Page 24 of Ski You Later
“Then I had this whole moment of panic if I should go through your purse and find your house keys or just take you back to my house. In the end, I was exhausted and overwhelmed, so I just brought you here.” He rubs the back of his neck, and his body language conveys how unsure he was of his decision.
Without a doubt in my mind, I get up on my knees and wrap my arms around his neck. Words don’t seem like enough as I express my gratitude. “Thank you so much, Roman.”
He hasn’t moved under me, but I feel his hand lightly pat my back after his shock wears off. I chuckle at his awkwardness and pull back to my side of the floor bed, with my tailbone only giving an uncomfortable twinge now.
His face is beet red, and the blush only intensifies when he looks in my direction. I suppress my smile at his adorable behaviour and decide to put him out of his misery. “Your turn,” I say casually.
Collecting himself, he answers right away, as if he’s already planned out these questions. “Why do you not like your cousin?”
His innocent question doesn’t fool me. I have a feeling I was blabbering last night, and Roman’s now trying to put together a puzzle.
“We don’t get along,” I reply quickly.
“Too vague,” he counters immediately.
“I don’t want to tell you,” I say defensively.
“I didn’t want to go out drinking last night, but sometimes we don’t get what we want.”
I glare at him, and the fact that he just made a really good point. “Jasmine and I have never gotten along, but things got much worse when I caught her sleeping with my boyfriend.” I keep my tone neutral, since I don’t let the situation cause me discomfort anymore. But I can’t help my laugh as I look at Roman’s face.
He’s able to school his features better than anyone I know, so seeing his jaw drop completely is very amusing. I can tell I’ve thrown him off greatly with this information, as his face looks as though I’ve slapped him.
At first, I kept the situation quiet because I was so embarrassed. I couldn’t even imagine leaving my house for the first week after I found them. But, as time passed, I just stopped caring.
Revealing the details to everyone would only bring more attention to me, and that’s the last thing I want.
The best revenge I can think of at this point is bringing a loving partner to this family wedding, but that’s out of the question for me.
The next best thing is faking a loving partner, and that’s much more doable.
“It’s your question now,” he says. It’s obvious he wants to ask more, but the fact that he’s not prying is a relief to me.
“Why were you sleeping on the floor?” Thinking about him sleeping on the hard floor all night made me cringe, and I had to know why.
He looks up at me immediately, his facial expression seems like he knows a funny joke that I don’t. “Oh, I tried my very best to give you the bed and go sleep downstairs. You weren’t having it.” He tries to keep his voice level, but a chuckle works its way in as he keeps talking. “I had my work cut out for me on that one. You barely let me sleep with my shirt on, let alone downstairs.”
If I could choose a moment to disappear, it would be right now. “Shut up. That didn’t happen,” I say defensively.
“Oh, it really did. And I hate to break it to you, Langley, but it was hilarious.”
I fall on my side, covering my face with my hands as I process his words.
“I’m so, so, sorry, Roman,” I whine.
As I highly debate moving out of the country, his hands lightly grip my wrists and pull my hands away.
“Hey, no, no. It’s okay, you weren’t yourself.” I see him give me a reassuring smile as he looks down at me on the floor. “If anything, it made me feel very handsome. So, thank you.”
It’s strange; his behaviour towards me has been so kind lately, and I have no idea why. No matter, he has made me feel nothing but safe this past week, and for that, I’m thankful.
I nod in his direction, feeling better as I sit up and indicate that it’s his turn.
He hesitates before he asks, eyeing me up curiously before he speaks. I brace myself for this one, sensing there’s one more thing he hasn’t figured out yet.
“My question is, what’s the deal with your cousin’s wedding?”
CHAPTER 10
