Page 28 of Can I Tell You Something?
“French onion soup.” Ryan and I say at exactly the same time.
“A most excellent plan,” Mum says. “I think Dad and I will join you.”
“Is this magic soup or something?” Cameron laughs, loading his plates into the dishwasher.
“The French onion soup at The Marmot is an event, Cameron,” Mum explains. “We take a telecabin lift to the top of the mountain and ski back down after lunch.”
“Do you think I’ll be able to handle it, teach?” Cameron says, dropping his hand on my shoulder as he stands behind me. My eyes shoot up towards Ryan, who’s thankfully too busy looking at his phone to notice, then to Mum, who has her back turned as she clears the table. Cameron sweeps his thumb up the side of my neck and a shiver rolls through me.
I am so fucked.
Then he’s gone, lifting his hand to walk around to the other side of the table. I keep my head down but coast my eyes up at him. God, he’s cute, his hair all mussed up, his stubble a little more rugged than usual. I wonder if he got any sleep, or if thoughts similar to mine kept him awake.
“It’s a red run home, but I think you’ll manage if you take it slow.”
“What if I want to go fast?” he says with a wink so sexy it should be illegal. “What do they say, go hard or go home? I want to go hard today.”
‘What are you doing?’I mouth, my thighs pressing together underneath the table.
‘What?’he mouths back and shrugs, like he’s not flirting with me right in front of my entire family. He fishes his phone from his pocket and, a few seconds later, mine lights up on the table beside me.
I grab it and swipe open the notification.
Cam:I can’t stop thinking about last night. Can we find some time alone today?
Oh shit.I don’t know how to play this.
“We could get a few runs in this morning and meet everyone there for lunch?”
“Sounds great.” He steps behind Ryan and gives his shoulders a squeeze. “You joining us, man?”
“Nah, bro, gonna meet up with Kayla before her classes this morning.”
“Oh, what a shame,” Cameron says, staring right at me with a wolfish grin on his face. “Hannah, are you coming?”
This is torture.
Chapter 19
Hannah
“Thisisabadidea.Youare a bad idea,” I whisper loudly, stomping away from the house as quickly as my ski boots allow.
“What did I do?”
“Flirting in front of my brother, sneaking around, looking at me like you’re thinking about me naked. You’re not very subtle.”
”Iamthinking about you naked, but nobody knows except you. Your brother has barely stopped looking at his phone since he got home. And anyway…” he says, throwing his arm around my shoulder. “Isn’t there something kind of hot about sneaking around?”
The penny drops. Of course, that’s all he sees me as, someone to sneak around with. A quick and dirty fling. I shrug him off and march on towards the lift at the base station at the end of our road. “Someone might see us.”
“So what?”
So what? Is he serious?
I don’t sneak around with men, and certainly not while my parents are in the same house. I know I’m freaking out, but I’m still getting used to the fact that Cameron is even here in my presence, let alone hitting on me and touching me whenever he wants. It feels like I’m a pathetic little fan girl and I’m sure I won’t be the first listener he’s been intimate with.
The crowds are bigger today and we push our way onto the packed telecabin, jostling with armpits, backpacks, skis and snowboards to find some space. Cameron loops his arm around my shoulders and pulls me into his body. I let him hold me there as the doors close and we sweep out of the station and up the mountain.
