Page 17 of The Mountain
I’m so caught up in the memory of her, that I’m halfway down the hallway before I realize she’s standing in front of me.
“Eddie!” My name comes out in a surprised squeak. She clutches a towel around her body, steam billowing out from the open bathroom door at her back. “Holy crap, you scared me.”
My mind completely blanks.
Brown hair drips over her shoulders, water droplets beading on honey-colored skin. There’s the faintest of pale strips running over her collar bones, a tan line dipping tantalizingly to the rounded tops of her breasts, then beneath her towel. My eyes follow those lines, fingers twitching at my sides as I imagine peeling away that towel, seeing the contrast of pale and dark flesh. Would her nipples be pale, or dark? Would the little nubs peak at the rush of cold air? Would her skin be hot beneath my touch?
I blink, then drag one hand over my face, feeling not quite embarrassed, but maybe something close to that. “Sorry,” I say, lifting my eyes back up to her face, grinning. I’m not sorry though. Not really.
Lily snorts out a laugh, then shakes her head, like she didn’t expect anything different from me. Which is probably fair,considering the first thing I did when I met her was stare directly at her boobs.
“Let me get dressed.” She gives a small smile, then pushes past me to her room, momentarily filling my nostrils with the scent of clean skin and shampoo. My eyes follow her, drinking in her exposed back, the lines of her legs, the thigh muscles shifting under the towel as she walks. And yes. The shape of her ass.
Which is exactly when the other guys come barreling into the condo, bringing in a flurry of cold air, shucking off jackets and kicking off boots. Just in time to see me staring at Lily’s towel-clad ass.
“Oh, hi guys!” Lily shoots them a smile around her doorframe. From where I’m standing, I can see every single one of their faces light up at the sight of her, all the tiredness and irritation from before melting away like ice under the summer sun. “I’ll be right out.”
And then she’s closing the door behind her, and all their eyes turn to me instead.
Liam lifts one brow, gray eyes dancing with a mixture of mirth and condemnation. “You got inside fast,” he comments. “Did you sprint up the steps?”
I curl my lip at him and flip him off. He chuckles. It’s not a friendly sound.
“For someone not interested in dating the same girl as us, you seemed incredibly comfortable checking out her ass.” He bends to untie his boots, a slow calculated movement that reminds me of some predator crouching to pounce.
My uncle has this border collie. A sleek, whip of a dog that’s all limbs and ears and tail. It doesn’t look like much, until you see it working. That’s when it comes to life, slinking and crouching, silent as a shark circling its prey. The sheep move for that dog like their very lives depend on it, like maybe they think it can shoot laser beams from its eyes or some shit.
Staring at Liam, I feel a little bit like one of my uncle’s sheep.
“Who said I’m not interested in dating her?” I hiss.
Because I thought I made it pretty fucking clear that I am interested in her. I just don’t want the rest of them dating her too.
I give Liam a calculated smirk, then add: “It’s not like you have any claim over her anyway.” I keep my voice low, conscious that Lily is just on the other side of the door. “Matty is the only one dating her. And maybe I wouldn’t mind sharing withhim. Maybe it could just be the three of us, and the rest of you guys can all fuck off.”
“Putain,” Antoine grumbles, shaking his head. “Is he always such a child?”
Liam laughs, an open-mouthed laugh that has me startling. I’m not sure when I last heard him laugh. Not like that. “Eddie…” He shakes his head, rising to his feet, brushing his palms over his jeans. “That’s never going to happen. You know why?”
He steps forward, moving into my space, his smile unfaltering. I don’t move back, because if I’ve learned one thing in my time as a mouthy scrapper, it’s to never back down from a fight. Especially when your opponent is bigger than you.
“Because you and I both know you don’t have the balls to make a move on Lily, let alone ask her out. Shit, she kissed you and you went and hid for a week. So the chances of you locking Lily down or whatever it is you’re thinking of—yah, it’s not going to happen, mate.”
The breath rushes out of me, my chest tightening. He might as well have punched me straight in the solar plexus.
I glare at him, my mind racing for some witty retort to throw back at him. Nothing comes, and I momentarily contemplate punching him in the face. But I can’t seem to lift my fist, even though it’s clenched tight at my side and anger is rushing through me, hot and fast.
Because he’s right. Even the thought of giving her a hug or holding her hand is fucking terrifying. How the fuck am I supposed to ask for something more—for a relationship or commitment or whatever the fuck it is you do when you’re stone-cold sober and want something more than a one-night stand?
Shit. Would she even want that with me? Somehow, I doubt it. Especially not if she had all the facts. If she knew what a minefield I am. If she knew how uncertain a future with me would be.
The door opens, and Liam steps back. The silence stretching between us is suddenly heavy, tense as pine boughs under wet snow, like wood ready to snap.
“Everything okay?” Lily asks, glancing warily between me and Liam. Behind Liam, Seth, Antoine, and Matty stand like sentries. Like they’re part of a unit already, some group that I don’t belong to.
Behind me, there’s only the darkness of the unlit hallway, stretching back like suppressed memories.
The squeak of shoes on linoleum. The beeping of machines. The pinch of the IV line. Tubes in my chest, in my nose, down the back of my throat. Helplessness and exhaustion. Mum in the corner reading her book, circles under her eyes.
