Page 10 of See You Next Winter
“Come on, you know I’ll make it so good for you,” he says, reading my mind. “We have a lot of time to make up for, and I’ll do whatever shit you’ve been dreaming up, nasty girl.”
I nearly choke on my drink and slam my mug down on the counter. “Don’t shame me!”
“Hey, hey,” he says, twisting me to lift my legs into his lap. I almost topple backwards and grab his arm to steady myself. “I would never, ever shame you. You know I think you’re the hottest thing I’ve ever seen. It’s an honour to fuck you.”
“Damn right it is. Now get out of here before I change my mind.”
I climb down and snatch up our mugs, not caring he’s only had half of his hot chocolate. He watches me tip both down the sink and looks at me like I’m insane, but I hold my ground and point to the door.
“Out.”
“I can’t stay over?”
“Absolutely not. That was the deal. No sleepovers, no one gets caught.”
“But I've stayed over before? And there’s nobody here.” He has a point, but everything is different now. The last time he stayed over, he walked out of my life.
I can’t get it straight in my head, and I need some time to think without him crowding my home and my thoughts.
He closes the space between us with caution, carefully reaching for my hands. The gentle touch of him slipping his fingers between mine.
“Kayla, everyone knows about us. They have for years.”
“It’s different now. I live here full time, I work here, I have a life. Please allow me the dignity of not looking like I fell straight back in with you because you deigned to grace us with your presence this Christmas.”
With all my might, I shove him down the hallway to my front door, grab his jacket from the hook, and press it into his hands.
“Besides, I have a touring gig at ten and if you stay over, I know you’ll keep me up all night.”
“But what about the pact? We agreed—” I pinch his lips between my thumb and forefinger before he can say another word.
“I know what we agreed, but you’re fucking with my head, and you need to go.” I can feel his tongue trying to push out and lick me and I want to laugh so hard, the way only this particular idiot ever makes me laugh.
With my other hand, I open the door and barge him over the threshold. He shoves back, hooking one ankle around my leg and trying to pull him with me. His easy laugh tumbles out of him, and I’ve missed it so much I almost stop. Flirting with him is always so playful and fun.
God, it would be so easy to switch tactics and push him in the other direction. A little naked wrestling in my bedroom wouldn’t be a badway to burn off this nervous energy that is one hundred percent his fault.
He hip-checks me, his hands trying to loosen my grip on his waist, but I’ll never let him win this one. Thanks to my days spent cruising the mountain, I’m in the best physical shape of my life. He might be taller and wider than me, but California and a desk job have made him soft.
I extend my leg behind me to kick his boots, one, then the other, through the door and down the hallway. One teeters on the lip of the stairs then topples over the edge, drawing his attention long enough for me to slam the door behind him.
Breathless, I rest my back against it, wondering what the fuck I’m playing at. I’ve never wanted anything more than I want him, and I’m thrilled he’s here. So why am I sending him away?
“I’m coming to see you before you head up the mountain,” he yells from the other side of the door.
“Don’t promise me shit,” I yell back.
“I’ll be there, Bunny. I swear.”
Chapter 7
Ryan
Two Winters Ago / Age Twenty-Six
My weekly calls forHannah started as a need for proof of life when a break-up sent her spiraling, but now she's the one who chases me.
“Mum and Dad will be so disappointed,” she says.
