Page 7 of Winter's End

Hillary’s face broke into a grin so wide her cheeks were going to burst. “It was genius! You embarrassed our fathers so badly; I thought Stanley was going to have a heart attack right at the altar. Daddy was beside himself, profusely apologizing to the leaving guests and offering them takeout containers for their meal. You would have died!”

She cackled with glee and moved away from me, wrapping her arms around his waist before squeezing the shit out of him, too.

“I can’t figure out why you roped Winter into it, though. Prostitution? Really?” She stepped back from him and wrinkled her nose. “We need to get you out of here. This place smells like sex and your jock strap.”

I wasn’t Christian Grey, so instead I just turned 50 shades of red atthatobservation. Trust Hillary to casually bring up my ultimate moment of weakness, none the wiser to my throbbing cunt and sopping panties in Logan’s pocket.

“It wasn’t a joke, Hill,” Logan murmured softly. His gaze flickered to the officer, desperately appearing to not be listening on the other side of the bars. “We’re going to need to talk. But not here.”

Her delicate, perfectly shaped brows frowned in confusion, but she didn’t question him further. Instead, she transformed from her vivacious self to the cool, collected image she so carefully curated for the public eye.

“Of course,” she agreed smoothly, her tone now one of professional grace.

She looped one arm through mine and squeezed. “Come on,” she mock-whispered. “We can go back to the suite we booked for the night. The lodge is in shambles anyway, after Daddy threw his tantrum.”

We walked down the hall arm in arm, with Logan and the officer trailing behind. Her voice bounced around the deserted space.

“And,” she continued, with a wink, “you can invite your harem. I have a feeling they’ll need an explanation, too.”

Yes, yes, they did. I snuck a glance at Logan as we got into Hillary’s car. As if he could sense my eyes on him, he stared through me as if in challenge, but without his usual cocky broodiness. He looked contemplative, maybe even as confused as I was.

Me and the guys had lots of confessions to make.

CHAPTER 3

SHANE

My knee wouldn’t stop bouncing as I drove back to Spruce Acres Mountain Chalet, the original scene of the crime.

Well, today’s crime.

Winter’s text had done nothing to calm me; her cryptic message had only riled me up even more.

Snow:We’re released. Can you and the guys meet us at the lodge? We’re going to need a group chat.

The guys and I had been waiting for six hours, not having a sweet fucking clue what was going on. I’d expected the Lane-Eccles wedding to be the spectacle of the century in Cascade Falls, but an FBI showdown wheremy best friend was hauled off to a secret jail cell was not what I’d bargained for.

Secret, because the first place we’d gone once we finally could make it out of the chaos of the wedding hall, was the Sheriff’s Department, where no one had a remote idea of what we were talking about. I couldn’t even lean on Aunt Donna, who was just as baffled as the front clerk.

If there hadn’t been over 300 witnesses and Winter and Logan hadn’t disappeared, I’d swear we’d all shared a lucid dream. Or the same acid trip.

I had been out of my freaking mind with worry, and I wasn’t faring much better now. Watching her barely concealed panic attack as the Rambo lookalike agent forced her out of the room in cuffs had been enough to break me. The agonizing terror at the thought of anything happening to her was all too familiar.

Drew sat beside me in the passenger seat, equally silent and concerned, watching the dark trees fly by as I sped up the mountain road. Cam and Travis sat in the back seat; Cam, his usually stoic self, and Travis uncharacteristically still.

It was like we were all headed to our mother’s funeral.

I parked at the lodge, and we rushed into the building, now in shambles. All that money flushed down the toilet bowl like it might as well have been shitty ass-paper.

Oh, well, not my money. When I got married, it’d be at the base of Mt. Everest or on the crest of a waterfall. Something epic.

I snuck a look at Drew when his hand accidentally brushed mine as we walked side-by-side down the corridor to the bridal suite. We’d had no time to really talk about what happened between us at Haven’s Head, but I wanted to. I also wanted to do it again. With my Snow between us in our hot-man sandwich.

Since that hotter than hell moment, I couldn’t stop visualizing the look on Winter’s face when she came. How she bit her lip and thrust against her fingers, watching me hold Drew’s cock in my palm. My heart was literally dissolving at the thought of losing her.

I would not deny my feelings for her any longer.

I pounded my fists on the large door at the end of the hall, surprised when it swung inward immediately.

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