Page 41 of My Three Mountain Men

Through my peripheral vision, I saw my cousin offer me a pitying look, but I refused to meet his gaze. I was worried if I did, I might fully lose it. He was right, after all. Simone had every reason to want to leave. I was selfish for wanting her to stay. It was my own fault for getting too attached in the first place. I should have never allowed it to happen.

Brooks ultimately retreated from my room, and I jumped into the warm water, allowing the scraps of fallen hair to snake down the drain until my body was scrubbed clean and the steam diminished to nothing.

Turning off the faucet, I grabbed a plush black towel and patted myself off. I almost jumped out of my skin when I ambled back into my bedroom to find Simone lying on my bed. She flipped onto her side, propping her head on the flat of her palm when I entered, and a fusion of emotions rushed through me to see her there.

“You’re making yourself a little too comfortable around here,” I grumbled.

“You’re starting to sound like Ryder,” she retorted, sitting up, a hurt look shadowing her eyes. “You and Brooks are in my room all the time.”

A wry grin fell over my lips. “Point taken.”

I let the towel fall away from my hips, and she eyed my package approvingly, but I could see she hadn’t come there for entertainment—at least not in naked form.

“Have you tried to get online lately?”

The question killed any potential for sex, anyway.

“No… why?” I asked suspiciously.

Shrugging, she slid to the edge of the bed, swinging her legs off. “I just wanted to know if there were any updates on me. If anyone was looking for me.”

My jaw twitched, and I turned to pull a pair of boxers out of my dressers roughly, slamming the door with slightly more force than necessary. But if Simone noticed, she made no comment.

“Can’t you just accept the fact that you’re stuck here?”

“I thought I had,” she muttered. “But it sounds like Ryder hasn’t.”

Why had I told her? I’d just opened up a brand-new can of worms.

“There’s no point in trying to get online. The internet is fried while the snow is so heavy. When it starts to melt a bit, we might be in business.”

I slid into my underwear and located a pair of trackpants, feeling Simone’s inquisitive eyes on me. “Would it kill us to keep trying?”

“YES!” I exploded, whirling around.

She drew back, blinking in shock, and I inhaled sharply. “You’re giving yourself false hope. Never mind what Ryder said. He’s the one getting cabin fever. I’ll talk to him.”

She didn’t look convinced, but she didn’t push the issue, either.

Instead, she rose and gave me a half smile, but I caught the gleam beneath it.

She’s going to go to Brooks and ask him now. I can’t have that.

The truth was, there were still times when the internet could possibly come on, even when the snow was crushing down on everything with all its weight. But I couldn’t have Simone calling out.

She couldn’t leave us. We had already lost too much. Of course, she would always be free to make her own decisions, but I wanted her to stay—even if it was only for another month or two.

Or forever…

“I’m going to make dinner. I was thinking of making your favorite veggie lasagna,” she said.

My chest tightened, and I struggled not to show her how much it meant to me that she remembered.

“Ryder and Brooks won’t be happy about it,” I muttered.

“They’ll survive one night a week without meat,” she chuckled, kissing me on the cheek before making her way toward the door. “By the way, your haircut is quite dashing.”

I grinned at her. “Maybe you have a future in hairstyling if influencing doesn’t work out.”

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