Starlee's Home (The Wayward Sons 3)

“I love that you think I have any control over my body right now,” I laugh, planting the pikes of my poles in the ground.

“Babe,” he says, pulling down his goggles. “You’ve got control over my body, all the time.”

He pushes off and starts down the slope, his pace slow, leaving me with my jaw dropped and feeling overheated.

When we meet at the bottom of the slope for lunch, and a pang hits me in the chest when I see Jake and Christina coming in around the same time. From a distance, Claire and I stand by one another as he racks his equipment and we watch the little snow bunny plow toward him. His eyes pop wide but he holds out his hands to stabilize her. She giggles and touches him in return. Innocently, of course.

“Gag,” Claire says, rolling her eyes. “You know she’s won like, ten competitions. She knows how to ski.”

Jake makes no move to return her attention, but by the time he walks over my blood is boiling so hot that I’m surprised there’s not a puddle of snow melted around my feet.

“Hey babe,” he says, walking up. “The guys here?”

“Inside,” I say in a clipped tone. Claire raises her eyebrow.

Food takes precedence over my irritation. I don’t know if I’ve ever been so hungry. The boys pile their trays high with food from the cafeteria and even the watered-down hot chocolate tastes good. Margaret comes to sit with us and we warm up for the second half of the day. My arms and legs already ache, but everyone was right; it is fun and I don’t want to stop.

“So this is where you guys work?” Claire asks the twins.

“Kind of,” Charlie replies after swallowing a mouthful of pizza crust. “We work down in the lodge. My dad is the head building engineer. He got us jobs.”

“We do get lift tickets once a week and a few perks, like an employee discount,” George adds.

“So it’s not so bad?” Margaret asks.

George shrugs and Charlie shoves food in his mouth again.

“It’s no Wayward Sun, amirite?” George says, breaking the silence. “Getting up at dawn. Making coffee. Listening to Dexter’s shitty music all, freaking, day.”

“Hey! I listen to the classics,” Dex says.

“I know you and your sister like that stuff, but some days I need to listen to something created after 1978.”

“I know you’re not talking about Zeppelin.”

The boys fall into their typical banter and I sit back, sipping my diluted hot chocolate and reveling in not just the warmth of the room, but the moment. I miss times like this, when we’re all just hanging out.

While we’re cleaning up our table, I notice Claire take Jake to the side. She’s talking—fast—her hands moving as she speaks. Jake listens, his face impassive. I know the two of them have a connection from when they’re younger. Part of me hopes Claire’s telling him to push Christina off the side of the mountain.

On the way back to grab our skis, I tug her jacket. “What was that all about with Jake?”

“I’ve been thinking of a good way to get Christina to back off. Like digging deep in the vault.” She touches her temple. “It got me thinking about how she trades in dirt and gossip. There has to be something between the two of us we can use to get her to back the fuck off.”

“As much as I want to say she doesn’t bother me, she does. It’s not just the flirting. I trust Jake.” I tug on my gloves. “It’s the fact she doesn’t even understand what she did wrong.”

Claire nods. “She never does.”

As we get ready, I can’t help but notice Jake heading off on his own. His mouth is a firm line of determination. The last thing I want is for him to ruin his day, worry about that girl, but at the same time, it’s time to put an end to it.

14

Jake

I bide my time, pretending to fix the latch on my boot, before easing into the line for the lift. I manage to get in right behind Christina and her friends. It only takes her a minute to realize I’m back there and without fail, her eyes light up like a predator narrowing in on prey.

When it’s her turn to get on the lift chair she stumbles, managing to miss. She reacts by laughing and calling out to Stacy, “I’m sorry!”

The attendant says, “Hop up on this one. He’s riding solo.”