Date Me Like You Mean It

“Maddie, look at me,” Aiden insists.

“I can’t.”

“Hey, yes you can. We’re already halfway done. Look at me.”

I peel my eyes open to see Aiden crouched in front of me, his eyes level with mine. His hands are on my legs, squeezing my thighs through my jeans.

His green eyes are all I see.

“You’re okay,” he assures me.

“I want to get out,” I plead again, darting a quick glance to my left. My stomach drops when I see how high up we are now. “I can’t believe I thought I could do this. I can’t. It was a horrible idea and I’d like this torture ride to end now.”

“It’s just a gondola,” Brent says, and I pierce him with my gaze.

OH THANK YOU, BRENT, I DID NOT REALIZE IT WAS JUST A GONDOLA. ALL OF MY FEARS ARE ASSUAGED.

“Hey,” Aiden says, bringing my attention back to him. “Remember that time we went to Serranos in Austin and I dared you to eat the serrano pepper they bring out with the fajitas?”

The memory instantly makes me smile.

“I did it.”

“Yeah, you did it—and it was super hot. You kept saying your mouth was on fire, so they had to bring you a glass of milk. When I made you laugh, the milk came out of your nose.”

I’m laughing now, remembering it. I was so embarrassed I wouldn’t let our waiter clean up the mess; I did it myself.

There’s a heavy clink of metal from above us and then we’re swept into the unloading zone. Aiden takes my mittened hand firmly in his and tugs me out of the cabin after him.

The moment I’m back on solid ground, I breathe a sigh of relief and extricate my hand from his. He stands near me, trying to catch my gaze, but I turn back in time to watch my sister step out of the next cabin with Ford and James.

“Oh my gosh!” Jolie says. “Weren’t the views amazing?!”

Aiden doesn’t say a word about my freak-out as I head over to grab Ford. It’s nice having him here both because he’s a cute baby and because he’s a good distraction from the others.

We turn to head toward the top of the mountain. It’s more developed than I was expecting considering how high up we are. There’re a few overlooks where you can pose for photos. Skiers and snowboarders head off in one direction, toward the start of the slopes, and everyone else heads toward the main complex that houses a cluster of restaurants and shops.

Before we go inside, Jolie insists we all walk over to one of the lookouts so we can pose for a photo.

“Everyone smile!” she prompts, after handing her phone off to a kind tourist who volunteered to take the picture of us.

I stand beside Brent, holding Ford, and I smile as big as I can, wondering how long it will take Aiden to realize I’m a total fraud and a liar, liar, pants on fire.Chapter ThirteenAidenMaddie needed me on the gondola, and I was there for her. Now that we’re on the top of the mountain and she’s no longer so scared she can’t see straight, I’ve gone back to being invisible. I could whip off my jacket and pants and run around butt naked in the snow and I doubt she’d bat an eyelash.

I find it interesting that we’re playing this game. I figured she’d bring me back into the fold as soon as we were reunited and Brent would get kicked to the curb.

I was wrong.

They pose together for a picture in front of the snowy mountain backdrop, and Jolie insists they scoot in closer together. Brent wraps his arm around Maddie’s waist and tugs her toward him. She laughs, and I roll my eyes.

This is getting out of hand. I need information. They can’t be serious or I would have heard about them through the grapevine. My brother would have let something slip about Maddie being in a relationship, so that means this is new. New is good. New is easily destructible. One flick of the finger and they’ll topple over like a house of cards.

Huh. I had no clue I was such a diabolical villain.

After they’re done posing, I scoot in next to Brent as we head inside, toward the restaurant.

“Where did you say you and Maddie met?”

His eyes shift over to her as if looking for backup, but she’s busy with Ford. He’s on his own with me.

“Oh, through friends.”

“Romantic.”

He laughs awkwardly.

“And you two hit it off pretty quick?”

He starts to fiddle with his gloves, tugging them up higher. They’re just fine where they are. He’s nervous. He doesn’t like me examining their relationship too closely.

Why?

“Yeah, I mean it was pretty quick. She’s exactly my type.”

“How so?”

He frowns, obviously taken aback by my hard line of questioning.

I laugh and clap him on the back, hard. “I’ve known Maddie a while—you’ll forgive me for wanting to cover all the bases. She doesn’t have a big brother, so I doubt anyone’s really looked you over with a fine-tooth comb.”