“I don’t want to rest now. I want to talk more!”
He ignores me and stands, pulling me with him, then sits in my seat, stretching his long legs across the two spaces and laying me against him.
I want to fight him so badly, but my body betrays me and I fall asleep on his chest, listening to the beat of his heart.
Chapter 3
“Nate, if you shove me, it will be one more reason I kill you in your sleep!” I scream at my brother behind me, eyeing the hill below.
“One more, huh?”
“Yeah, you jackass! Why didn’t you tell me Bryce broke up with Holli? Or the fact they were never engaged? Why did you all let me think he was going to marry her? Surely, Mom and Dad knew they weren’t engaged, but you all let me believe they were together. ”
“Would it have mattered? For a while, I wasn’t sure how their relationship would go. She used the baby to manipulate him. Then once everything happened, you had finally moved on. You were cheering, dating… Everything was good with you.”
“Yo
u could have shared.”
“I didn’t want you caught up in their drama. It went on for a long time. Even though we all knew they weren’t engaged and her feelings were one-sided, he kept helping her. I personally wanted to keep you as far away from that as possible.”
His words sink in, and I realize he was looking out for me. “I’ll forgive you, but only because you were concerned. Now, let’s see who can get to cocktail hour fastest!” I push off and get a great wind, speeding down as Nate fumbles with his snowboard.
When I get to the bottom before him, I make a mad dash to the condo. Even though a drink sounds great, I’m desperate to talk to Quinn.
She answers on the first ring, and I scoot to the edge of the patio to watch for anyone coming in.
“How much time do you have?” I ask quickly.
“As long as you need.”
“Good, you’re gonna need it.” I replay everything that’s happened in the last twenty-four hours.
“So what happened when you got to the condo?”
“Everyone was awake and waiting for us. We ordered room service and watched TV. I pretended to be exhausted and went to bed then stayed up all night trying to make sense of everything.”
“What happened this morning?”
“I stayed hidden until Nate finally knocked on my door. The Randolphs had an early morning ski class. Bryce probably didn’t need the refresher, but I was glad not to face him. My parents had breakfast for us, and we successfully dodged the ‘Devon and Bryce’ conversation. Then I went skiing with Nate. Now, I ran off to call you while the condo is empty.”
“Do we have the proper amount of time to truly break this down?”
“No.”
“So how real can I be without you freaking out? More so, without you sneaking away to get on a plane and making a fool out of yourself?”
“Quinn! I’m not a flight risk, not anymore. As much as I want to run, it would kill my parents. Besides, I’ve matured. Packing up and running out of here would show glaring signs of immaturity.”
“How many times have you thought about leaving? Be honest.”
“Three.” I sigh into the phone. “But I really did change my mind. It was just panic at being in the same house with him for so long. It’s your job to help me figure out a way to get through this.”
“I think you need to go with the flow. See how things happen.”
“That is your advice? Surely, you have something better than that.”
“Nope, that’s it.”