Page 45 of Ski You Later (Alpine Glow #1)
There’s no sound coming from the room as I lightly knock, saying his name as a question into the quiet space. After no response, I let myself in. His back is to me as he looks out the window, and I would be lying if I wasn’t looking at every muscle stretching his shirt.
“I just need a minute, Rhodes,” he says with restrained anger in his tone.
His words dump cold water on my current train of thought, and I can’t help but ask what’s wrong. “Is everything alright? I can leave you alone if you want, but I’m a little worried now.”
He takes a deep breath, turning around to show me how frazzled he looks. Red is creeping into his eyes, as if he has been rubbing them, and his hands are clenched into fists at his side. After looking at him for a couple of minutes, I realize he isn’t stressed. He’s furious.
“Rhodes, I just need a second to breathe.” I start to back out of the room, knowing well that if someone wants their space, it’s best to respect their wishes.
That’s until Roman makes a sound of angry frustration and starts rambling.
“I have never wanted to hit a girl. Never in my life. My mother would disown me in a heartbeat if she knew that I even had thoughts about it.” He starts to pace in front of the window with his hands behind his back, until he whips his finger towards me.
“Until I dealt with your cousin. I would gladly hit your cousin.”
Two things happen in my brain at the same time. First and foremost, I agree with him, and then I’m terrified of what she could have done to make this sweetheart of a boy feel like this. But secondly, a gut-wrenching laugh that comes out of me .
Clutching my stomach, I double over as I cackle at his sentence. His reaction is how I feel every time I have to deal with her, and it’s nice to know I’m not the only one. If anything, now him and Aurora have something to bond over.
“Did you do it?” I ask in a voice that shakes with laughter.
“Did I do what?” He asks in confusion.
“Did you hit her?” Imagining Roman randomly decking Jasmine is now going to be my go-to image when I’m sad.
Amusement turns to horror as he looks at me.
“What? Of course, I didn’t! I would never!
” The fight seems to drain out of him as I approach, and a rueful smile plays on my face as I come within arm’s length.
Sadness wiggles its way into my chest as I see how dejected he is, and I wrap my arms around his middle.
Leaning up on my tip toes, I brush my lips against his neck as I whisper in his ear. “Want to know a secret?”
His arms wrap around my back as he leans down. “Obviously.”
“I wouldn’t blame you if you did. She’s probably targeting you now. I’m so sorry, it’s all my fault.” I pull back to look into his eyes and ensure he can see the guilt I have for the whole situation.
His hands slide up from my back, landing on my shoulders as he looks down at me. “I don’t know how you dealt with this your whole life. She seems to be up to something, Rhodes. I don’t like the sound of it.”
“Well, what did she say?” I know how cruel she can be, and the last thing I want is for Roman to be involved in this. Honestly, if we weren’t giving this a real shot, I would’ve let him go at this point. The wedding is a week away, and I fear the lengths she’ll go to ruin this for me.
A distant expression crosses his face, and he pulls away from me slightly. “I don’t really want to talk about it, if that’s alright.”
I can’t stop the fear I feel at that kind of reaction, but maybe he just needs time to think. “That’s fine.” I lie to his face and plaster on a kind smile. I don’t want to push him on this anymore, so I think it’s the perfect time to give him my gift.
“Alright, well, I have something for you.” His interest peaks at my words, and I immediately retrieve it from the hallway where I left it.
As I run back towards him, I can’t stop smiling like an idiot as I hold this book behind my back and jump up and down.
He seems taken aback by my enthusiasm, but the confused smile now on his face makes me feel like a winner.
“Close your eyes, hands out in front,” I say excitedly.
“Rhodes,” he deadpans and raises an eyebrow at me. I don’t waste a second as I glare right back up at him and wait for him to do what I said.
As he grumbles and closes his eyes, I place the green book in his hands when he cups them in front of him. Impatient as ever, he opens them the second the book’s in his hand and wordlessly flips through it.
He continues to rifle through the pages, emotion slowly trickling into his expression as he reads. It’s impossible not to be embarrassed about this since we haven’t actually been dating for that long. But all his kindness was getting too much to go unreturned.
He still hasn’t said a word, and I finally hit my capacity for letting the silence sit. “Yeah, so it’s just a normal planner, but I changed a bunch of stuff around. Like here, you can put all your notes from the team captain meeting, and maybe jot down things to remember here.”
I tip the top of the book down so I can see it and point to all the modifications I made just for him. “Oh, and here’s where you can put in your meal preps for the races,” I say excitedly. “I just know you like things organized, and I thought this would really help.”
Looking back up at him, I’m almost taken aback by the look of pure adoration splayed across his face.
Before I can even think of something to say, Roman steps right into my space. His hand cups my face as he presses a quick but firm kiss to my lips. It wasn’t our most passionate kiss by any means, but there was something behind it I can’t quite place.
“How can I ever show you how much this means to me.” His words are almost a whisper as he goes back to flipping through it. Probably reading the random notes I left throughout the whole thing.
“It’s nothing, seriously. I just wanted to help you out. You know, like how you’re always helping me.” Reaching up to place both my palms on his face, I brush my thumbs over his clean-shaven cheeks. “I’m really happy to be with you, Roman.”
I can’t help the moisture that forms in my eyes as my words thrum a cord in my chest that sits just right. His hands come to rest atop mine, and the most emotional gaze I’ve ever seen from him reflects back at me.
“Langley, I’ve had a real shitty couple years. It has been a constant struggle, just with friends and skiing, and always something happening to make me feel like crap.” Closing his eyes, he pulls me flush against him and tucks me in close. “I’m so thankful for you,” he says into my hair.
“I’m just treating you the same way you treat me,” I say into his chest and hold him tight.