Page 4

4

Win

Bro, I wasn’t sure where Ryan found the listing for Snowdrift Ridge—the name of our humble abode for the next week—but first of all, this place wasn’t humble.

Jess wasn’t wrong when she called it a castle.

I saw why it had a name of its own. I lowkey thought it probably had its own zip code too.

I mean, sure, White Pine Summit was the nicest resort in the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia, but this place was more than I expected. And yeah, I saw the pics before we got there.

Snowdrift Ridge was a sprawling wood and glass house with oversized fireplaces, chandeliers, and windows that pretty much covered the entire back of the house. Every bedroom had an ensuite, the kitchen was massive, and the deck off the back of the home was large enough to fit probably a hundred people.

And the view… There was epic and then there was this.

Rolling mountains, trees capped with snow, and a sky that stretched far and wide. Off to the right, you could see the White Pine Resort, which looked like a small village. Ski runs stretched down the mountain, and lifts ran along them.

Even though the massive windows afforded an unobstructed view, I still slid open one of the sliders and stepped out, breathing in deep the pine and snow-scented air. Stuffing my hands in my pockets, I blew out a breath, watching it puff out in a white cloud in front of my face.

It was a good day to ski.

Behind me, the door glided open, and I smiled, glancing over my shoulder at the white-haired angel coming toward me. He fit in with this place. Pale and alluring, his presence probably the only thing that could compete with the view.

“I got lost coming down from our room,” he muttered, glancing around. “Americans are so extra.”

Grinning, I tugged him in front of me so I could hug him from behind and bury my chilled nose into his neck, making him hiss.

“ Min hund ,” he complained, but he didn’t pull away.

“That’s why I love you so much, angel,” I said, nudging his ear with my lips. “Because you are extra beautiful.”

“Idiot,” he muttered, the accent I loved so much heavy around the insult.

My chest rumbled with amusement, and he spun, looping his arms around my neck and pushing up onto tiptoes. His pale cheeks were pink from the cold.

“You love me,” I refuted.

“ Ja .” He agreed.

Dipping my head, I claimed his lips. He parted instantly, and the cold air rivaled the warmth of our breath, creating an invigorating mixture of hot and cold. Flirting with the tip of his tongue was just a tease, so I swirled them together with enthusiasm, sealing our lips until not even the fresh minty air could slip in.

The snow muffled the sound, the mature pines also buffering the outside world, so while the gray sky seemed endless, it was as if we were cocooned in privacy, a moment stolen in time that was made just for us.

I held Lars so tightly that I felt when his chest expanded, his lungs looking for breath. Gently, I pulled away so we could fulfill our bodies’ demands, but the second he was finished, his lips lifted to mine once more.

Groaning, I wrapped my arms around him, and his hands pushed beneath the hem of the thick sweater I wore. The contact of his frigid digits against my waist made me jolt, and he laughed like the blond hellion he was. I didn’t break the kiss but opened my eyes, meeting his waiting blue ones that danced with amusement.

“My hands are cold.” He spoke into the kiss, dragging the icicles he called fingers around my stomach.

My nipples tightened and a chill ran down my spine, but I didn’t pull away. Instead, I reached between us and pressed them farther against me, rubbing my palms vigorously over the backs of his hands to warm him faster. “Can’t have that now, can we?” I murmured. “I’ll share my warmth with you, angel. Take as much of it as you need.”

He whimpered deep in his throat, pushing his hands around to my back so he could hug my waist, kissing with renewed fervor. My fingers tangled in his platinum hair, kneading against his scalp.

“Your faces are gonna freeze together.” The sardonic and bored voice of my best friend had me pulling away.

Glancing over my shoulder, I smirked. “It’s too hot over here for that.”

Max rolled his eyes. “We going skiing or what?”

“Hell yeah, we are,” I told him. Tugging Lars’s hands from beneath my sweater, I kissed the back of his fingers. “You ready to hit the slopes?”

Lars nodded.

Inside, the entire group was already by the door, loaded down with gear and coats.

“I’m just warning everyone now. I’m a terrible skier. Just stay away from me, or I’ll make you fall down,” Jess told everyone.

“We can go on the bunny hill,” Rory offered. “I haven’t been skiing in a long time.”

Ryan frowned. “Are you wearing your whistle?”

Hilarious he still made her wear that thing.

She scowled from beneath a purple beanie with a large pompom on top. “I’m sure it will be so easy to get to beneath all these layers I have piled on.”

“When we get in the car, take it off and put it in your pocket.”

“Honestly, Ryan, what is that whistle going to do?”

“Did you hear about the time the wife of the famous quarterback Romeo Anderson got lost in the woods on a mountain at BearPaw resort? They sent out a whole-ass manhunt for her,” Jamie said.

“She’s small like you,” Wes put in.

“What does that have to do with me?” Rory wanted to know.

“If she had a whistle, she could have made noise to tell people where she was.”

“But they found her,” Madison supplied.

“Would have found her faster if she was wearing a whistle,” Ryan pointed out.

Rory groaned. “For the love of God, I have the whistle. Can we go now?”

“Maybe Lars can give you ladies some pointers,” Rush suggested.

Beside me, Lars stiffened. “What?”

“Yeah, bro. You’re from Sweden. Isn’t that like the ski capital of the world?” Kruger asked.

“Pretty sure that’s Aspen.” Arsen corrected him.

“Did you ski a lot in Sweden, Lars?” Wes asked. “It is a popular sport there, right?”

“Ja.” Lars agreed in Swedish. After clearing his throat, he said, “It is popular there. And I did ski.”

Rush made a sound. “You said it’s your favorite sport besides swimming.”

I felt my eyebrows rise, and I spun to my boyfriend. “It is? I didn’t know that.”

Lars avoided my eyes.

Rush made a rude sound. “Because I talk to him. You just kiss him.”

Coach made a sound. “You all are slower than a snail on a salted, snowed-in street. If you wanted to talk, you should have done it at breakfast, not while we’re all roasting inside with all this gear on.”

“Sorry, Coach,” Lars said. “We should go.”

“I told you to call me Emmett this week.” His voice was gruff. “Now let’s go.”

Everyone filed out the door and toward the cars.

“We’ll meet at the ski lodge,” Arsen called, opening the passenger door of his G-class for Prism as Jess and Kruger got in the back.

“I can fit eight,” Coach called, unlocking the black Tahoe he’d rented.

Ryan, Rory, Jamie, and Madison went over to get in with Rush, Landry, and Bodhi.

Max palmed the keys to Wes’s Jeep, and Lars, Wes, and I headed in his direction.

In the back seat, I slid toward Lars until our legs were pressed against each other. “How come you never told me skiing was your favorite behind swimming?”

“You never asked.”

“I never asked if you thought I wasn’t an idiot either, but you volunteer that info all the time.”

Up front, Wes snickered.

I shot him a dirty look, then turned back to Lars. “So you skied a lot in Sweden?”

He shrugged. “It snows a lot there. It was something to do.”

“Rush seemed to think you liked it more than just something to do.” I pressed.

“Rush talks a lot,” he mumbled.

I glanced up, catching Max’s eyes in the rearview. It was a brief exchange but enough for me to know he also thought Lars was being weird.

I frowned. “If you don’t want to go skiing today, angel, I’m more than happy to go do something else.”

Lars’s pale eyes shot to me, a current of alarm accompanying their usual electricity.

I didn’t like it. At all. Beneath my beanie, my brows furrowed. “A?—”

“I want to go skiing,” Lars said. “I know you’ve been looking forward to going. And it will be my first time on American slopes.”

Wes poked his head between the front seats to glance at us. “I’ve got to warn you, Lars. My brother is a demon on the slopes.”

“Oh, fuck off, Wes.” I cackled. “You’re just mad you can’t keep up.”

“There’s a difference between keeping up and having a sense of self-preservation.” He smarted off.

“Which is something you normally have none of, so again… can’t keep up,” I ribbed.

“Bet,” Wes snapped.

I laughed. “Hey, Max, you got Wes’s bodyguard following him down the slopes today just in case?”

“Why would he need a bodyguard when I’m here?” Max replied.

“You’re supposed to be on my side.” Wes accused him.

“I am, Nemo, but he has a point.”

Wes gave us the finger.

“So being a demon on the slopes… does that mean you’re bad? Or good?” Lars asked.

Fuck, he was so precious. I loved the way his face creased a little when he was trying to understand American lingo.

“It means I’m so good it’s criminal,” I boasted. I mean, technically, it wasn’t bragging if it was true, right? “If only you’d been available to hit the slopes with me that day in Sweden when I went, you would have seen my skills then.”

“I couldn’t miss practice,” he said, turning to look out the window.

A feeling of unease crawled over the back of my neck. I just couldn’t put my finger on what it was.

The ski lodge came into view, a large two-story wooden structure surrounded by blankets of thick white snow. People milled about everywhere, most dressed for skiing with bright-colored snow pants, boots, and coordinating jackets. Some people were carrying snowboards, others skis. A few had inflated tubes for sledding. It was busy, as we knew it would be because it was winter break, but it only added a bit of excitement to the air.

Max pulled the Jeep into a space near Coach’s Tahoe and Arsen’s G wagon, and we all piled out.

Bodhi immediately climbed on the tire of the Tahoe, practically turning into a spider monkey to get to the roof rack packed with equipment.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing, Goldilocks?” Coach bellowed, blowing the whistle around his neck.

“If Coach can keep his whistle out, so can you,” Ryan told Rory.

“Get down from there,” Coach demanded, grabbing Bodhi by the back of his jacket to pull him off the SUV. “You’re going to hurt yourself.”

Bodhi dropped into Coach’s arms, making him grunt. “I told you to be careful,” he scolded.

“I’m more than capable of getting the skis down,” Bodhi argued.

Coach shook his head. “Rush! Get the skis down.”

“So he can’t get hurt, but I can?” Rush bitched. “I feel the love. Dad .”

“I told you not to call me that until my daughter has a ring on her finger.”

“Not everyone can be husband material like me,” Kruger put in.

They ignored him.

“But you said everyone could call you Emmett for the week. So I figured that meant I could call you dad.”

“No. Now get the skis.”

“Dad,” Landry admonished.

“Stand back, ladybug. Let him earn his keep.”

“Win, give me a hand with these,” Max said, already unlocking the skis from the top of the Jeep.

Bro, of course I have my own skis. Ski god, remember?

“I’ll help,” Lars offered and started forward. I caught the hood of his jacket and pulled him back.

“I got it,” Wes said, moving past me to take them from Max.

Lars muttered some rapid-fire Swedish that I couldn’t keep up with and therefore had no hope of understanding, but even so, I knew it was likely an insult for stopping him.

Normally, I would laugh because his insults were pretty adorable, but, bro, I was not in the laughing mood.

“Lars.”

He stiffened but glared at me defiantly. “Win.”

“Normally, I love getting under your skin and getting you all riled up,” I told him, tugging him around the back of the Jeep to crowd him up against the spare on the back. “But I wasn’t even trying, so that means I did something wrong.”

The annoyance on Lars’s face cleared, and a flash of vulnerability shot through his eyes. Quickly, he glanced away and then back. “You didn’t do anything.”

“Then what’s the matter?”

“Nothing.”

“Don’t lie to me.”

His eyes shot up. “I’m not.”

I caught his chin, my fingers warm against his cool jawline. Leaning in, I kept my voice gentle. “Tell me, angel.”

His shoulders slumped. “I’m just nervous is all.”

I searched his stare. “Nervous about what?”

He glanced away. “I’m not as good of a skier as you. I don’t want you to feel like you have to hang back with me. I don’t want to slow you down.”

I made a sound. “Is that all?” I asked, suspicious.

“What else would there be?” He challenged.

He was right. I mean, everything was perfect back at the chalet. He didn’t start acting off until we were heading out to ski.

“It doesn’t matter, sweetheart,” I told him. “We’re just here to have a good time, okay?”

He nodded.

“Come on!” Rush called from ahead. Everyone was already on their way to the rental and ski pass center.

“Coming!” Lars called back and started forward.

I caught his hand, tangling ours together as we followed the group. “You know I mean that, right, angel?”

“I know,” he replied quietly. “I want to have a good time too.”

After that, we caught up to the others, and the conversation was over.

But still, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something else was going on inside that gorgeous head of his.