Page 45 of The Lodge

“It looks disgusting.”

“Haven’t you ever heard that you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, Alix?”

“First of all, that’s no book. And second, if it were and it looked like that, I would absolutely judge it becauseclearlyno one loved it enough to keep it from drowning in a muddy swamp.”

His smile is contagious as he tears off another piece, dips it in, and holds it out to me.

“C’mon, you should try it. Just a bite.”

He’s looking at me with those gorgeous eyes, grinning like he knows there’s no way I could possibly say no.

“Okay, fine. But if I hate it, I’m holding you personally responsible.”

And if that’s not an empty threat, I don’t know what is, but I take the soggy pretzel piece and try it.

“Mmmmmphhhhkgh,” I mumble, in undeniable culinary heaven.

“That good?” he says with a playful smirk.

I close my eyes, finish the bite.

“You have ruined me for all other pretzels for the rest of my life.”

“When I say something’s good,” he says, with a pointed look that heats me up from the inside out, “you can trust me.”

The thing is, I really feel like I can.

A few more bites of cocoa pretzels later, and he turns to me, eyes full of stars.

“Ready?”

“Are you sure that wasn’t the main event?” I ask. “Because it could’ve been.”

He grins. “Follow me.”

We turn down a path I haven’t taken before, one that leads away from the lodge and the village and toward the mountain. The slopes closed hours ago, so I have no idea where he could possibly be taking me.

I’m even more confused when we arrive at one of the gondola landings.

It looks very, very closed.

As in, the only light on—other than the lampposts on the path we took to get here—is a small, red emergency button.

“I know what you’re thinking, but trust me. This is going to besoworth it.”

He pulls a key card from his back pocket, holds it up to the sensor beside the control booth door. There’s a hum as the lock releases, but I just stare.

“You’ve got a key—to the gondola lift?”

He grins. “I’ve got a key toeverywhere.”

An all-access key to the entire lodge? To the entiremountain?

Julie must have a lot of faith in him.

“And Julie’s okay with you just, like—using the lift after hours?”

“Julie’s the one whotaughtme how to use the lift after hours,” he says, grinning. “Jules and her brother and I used to hang out up at the scenic point all the time. The stars are next-level up there.”

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