Finn.
Chapter 8
Finn
I spent the rest of the day thinking about Chloe. There wasn't another time in my life that I could pinpoint the desire to hunt some girl down just for the chance to see her again. The good thing was that I knew she would be in Aspen for another two weeks, the bad thing was that I didn't have her last name. There was no smart way to go about finding her.
The only option was to haunt the slopes she'd been on as often as I could. Surely, she would show back up.
A smile lifted my lips as I finished getting dressed and walked into the kitchen for a quick sip of water. My place was only a few miles from my father’s, which was on purpose. He wasn't getting old just yet, but if he needed me for anything, I wanted to be available quickly.
My studio log cabin was far too small for two people, but it was just me and I didn't see my relationship status changing anytime soon. Besides, the only girl I wanted wasn't up for grabs and wouldn't be around to change her mind, anyway.
I brushed my hands down the front of my dark blue button up shirt and made sure my jeans and boots were clean.
"Alright. Let's go have fun being the designated driver." I rolled my eyes and grabbed my keys, not quite sure why I signed up for the job, but I did. My father had been more generous than I'd expected when I told him what I'd be up to. He was letting me borrow one of the fifteen passenger vans for the evening.
After stopping by the shop to get it, I drove to Brian's and picked him up first. The rest of the guys were staying at the Sheraton downtown – seemed everyone was doing better financially than me. I couldn't afford half a night at the Sheraton, but dwelling on it was too depressing.
"Hey, buddy. Looking good." Brian got into the front seat of the van and popped me in the chest.
"Thanks, bro. Not too shabby yourself." I glanced at him and nodded to the window. "Fix that side mirror for me. Something hit it and it's crooked."
"Yeah, sure." He rolled the window down and I floored it, causing the snow from the window and hood to fly back, a good chunk of it hitting him in the face.
"You fucker!" He jerked back in the van as we both laughed like teenagers.
My father swore that we were the dumbest idiots ever, but it only got worse when we were together. He was my best friend and the only one from our group that still lived in Aspen. We had decided years ago that going out to look for women together wasn't at all beneficial. We were childish when together, and they all seemed to realize that.
"Tonight should be fun." I let out another laugh and turned toward the city lights. "Don't push any women on me. I'm taking December off."
"Off? What the hell does that mean?" He wiped at his shirt and pants as the snow began to melt. I turned the heater up and reached over, pulling a chunk of ice from his collar and slinging it at him.
He moved across the front seat like he was going to tackle me, and I swerved the van, scaring him.
"Hey, stay over there, you behemoth," I growled and swatted at him.
Brian had twenty pounds on me, but he wore it well. He wasn't nearly the man whore I was, but looking good was something he always seemed to care about.
"I'm going to get you back for that shit. I'm going to hand out your number to the whole damn room tonight. That should go over well." He snorted and gave me a shit-eating grin.
"Yeah, I've probably been with most of them." I let out a sigh. "This is why going to the club sounds like a good idea until we actually do it."
"Shut up about your problem of having too many women want you. No one is interested in that shit." He ran his fingers through his brown hair once more and turned to pin me with a hard stare. "Talk. What's up with you giving up women for most of December? This a new thing, like no-shave November? I don't like it. Count me out."
"No, you idiot. I'm just tired of waking up next to a different woman every morning." I shrugged, wishing I hadn't brought it up.
"Yeah, that sounds horrible. How about you take my problem of not finding one who will actually give me ten minutes of her time and I'll beat back the ones that want you for a while. Your arms getting tired?"
"Very funny." I stopped in front of the hotel. "No saying anything to the other guys, just deflect for me tonight. I'm serious about not taking a girl home."
"I'll believe it when I see it." He got out of the van and jogged toward the hotel as I leaned back against the seat.
What were the odds of finding Chloe? I would break the rules for her in a heartbeat. Just the thought of her caused my body to stiffen as need began to pulsate along my pressure points.
"Where are you, baby?" I closed my eyes as a smile lifted my lips at the memory of her talking trash. She was ballsy, bold, and impossibly beautiful. The fact that she wasn't interested in a one-night stand was one of the main reasons why I couldn't shake her. I was tired of them myself, but when that's all that made sense, what else could you do?
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