Page 33 of Ski You Later (Alpine Glow #1)

I don’t like parties.

The party is in full swing at this point.

I felt bad for Roman as everyone completely ignored his protests and invited people to the party.

I would’ve had his back in this, but the Polar Bear’s didn’t host a single party last season, and no one forgot about that little detail.

Also, because I packed the cutest party outfit and needed an excuse for Roman to see me in it.

As the living room is packed with racers from across the country, I find our team spread out among the masses. Some playing beer pong, multiple people heading outside, and others relaxing on the couches and mingling with the teams.

I grab another drink from one of the coolers and squeeze my way out of the packed kitchen. I spot our friend group all hanging outside, laughing hysterically with each other and I excitedly make my way towards them .

I don’t shy away as the one drink I’ve had courses through me, and I confidently walk to the sliding doors.

Feeling bold from the colour I’m wearing, I relish in my deep red, long-sleeve body suit, with a tight fitted grey skirt and lighter grey stockings.

Letting my hair down tonight, my bangs fall slightly into my eyes, but are offset by my dark red lipstick.

My mood is giddy as I struggle to open the sliding glass door, and then eventually give up and knock. Aurora sees me on the other side, laughing as she comes to open it for me. “Girl, how much have you had?” She questions as makes sure I don’t trip while exiting the building.

I can’t stop the giggle that erupts from my mouth and just shrug at my best friend. She rolls her eyes at me but drags me towards where everyone is hanging out. It warms my heart to see that Roman’s brothers have decided to hang out with my friends all on their own.

The group is all mingling with each other as smoke pours from everyone’s mouths. A couple athletes from the neighboring hill are mixed in with our giant group, and I don’t miss how Landon leans in close to the most gorgeous girl I’ve ever seen.

Her dark brown hair falls down to just under her breast, accentuating her heart shaped face and cupids bow lips.

But her skin’s absolutely breath taking as the moon light reflects the dark colour.

She stands a couple inches taller than the guys around the circle, but that only gives her more power as she mingles with our group.

Landon doesn’t stand a chance with her, but that doesn’t stop him from whispering something in her ear and making her chuckle.

Someone nearby passes her a joint, and she shakes her head before passing it to Landon. He must really be into her because he also passes on it and decides instead to lean back into her orbit.

I see that Xander notices her as well, catching glances to the side so he can keep looking at her. This doesn’t go unnoticed by Aurora who glares daggers at the youngest Huxley brother. Frankly, I have no idea what’s going on with those two, but I make a mental note to inquire about it later.

I make another mental note to ensure that Roman goes nowhere near this goddess looking woman. One cheating boyfriend is all I need in my lifetime.

Not that I think Roman would ever cheat on me, he has to be actually dating me in order to even cheat. That puts even more fear into my system, and I start to look around for the tall piece of muscle that I call my boyfriend .

The whole train of thought jars me a little, since the easy-going nature Roman’s been displaying around me lately, made me forget we aren’t actually dating. I guess that’s what I asked of him though, to make sure there is no doubt my cousin or family could ever question us.

But a bigger part of me knows him, and I know that he doesn’t do things unless he wants it. So, either he really wants to help me out with my problem, or he’s just as interested in me as I am in him.

Leaning forward, I tap on Xander’s arm and gesture for him to come toward me.

His drunken state easily forgets about his previous conversation, as he staggers into my side, and I have to use all my strength to support him.

“Where’s Roman?” I yell in his ear as he sputters spittle in my face and asks me to repeat myself.

After hearing me a second time, he throws his head backwards in a scoff as he responds. “That little bitch is in his room because he’s convinced that people are going to try and steal his stuff.”

A small smile pulls at the corner of my mouth, because that’s a very Roman like thing to think when a party is happening. “I’m going to try to get him to come down.” I yell back to him over the music and Xander just laughs, wishing me luck with my mission .

As I squish my way inside and to the back staircase, I pass by all the athletes milling about on the stairs.

More people are lounging against the walls on the second floor when I get up there, and I spot Rhys with a girl at the end of the hall.

We make eye contact as I head his way, and he immediately walks towards me.

“Can you go and get him out of our room. I can only do so much in a hallway, and he’s just sitting in there reading.

” It takes me a second to process this since he quickly whisper-yells it all in my face, but I nod at him and suppress a giggle.

I pat Rhys reassuringly on the arm as I promise another one of my boyfriend’ s roommates that I’ll get him to come out.

Knocking and asking if I can come in, I hear the sound of footsteps approaching from the other side of the door. “For the last time, we share a room. You can’t just kick me out of our room because you want alone time with her.”

Putting my hand over my mouth to suppress a laugh, I knock lightly against the door once again. “Oh, believe me, I wish that was the case.” I wouldn’t say I’m drunk, but I’m definitely tipsy as the words flow freely out of my mouth, and I don’t regret them.

The door cracks open slightly at my words and Roman peers down at me with suspicion. Once he does a glance of the rest of the hallway, he opens the door fully and ushers me in quickly.

“What’s the rush?” I can’t help but chuckle as I enter his room, and turn around to see him locking the door behind me.

“I don’t want anyone just waltzing in and making a mess of the room I just cleaned”.

Looking around the space, two sets of bunk beds are pushed up against each wall, leaving the floor and beds covered in the gear from the guys.

Race suits are laid flat, helmets are placed along the windowsill, and everything sits organized on everyone’s beds.

It looks as if a mess of boy exploded here and was then promptly organized.

“Did you clean this all up?” The idea that he has been spending his time picking up after his roommates sobers me up instantly, a guilty feeling creeping into my chest.

“No, no. I cleaned this up hours ago. I’ve just been reading and trying to ignore what’s going on downstairs.” He plops onto his bottom bunk, and a sense of loneliness weighs his shoulders down as he leans against the wall.

I plop down beside him, putting my back against the same wall as I lightly tap his knee with mine. “You know, you can always come downstairs and join us,” I say and try my best to keep my tone light.

He looks side long at me, hope flaring in his gaze before it immediately sputters out. “No, they don’t want their team captain down there,” he says with finality.

“That’s not true at all. A bunch of people want you down there!”

His gaze is as disbelieving as his words as he looks down at me. “Yeah, like who?”

“Rhys, Xander and Landon, all missed you,” I counter immediately.

He smiles easily at this, breaking eye contact as he looks away. “I can guarantee the only reason they want me downstairs is so they can have this room to themselves.”

I frown at the likely truth to his words and decide that it’s time to be honest with him. “I wanted you down there,” I whisper and feel fear spear through me as his gaze whips my way.

Neither of us move for a second, as if he didn’t believe his ears and wants to make sure he didn’t imagine it. “You did?”

I nod back at him, not breaking eye contact with him as I sense his body move toward me .

The couple drinks I’ve had evaporate in my stomach as I feel a tension build between us. It seems like everything we’ve been through has been breadcrumbs leading us to this moment and it feels so right in my gut.

We’re a hairs breath apart now and I close my eyes as I feel his hand snake into my hair. The slightest brush of his lips touches mine just as the bedroom door slams open.

Both of us jolt apart, shock and confusion splay out on both our faces as we whip our gaze to the door. Xander stumbles in with a key in hand and points his finger directly at his brother.

Roman startles, something I’ve never seen him do, and I’m yanked behind him before I can blink. I think it took him a minute to understand the lunatic at the door was actually his brother as Xander confidently stumbles his way towards us.

“Dude, Rhoses isgoing to comeand see you. Don’t worryatall, I told her nothingabout your feelings for her ot avout the plan,” he slurs all his words as Roman shoots off the bed toward him.

Roman immediately supports him as he seems to fall over, as Xander wraps his arms around him in turn “Alright buddy, that’s enough of that.

How much have you had to drink?” His earlier confusion is gone as he looks worriedly towards his baby brother.

“Just because the race is in the evening tomorrow, doesn’t mean it isn’t happening at all.

This is exactly why I didn’t want a party in our rental.

” He all but growls that last part and tries to usher Xander into bed.

Worry for him has me standing and moving over to them, which was the wrong decision on my part.

Xander’s eyes widen comedically as he sees me, and then lunges away from Roman and into my path. His arms wrap around my neck in a second as his dead weight falls on me, and my body immediately strains under the impact.

“Qucik, less makehim jealoss.” Xander slurs, his head looking like he’s going to kiss me before dropping to my shoulder as he falls asleep.

His weight is quickly removed from me, and I don’t hesitate as I breathe in an unrestrained breath of air. While these guys might be loveable idiots, they’re freaking heavy.

Roman grumbles something angrily under his breath as he hauls his limp brother into the bed across from his and flips him on his side. I can see the war waging within Roman’s eyes since Xander obviously ruined the moment that we built between us .

I can’t help but think back to Xander’s words as Roman puts a blanket over him. Roman’s feelings towards me?

Turning to face me, Roman runs his hands through his hair in dismay, and his shirt slowly rides up to expose the flat pane of his lower stomach. My brain understands that he’s talking to me, but my eyes stay glued to that piece of skin.

A couple more words sound in the background, but I return to feeling the same way I did before Xander interrupted us.

Suddenly, his curled pointer finger comes to rest under my chin, and he tilts my head up to meet the smug grin on his face.

“Here I thought he ruined our moment,” he breathes.

“Were we having a moment?” I ask in a breathy tone, tilting my chin up ever so slightly as I challenge him. His eyes narrow at my words and his hands move to rest on my hips.

“I know we were having a moment, Langley. My heart doesn’t beat that fast if I’m just standing still,” he admits in a whisper .

I look up to him with a devious smile that puts a note of uncertainty into his gaze. “So,” I say curiously. “You told Xander you had feelings for me, huh?”

Roman’s face reddens immediately, the flush causing those damned freckles to stand out on his pale face even more. I curse at myself internally, the last thing I wanted was to frazzle him, but I don’t know how else to go about this.

Daniel’s time in my life has left it’s mark, and I’ve been dancing around Roman for months now. Even if he rejects my bold question right now, I’m so proud that I had the courage to ask it in the first place. I brace for him to pull away from me and retreat back into himself.

The flush remains on Roman’s face, but his eyes never change as he looks at me. To my surprise, he doesn’t retreat from me, instead using his grip on my hips to pull me closer. There seems to be conflict behind his eyes, but it vanishes instantly as a new resolve takes over his face.

“I have feelings for you, Rhodes. I’ve had feelings for a long time, and I’m devastated it took a fake relationship to get us where we are. What I’m not upset about is the fact that we’re here now, and no one will bat an eye when it comes to you being mine. ”

His words are like a tsunami in my brain, and I try not to crumple under the pressure. He’s had feelings for me? For a long time?

Before I can ask more, he leans in close and cups my jaw with both of his hands. “I’m also not going to kiss you.”

The softness of his voice causes a delay for his words to register. He isn’t going to kiss me? Does he know that I want it just as bad as him? As the protest is about to leave my lips, his thumb shifts so it covers my mouth, and stops what I was about to say.

“I’m not going to kiss you in this shitty rental, full of smelly ski suits and a raging party happening below.

” He steps even closer to me now, our bodies fully pressed together as he walks me backwards, and I feel the wooden beam of the bunk bed lightly hit my back.

His stare is intense as I watch him settle himself against me, his hips pinning me to the post.

“I’m not going to kiss you for the benefit of putting on a show, and I’m sure as hell not going to kiss you when my brothers snoring in the corner.”

He’s closer to me now, leaning in as my breath goes ragged, and his words start registering in my overwhelmed brain. “When I kiss you, Langley. Because there will be a when. It’ll be the farthest thing from fake.

“Now, I’ll walk you to your room so we can both go to bed. We have a race to win tomorrow.”