Wild Promises (The Wilde Brothers #4)

Chapter 12

12

TORI

I was a little late getting to the lodge. One of the appointments lasted longer than I'd planned.

I'd texted Xander I'd be late, but he hadn't answered. I hoped he wasn't upset with me. When I rounded the building, Xander was crouched in front of a small child.

"You want to go on the trail ride?" Xander glanced up at me when I approached, and he winked. "It's Aunt Tori's favorite."

I loved that he referred to me as Aunt Tori in front of his nephew. "Hey, Joey."

"Uncle Xan wants to take me on a trail ride with you."

"If that's okay?" Xander stood.

"I'd love that." And I adored that he'd included Joey in our outing.

"I cleared it with your father. We have about twenty minutes. Time for one run."

"Let me grab my gear." I rushed into the locker room to put everything on.

Outside, I scanned the area for Xander, finally finding him holding Joey's hand in line for the lift. My heart squeezed at the sight of the two of them together. Xander was saying something to him, and Joey was looking up at him. At night, it was busy with local teens who had winter passes.

Xander looked up when I approached and smiled. "You ready to ski?"

I smiled back. "Been looking forward to it all day."

"Uncle Xan says this trail is the best," Joey said as if he didn't believe him.

"I think it is. He decorated the trees with lights. Just wait until you see it."

"You did?" Joey asked, his eyes wide.

Xander nodded. "I thought you and Aunt Tori would like it."

"I loved it, and you will too," I said to Joey.

We sat on the lift with Joey between us. I could imagine us on this lift with our son one day. I met Xander's gaze over Joey's head and wondered if he was having similar thoughts.

But then I reprimanded myself. Xander had fingered me to an orgasm last night because he felt sorry for me. It wasn't because he'd held some crush on me since we were teens. I was the one with the ridiculous crush. I was the one who was horny because I was living with him.

Xander was a good friend, and I needed to remember that's all he could be.

All too soon, we were descending. We stepped off, each of us grabbing Joey's hand, guiding him away from the lift. At this time of night, there would be a few couples on this path. The teenagers preferred the downhill slopes where they could race each other.

The sign for our trail was covered in white twinkling lights. Lights hung from branches on either side of the path.

"This is so cool," Joey said as he dropped our hands.

We skied for a few minutes, all of us lost in our own thoughts. I couldn't help but think it was magical.

When we got to our lookout spot, Xander waved at Joey to follow him "Come on."

"I'm not supposed to go off the trail." Joey pulled back on Xander's hand.

"Yeah, but I'm an expert on these mountains. I'd never put you at risk."

He was so good with him, whereas Hugh was terrible with people.

"You trust me?" Xander asked him as we paused at the edge of the trail.

Joey nodded. "Daddy said you're the best on the slopes."

Xander's eyes were suspiciously shiny before he looked away.

He was caring and kind and good with children. I couldn't understand why his family didn't see that as an asset.

We glided the short distance to the lookout. The area was covered with fresh snow.

Joey took off his skis with Xander's help and climbed on top of the rock. With his arms outstretched, he yelled, "I'm king of the world."

I couldn't help but laugh. Joey was so full of energy and life. It felt good just to be around him.

Xander snapped a picture, and I was positive he sent it to Oliver. He was a great uncle, a good man, and I suspected he'd be the perfect boyfriend if he gave himself a chance. But he was too scared to put himself out there. He was weighed down by others' judgments of him, and it hurt my heart.

Joey jumped down and dove into the snow, turning onto his back to make a snow angel.

"Did you tell Eli and Oliver that you did this?" I asked Xander, suspecting he hadn't.

Xander looked over at me. "No. Should I?"

"Isn't this an example of doing something for the business? Something new and innovative?"

Xander huffed out a laugh. "It's a few lights."

"This must have taken you hours." Days even, and he'd done it for me and Joey. "You should tell people it's here. Advertise a holiday light trail. People would love it. I bet most people don't even know it's here."

"You think so?" Xander asked, his voice full of so much vulnerability.

"Just as long as you don't advertise this spot. This one is ours."

Xander moved closer to me, lowering his head.

My heart rate increased. Was he going to kiss me here?

"Uncle Xan, make snow angels with me."

Xander grinned at me, then took off his skis "Sure thing, buddy." He lay down next to Joey and let his arms and legs fan out. I pulled out my phone and snapped a picture of the two of them.

"Come on, Aunt Tori. We need a girl snow angel."

I laughed, shoving my phone into my zipper pocket, then took off my skis. We made our angels, then rested in the snow, staring up at the stars.

"I haven't looked at the stars since we were kids." I never paused to enjoy the world around me, and if I had, I would have been disappointed. There wasn't a lot of nature to explore in New York outside of Central Park. Not that I had time for something like that. But here, I could work and enjoy the outdoors. I could have a life. I let out a breath, enjoying just being here in this moment with Xander and Joey.

"We should head back. I told Oliver twenty minutes, but it's already been longer." Xander jumped up and started brushing off the snow from his clothes.

"I'm sure he'll understand," I said, but Xander didn't respond. His movements were jerky as he helped me and Joey up.

Then he took off for the trail, looking back occasionally to see if we were following him. When we got to the bottom, Oliver stood in his coat , holding Joey's snow boots.

Xander came to a skidding stop in front of him. "Sorry. We lost track of time."

"You always do," Oliver said tightly to him, and then to Joey, "Come on. Dinner will be cold."

"Aw," Joey whined as Oliver helped him take off his skis and change into his boots.

I could feel the tension rolling off of Xander.

"We were looking at the new lights Xander put up—" I began.

Xander stopped me with a hand to my arm. "Don't."

I frowned. "Don't what?"

"It doesn't matter." Xander's expression was grim, his eyes lowered.

"What new lights?" Oliver asked.

Joey tugged on his dad's hand. "Uncle Xander put up lights on the trail. It's so cool."

Oliver's forehead creased. "You did?"

Xander nodded. "I thought Joey would enjoy it. Tori too."

"He placed them on the branches that line the trail, giving it a magical feel."I wanted to add that they could advertise the trail, but I didn't want to overstep, and I had a feeling I already had.

Oliver's gaze swung from me to Xander. "I would think the guests would like to know about that. That they'd enjoy it."

Xander shrugged. "I did it for us."

Oliver's brow furrowed. "That must have taken a lot of time and effort. I can't even imagine how you managed it."

"It was nothing," Xander mumbled, and I wanted to groan out loud.

I had a feeling Xander was falling into some trap where he acted like he was in the same role as when he was a kid. The little brother wasn't a good look for Xander, especially when he was supposed to be acting like a comanager of the business.

"We talked to you about doing more for the business, and then you do this and don't tell anyone," Oliver said, his voice trailing off.

"That doesn't seem fair. He did all this work and didn't realize the potential it had for marketing and the business," I couldn't help but add.

"I don't think like that. I want the people around me, the guests, to be happy. That's it. Not everything comes down to a dollar sign."

At that vulnerable outburst, I intertwined my gloved hand with his. Oliver's gaze snagged on the movement. "I kind of love that about you." I hadn't declared that I loved him. Just that I loved something about him. Something his own family failed to see. Xander had a huge heart.

"Thanks for telling me about it. I have to get this guy home. We'll talk more about it tomorrow." Oliver turned to go, and I let out an exasperated sigh.

With a wave, Joey said, "Bye, Uncle Xander. Aunt Tori."

"Good night, Joey." Xander's tone was tight.

Xander tugged his hand from mine and glided toward the entrance to the locker-room area. I hurried to keep up, wanting to make sure Xander wasn't upset with me.

Xander sat on the wooden bench to take off his boots. It was quiet as we worked, and it felt weird to have shoes on, like my legs should be gliding not walking.

"Is everything okay?" I finally asked him when we were in our regular boots.

"You shouldn't have said anything," Xander said quietly as he placed his skis and poles into his locker. Then he took mine, tucking them into the space next to his things. It felt nice to see my gear next to his.

"It's so beautiful. I just thought others should get to enjoy it."

"I wanted it to be something just for us. Not everything is an opportunity to sell something or profit off it."

My heart squeezed painfully in my chest. I'd taken something that was meant for me and Joey and shared it with what he saw as the world. "I'm sorry, Xander."

Xander inclined his head toward the storage unit's door. "I'll text you the code so you can grab your gear whenever you want to go skiing."

"Thanks." I headed toward the door to leave, but he didn't follow me.

Xander's hands were curled into fists. "I have some work to do tonight in my office."

He'd never mentioned working in an office before. I wasn't even aware he had one, although it made sense that he would. "Okay."

"Don't wait up for me." He walked out the other door, the one that led to the lodge, and I stepped outside. The cold air felt good on my heated skin. I was upset for Xander. I hated that he felt like he had to work harder or do something that he wasn't familiar with to prove himself to his brothers. And I worried I'd made everything worse.

I'd had a good night with Xander until he realized he was late getting Joey back. It was as if his brothers didn't trust him with anything, much less Joey. My heart ached for him. He was a good man, but his brothers couldn't see how this pressure wasn't good for him.

Xander needed to be seen for the man he was. He shouldn't need to change or be someone else for his family to accept him.

I understood that he might come across as irresponsible, but that wasn't the case. How could I see it so easily, but his brothers couldn't? Were they so wrapped up in who they wanted him to be that they couldn't see the great guy he was now?

Later that night, I tossed and turned until I heard Xander come into the apartment, close to midnight. Only then was I able to drift off.