Total pages in book: 132
Estimated words: 124923 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 625(@200wpm)___ 500(@250wpm)___ 416(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 124923 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 625(@200wpm)___ 500(@250wpm)___ 416(@300wpm)
“You mind?” His voice snaps me out of it and I drag my wide eyes away from his crotch and up to his face. I recover quickly, schooling my reaction once I see his cocky expression. Pun not intended.
“Ever heard of locking the door?” I roll my eyes before turning my back to him and pulling the door shut behind me.
“Ever heard of knocking?” he throws back from the other side of the door. I hear the faucet run for a few seconds before the door swings open behind me. I start to step aside to let him out, but he stops me with a hand to my upper arm. “If you wanted a free show, all you had to do was ask.”
I spin around, raising a brow. “I’ve seen your little show before, remember?” I lean in, keeping my voice low so no one can overhear. “I’m not interested in a repeat.” I step around him and into the bathroom before placing my palm on his bare back and pushing him out into the hallway.
When he’s across the threshold, he turns around to scowl at me, arms crossed. “Nothing about my show is little,” he says, sounding wounded.
Of course, that’s the part of my statement he latched onto.
“Sweet dreams,” I say with a flick of my fingers. He’s still scowling when I shut the door in his face. And lock it for good measure.
No. Nothing about Holden Ames is little. And I was one hundred percent lying to myself when I said I wasn’t interested in a repeat. Fuck.
Valen
Shayne’s never been snowboarding, and I haven’t been in so many years that this may as well be my first time. Most people start with skiing, but Shayne insisted on snowboarding. “It’s like riding a bike, right?” She tries to assure me as the ski lift takes us higher, our feet dangling beneath us, the left one strapped into the bindings and the right one free so we can step off the lift. Holden and Thayer are on the chairlift behind us, then Ryan and two girls I don’t know are behind them. It took them less than five minutes to find some so-called powder princesses.
“Let’s hope so,” I mutter, and she laughs, unconcerned. The lift slows enough for us to exit, and I grab Shayne’s gloved hand so we can hop off together. “Are you ready?”
Shayne nods as I angle myself sideways and push off the lift, dragging her with me. At first, I think she has it, but her board goes wiggly and she squeals, fisting the shoulders of my jacket with both hands to keep her upright. Her weight throws me off balance and then she’s falling face-first into the snow, bringing me on top of her.
We land in a tangle of limbs and equipment, laughing hysterically and blinded by our snow-covered goggles. Each attempt to get up ends in failure either from laughing too hard or slipping, which only causes us to laugh harder.
“Valen, hurry,” Shayne rushes out between fits of laughter. “I think I’m going to pee!”
“I’m trying!” I manage to push myself up into a downward dog position with Shayne still underneath me. When she tries to army crawl away, I start laughing again. My board is slick against the snow and starts to slide, but before I collapse on top of her again, I hear Holden mutter a Jesus Christ as two large hands grip me underneath my arms, pulling me upright. We’ve drawn a crowd and the liftie has paused the chairlift, waiting for us to get our shit together. Thayer helps Shayne, and then they’re carrying us out of the way like a couple of misbehaving toddlers so the lift can resume its operation.
Once we’re off to the side, Holden brings his bare palm to my goggles, wiping away the remaining snow. “Hold on to my shoulders,” he instructs.
“I can do it,” I object, but he ignores my protest, dropping to a knee in front of me, grabbing the foot that isn’t already strapped in. Trying to conceal my amusement with annoyance, I look over to Shayne, who’s getting the same treatment from Thayer, and almost lose it all over again when we make eye contact.
The first time down the hill, Shayne falls a couple more times, but she gets the hang of it surprisingly quickly. And just like she said, it is like riding a bike for me. Even if I don’t remember all the rules, my body does instinctively. I’m no professional by any means, but I can make it down the hill and stop without falling. Thayer, Holden, and Ryan, on the other hand? They make it look effortless, the way they glide down the mountain at warp speed. Naturally, Holden’s the one to show off, jumping off every box and rail in our path, and to my complete and utter annoyance, I find myself appreciating the way he looks while doing so.