Page 9 of Spoil
“That’s good. I was getting a sore neck.”
I laugh. He climbs in after me, and I make no such attempt not to check him out. I swear he flexes a little extra, just for me, as he steps into the hot water.
And we proceed to talk for hours. We talk about what sports he did growing up, how he’s a river raft guide in this town during the spring and summer seasons. How my dad struggled as a lumber salesman to put food on our table, but then got promoted, and things started to feel easy. How, when I was little, if I asked him for anything, I would get a long, belabored sigh in response. How I understood how hard my dad worked and how tight money was. I learned to be unbothersome, so I didn’t add to his worries.
How I was excited to have a stepmom and sisters at first, but how they would act cold or indifferent toward me when my dad wasn’t around. So, I learned to lower my expectations. I couldn’tforcethem to love me. I couldn’tforcethem to like me. And I’d grown up without a mom and sisters, so it wasn’t very different from before.
He slid closer to me during this confession, so we were sitting side-by-side but not touching.
We avoided the topic of his sister and parents, opting to keep things light.
“What do you want to be when you grow up?” he asks. There must be an art to carrying on conversations, because I find my throat almost sore from talking so much, but he’s not slowing down a bit. He always has a comment, a question, or arelatable story that keeps the conversation flowing between us effortlessly.
Hours flow by effortlessly as we get to know more about each other. He’s funny, witty, smart, and charismatic to a fault.
I blush a little and look down. “I know this sounds stupid,” but as I look back up at him, I know he won’t judge me. He hasn’t judged a single thing I’ve talked about. “I want to be a stay-at-home mom,” I confess.
“Funny, I’ve always wanted a stay-at-home mom.”
And I laugh effortlessly, smacking him on his chest with the back of my hand. He catches it before I can remove it and holds it there.
“Seriously, I think that’s great.”
“I just never had a mother. And I think it would be the greatest job in the world. I just don’t know if it’ll ever happen for me. I’d need to find a partner who wouldn’t mind that I didn’t bring in an income. We’d have to be on the same page, and he’d have to make enough for both of us. It’s a tall order,” I say with a shrug. “And I think it’ll be hard to find.”
He catches my eye. “You’ll find him. And you’ll pop out half a dozen kids. And be ridiculously happy. It’s what you deserve.”
He kisses the back of my knuckles, and my blush deepens.
I get shy at my confession, his complete faith in me, and the feel of his soft lips on my hand.
He grabs my calf underwater and drags it to his lap, and motions for me to spin to give him the other one. He starts massaging my calves.
“How are your legs feeling?”
“Much better. Thank you.” I’m about to ask how long we’ve been in the hot tub. My fingers are pruney enough, and it seems like the sun is very close to setting. But being in the mountains means the sun sets earlier than it normally would in DC.
He moves to the arches of my feet, and I rest my head back on the side of the hot tub, closing my eyes. I moan long and low. And then something wet and cold lands on my face. I open my eyes to find it snowing.
I gasp. It’s beautiful, and I watch as snowflakes fall around us, gently jostled by the breeze. It’s like our hot tub has been put into a snow globe, and the magic of it overwhelms me.
“God, this was just the best day,” I whisper, watching the snow fall around Daniel, before it lands on his cheeks and shoulders and instantly melts.
But he’s already looking at me.
Deep brown eyes implore me to understand him. “Yes. It is.”
Chapter six
Daniel
Ican hear them before I can see them. More ski patrol and instructors just got off their shift, and had the same idea we did.
That means it’s six.
That means she’s about to leave.
I can’t let her leave.
