harder , then yes. You totally saved me, Roman.”

He stares at me in disbelief, my words sinking in as his face grows more outraged. His stare of silence turns into an unbelieving chuckle, that quickly followed by a strangled sound.

“I. You. I just,” his words are clipped as he flounders for another minute. He takes a breath and tilts his head down to stare right at me.

“I thought I did what you wanted me to,” he says defensively. A touch of worry laces his words, but that only frustrates me further.

Putting both my hands on the bar, I drop my head into them and exhale an exasperated breath. “What are we going to do now?” I groan.

A hand lands on my shoulder, Roman’s gloved fingers giving it a slight squeeze as I look back up at him. His face looks pained, the humour from a moment ago vanishing as he looks down at his skis. “Look, I’m sorry, Rhodes.”

I sit up fully now. The way sincerity coats his every word has me more curious than anything else.

“I had no idea what to do when you asked me for help last week. People don’t exactly come to me for help, and it took me by surprise, that’s all.

I never wanted to disappoint you, and I thought we would talk it through some more.

Then, before I could figure out what I wanted to say, you just ran out the door.

I’ve felt like shit since then, and I didn’t know what to do .

“Today I planned to pull you aside and discuss this further. But, when I finished my run, and I saw your cousin being mean to you.” He looks away from me now, focusing on the ground below us. “After everything she’s done to you, there was no hesitation in my mind that I had to step in.”

The emotion lacing every one of his words shocks me beyond belief. This rare vulnerability from him invading each of his sentences, and my anger slowly disappears.

He’s totally right. I shouldn’t have just run off and been so caught up in my own emotions that I didn’t even think about him. It was clear that the night prior to our talk had rattled him, and then I just followed that up by asking for a massive favour.

Roman keeps talking, completely oblivious to my internal debate. “So, what I’m trying to say is, I’m sorry. I really thought I was helping.” His voice is dejected as he finishes speaking, and his tone conveys just how much frustration he has with himself.

I don’t know if it’s because I’m delusional or just crave rejection from him, but I reach over and grab Roman’s hand. He tenses underneath my touch but doesn’t pull away.

“I should be the one apologizing, not you. I’m so thankful you’re constantly trying to help me, and you continue to have my back. Frankly, I don’t even know why you’re being so nice, but you should know that I’m really grateful.” Giving his hand one more squeeze, I promptly release him.

He continues to stare down at the place my hand vacated. While he hasn’t spoken yet, there’s a relaxed quality to his face when he looks back up at me. Something close to a smile graces his stoic features.

“So, what should we do about this situation I got us in?” he asks matter-of-factly.

A humourless chuckle leaves my lips, and I lean my elbows on the safety bar in front of me.

“Well, I don’t know if there’s anything we can do at this point.

” My words are resigned, and I try to keep my tone neutral as I tell him my plan.

“I’ll come clean about everything. It’ll be easy for everyone to believe that you were just trying to help me.

Then I can take the blame and deal with the consequences.

”I see him quickly turn towards me, but I keep my gaze trained forward.

This whole situation is embarrassing enough to make my chest hurt, but I know without a doubt that I can’t let Roman sacrifice anymore for me .

Will I be teased by my friends and family for the foreseeable future? Probably. But that’s nothing a will of steel can’t handle.

Swinging my skis back and forth keeps my mind off the impending damage to my pride. I resign myself to this fate and brainstorm ways to handle it with grace.

Maybe if I moved to Mexico, people would forget about me completely.

It isn’t the perfect plan, but it’s also not the worst.

“Rhodes, in what world would I let you do that?” Roman says, somehow sounding angry and exasperated at the same time.

“Let me do what?” I say with genuine confusion.

“I think it’s very clear what I mean.”

“It’s not clear at all,” I respond immediately.

He groans loudly and rubs both hands over his helmet, frustration written all over his face. “Langley, you’re killing me,” he says as his gaze lands on me.

I continue to stare at him with curiosity because his actions are always so cryptic. “Can you just tell me what you mean for once?” I argue back.

He sits straight up and faces me fully, a new look of determination on his face. “I accept. I’m going to help and attend the wedding with you. ”

My brain freezes as his words refuse to register. “What?”

“I want to go with you. If that’s what you still want.”

“Why?” It sputters out of me before I have time to think. While this would technically solve all my problems, I need to know what he gets from all this.

“What do you mean why? Because I want to,” he states, the indignation practically dripping from his words.

“Roman, I’m not letting you do this just because you pity me.

This whole situation might get uglier than I ever anticipated, and the last thing I want is for you to get in the middle.

” His help would be greatly appreciated, but I can’t drag him into this mess just because he feels bad.

His friendship has been a welcome surprise, and I don’t want to risk it.

Based on Jasmine’s behaviour today, I have a feeling this entire ruse will go south quickly. The last thing I want to do is hurt his reputation even more.

“That’s not the reason at all.” His voice takes on a serious tone as he looks straight at me. “I don’t pity you, Rhodes. I just want to help. ”

Leaning away from him, I narrow my eyes in his direction. “Alright, say I believe you. What do you get out of this?”

“I don’t want anything out of this.”

I lift my goggles and raise my brow, making it clear I don’t believe him for a second.

“Why does there have to be something in it for me? I’m just helping a friend,” he states defensively.

Crossing my arms in an over-dramatic fashion, I attempt to raise my brow higher. “Really?”

He assesses my stare and droops his shoulders slightly. “Fine,” he grumbles. “If I help you with this whole wedding thing, then I think the team might hate me a little less.”

Out of anything he could have said, that was the last thing I presumed it was going to be.

He always seemed like he really couldn’t care less what everyone thought about him.

Obviously, his roommates are close to him, but other than that, he never showed any interest in being friends with the rest of the team.

“Roman. You don’t need to get involved in my family drama just so you can get closer to your own team.

I’ll figure out my issue alone, and we can work together to get the team to warm up to you,” I say as I smile sweetly at him and hope he can see that I’m being genuine.

If all he wants is friendship, that’s something I’ll help with any day.

The platform at the top approaches, and Roman lifts the bar as the chair slows down. I feel his shoulder press against mine a second before his upper body leans close to me.

“Where’s the fun in that, Langley?” His smile is full of humour as he hops off the lift. “Dinner at my place tonight. I’ll text you.”

With that, he pushes off his poles and skis to the top of the course.