Addicted

"Yep. Just skiing buddies. She's not interested in anything else. I just didn't know why. Now, I do." I smiled as my heart broke in my chest.

She had lied to me, but why?

"Cool." He walked out and put his arm around Chloe's shoulders.

I finished up and walked out behind them, slipping on a tight facade. I would have fun with them as friends and then I was done. My heart was already too wrapped up and it was my own fucking fault. Chloe wasn't to blame. I was. She had been clear with her intentions.

"You guys ready?" I glanced toward Chloe and smiled. "You sure you don't want to try one of these babies? They're so much fun."

She gave me a tight smile, still upset about our conversation. "No, but thanks."

Parker helped her up onto the lift and took the seat next to her, which was fine with me.

I waved at them and winked at her. "I'll catch you at the top." I waited until the next one came, and sunk down into it.

The wind and snow blew around me as I tried hard to pull myself out of the slump I was diving into. This was a good thing. It was the caution tape being resurrected. She was off limits and even though she was starting to open up to me, it would only lead to her cheating on her boy and hating herself.

She wasn't the type of woman who wanted to cheat, she'd made that clear. I could respect that and would just back off. Besides... I was a man whore. All the lovey-dovey shit I was starting to feel was incredibly uncomfortable if I really thought about it.

I dropped off the lift and moved beside them before glancing around. "There's two hard slopes and an easy one."

"I'm going to focus on the easy one for a little while to see if I remember how to do this." Chloe turned and walked toward it.

"I'll go with you, Sis," Parker called after her, but I caught his arm.

"No, I'll go. I need to talk to her for a minute, anyway. You get on the hard one and show me some shit. Seriously. I'll be watching from the side." I smiled and Parker looked at Chloe, then back to the new hill.

"You sure?"

"Yeah. Get to it." I pushed at his shoulder and he turned, moving quickly to the starting line.

I jogged toward Chloe and stopped beside her. "Hey."

"Hey." She glanced over at me and moved to a bench to tighten her skis.

"Sorry about earlier. I'm just tired. Forgive me?" I smiled and touched her shoulder, not wanting the nasty energy between us to continue. I could have fun for a few weeks off and on with her – I'd just treat her like Brian.

"Already done." She gave me a sad smile and I knew it was a lie.

"Chloe." I reached for her, but she moved, getting up and heading toward the mountain.

She paused and looked back, as if she knew things were ending between us before they even began. "Are you still coming over tonight?"

"I can't," I lied. "Something has come up with my dad. Rain check?"

"Absolutely." She nodded, her beautiful face expressionless.

If I thought my heart had shattered over finding out that she was still with her man, I had no clue what I was talking about. It hurt so much worse standing there, watching her hurt.

Why did she want me in her life if someone already had the spot I wanted so badly?

She didn't seem like the kind of woman to play around with someone’s emotions, so what the fuck was happening?

Chapter 17

Chloe

"That was a blast!" Parker yelled after we'd been on the slopes for more than two hours. We all met back up at the bottom, the guys breathless from trying to outdo each other.