Page 26 of Snowed Inn For Christmas

Fifteen

Julie

Iwas in Gage’s room.A room that smelled very much like the man I had been struggling to keep my hands off of from the moment I stepped through the door and forced myself into his life.A man who laid comfortably on the bed beside me, propped up with a pillow as he watched a movie that I had no idea what it was because all I could focus on was the way his ripped abs looked under the t-shirt that pulled tightly across them.

I glanced around the room, looking for something—anything to take my mind off of the intense attraction I felt toward him.Uni sat on the dresser beneath the TV mounted to the wall, and I knew it was judging me.So what if it were just a stuffed animal?If it had human emotions, the one it would be feeling right now would be judgment for me wanting to hump my brother’s former best friend.

I didn’t even want to get started on that subject, given how they hadn’t been able to be around each other more than a few hours before they got into a physical fight.Christmas was going to be rocky, to say the least, and both would likely be sporting black eyes and fat lips for the special day.I looked up at Gage, noticing the swelling had started to go down, but then I got distracted by the flecks of gold in his eyes.

As if knowing what I was thinking, he lowered his eyes and looked at me, giving me a warm smile.

“It looks worse than it is,” he said softly.

“I hate that you guys are still fighting,” I admitted, though I was too tired to try to get into any of that at the moment.

“It’ll be fine.We’ll get through it.And just for the record, I didn’t fuck Melanie.That was a lie she started when I caught her sleeping with someone else.”

“Did you tell him that?”

“No.But only because I knew he wouldn’t listen.I tried telling him earlier tonight, and he still didn’t believe me.”

I nodded because I didn’t know what else to say.His fight with my brother had been going on for so long now that I didn’t understand why they hadn’t just talked about it and figured things out.Especially after Melanie called off their engagement.I trusted Gage, not just because I had feelings for him, but because I never liked or trusted Melanie.I could absolutely see her trying to come between them and making Gage the bad guy.

“How are you feeling?”he asked, changing the subject.

I shrugged, unsure of how to answer that as I sank lower into his pillow, which caused it to make the air smell like him.I groaned quietly and tried to fight the urge to stick my face in it and continue inhaling it until I passed out.It should be illegal to smell that good.

“Fine, I guess,” I replied when I realized he was still waiting for an answer.“I know it’s only been a little over a week that we’ve been here with you, but it feels like time is just flying by.Christmas will be here before we know it, and I’m not in the least bit ready for it.”

“I know.But I promise, we’ll get some shopping done this weekend.The roads should be better so we can head into town and get some stuff done.”

“Do you really think the roads will be clear by then?”

“More or less.I mean, they weren’t too bad for your brother and parents to make it up here.”

I nodded but chewed my lip to keep from saying what was really worrying me.If my family could get to the cabin easily, so could Joel.Given that we didn’t find the AirTag until we were already up there, it also meant that he had our exact location.

“Nothing is going to happen to you, Julie.I promise,” he said softly as he rolled onto his side and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear.

My eyes fluttered at the contact, and I closed my eyes, wishing this could be more.