Chapter 20 Our Mountain
OUR MOUNTAIN
HOLDEN
“Read it to me again,” I begged Lilah.
“What is it with you getting off on me reading recipes like this?” She sprawled across the bed on her back, wearing her chef’s coat—and absolutely nothing underneath.
“It’s your voice. And the fancy words.” I dipped my tongue back into her, flicking her clit. “Just does it for me. Are you complaining?”
“Mm. No complaints.”
“Then read,” I murmured, “and make my birthday wish come true.”
“Okay,” she breathed. “Snowfall Risotto with Seared Duck Breast & Caramelized Brussels Sprouts.”
“Oh yeah,” I groaned. “Just like that. Keep going.” My fingers joined my mouth, pulsing inside her.
“Mm, Holden. White Alba truffle with champagne-leek cream, black garlic jus, and winter fig.”
“Yes, baby.” I sucked harder, relentless. “More.”
“Holden!” Her legs shook. “A-a velvety white-truffle risotto folded with champagne-infused leeks, crowned with perfectly seared duck breast—oh my God.”
I flattened my tongue, worked her faster. “You’re almost there, Frosty. Finish it, and I’ll give you my cock.”
“O-okay—paired with caramelized winter Brussels sprouts and glossy black-garlic jus for depth. Deeper. Yes—like that.” Her voice broke. “Finished with a whisper of fresh Alba truffle. I’m—I’m—”
“Come on my face and finish reading,” I commanded.
“Ohh—elegant, decadent, unforgettable—yes, Holden, yes!”
She came hard, and I lapped it up like the total indulgence she was.
“You are decadent and unforgettable.” I kissed up her stomach, her chest, landing on her lips. My cock found his own way to her entrance and I thrust inside of her, not giving her a moment to rest. “The gift that keeps on giving.”
“We’re going to be late for opening day ceremonies, you know.”
“My mountain. They’ll deal with it.” I wouldn’t let anyone stop me from claiming Lilah today.
Opening day at Snow Quest Lodge had lived in my head for two years—since the moment we broke ground, when blueprints turned into beams and the impossible became real.
Today, the mountain welcomed everyone in. Fireplaces roared. The lobby filled. Skiers thawed over cocoa, dripping snow onto floors. Outside, the runs buzzed with life, powder thick and perfect.
Thank you, Snowzilla.
It was everything I dreamed of—and still not the best part.
Through the kitchen window, Lilah stood at the counter in her chef whites, calm and commanding, giving direction to Ridley and her crew. Confidence wrapped around her like a second skin. I had a hand in that glow. Especially this morning.
She glanced up and caught me staring. I mouthed Hey, Frosty.
She arched a warning brow, hiding her smile for the sake of her staff—but the spark was there, just for me.
Yes. I should’ve been focusing on the opening-day schedule. Instead, every internal compass I had pointed straight to her.
By nightfall, the lodge buzzed with celebration—staff, friends, family, and our first official guests gathered for New Year’s night slash opening night slash my birthday party.
My brothers arrived exactly as expected. Landon burst in, guitar slung over his shoulder, cowboy hat tipped back as he winked at every snow bunny in sight.
Atlas followed, all swagger and charm, tossing me an unwrapped gift—a flask filled with bourbon from a distillery he’d recently bought.
Beck arrived quieter, novelist-lone-wolf energy intact. Someone whispered he looked criminally good in Wranglers. He pretended not to hear.
Even Griffin and Jessa showed up with their baby and Theo, who immediately launched into pee-wee hockey stories with my brothers.
The room was chaotic, loud and perfect. Hard to believe there was a time when this place was just me and a set of architectural renderings, wondering if I’d ever pull off rebuilding this old lodge.
Lilah arrived, no chef coat in sight, at last leaving the kitchen to celebrate with me.
“Guys, this is Lilah,” I started.
“We met Frosty last night,” Landon tipped his hat at her.
“Don’t do that tipping thing at my girl. No one tips at her but me,” I warned him playfully.
“Hello, guys. Thanks for pointing my way last night to Holden. I arrived just in time for the countdown.” Lilah went on to explain about running into them at West Bar.
Atlas piped up. “I think I speak of us all by saying we’re glad the birthday boy isn’t sulking today.”
“No sulk needed.” I pulled her into my lap. She shot me an are-you-insane look.
“There are people here,” she whispered. We hadn’t exactly talked yet about how to make it known among the staff that we were together.
“I’m the birthday boy,” I argued. “Perks apply.”
Across the table, Beck snorted. “Oh boy.”
She rolled her eyes with sly smile—but slid her arms around my neck anyway, exactly where they belonged.
Atlas clinked a glass with a spoon, stood, and grabbed a microphone I didn’t remember owning.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I’d like to toast my little brother, Holden West. When you were young and wild, I didn’t think you could ever be contained.
Then you honed in on snowboarding as your thing, and whoo boy, you were good at it, beating records for speed. But then came the fall.”
I swallowed a lump, still to this day feeling the sting of it. Lilah leaned her head on my shoulder and squeezed me tight.
Atlas continued. “Some of the days that followed were touch and go, I thought possibly your darkest point. But when you realized you couldn’t slide down a mountain fast enough anymore, that’s when you really hit the bottom.
You wandered through life lost. None of us could reach you, and I wasn’t sure you’d ever find your way through it.
Eventually you did, and my God, you bought a whole freaking mountain.
Who does that? Holden.” He guffawed, pointed at me, and the room laughed with him.
“You’re one crazy man, taking on a project of this size. I worried you’d gotten in over your head, but look at this place. I’m awed man, totally wowed by what you’ve done here. And now, I see the way you look at the woman in your lap there.” He pointed again at me.
Lilah and I shared smiling eyes. I kissed her lips, and whispers and whoops came up from the employees. Good. Let them all know I claim her as mine.
“I’m happy for you, Holden. To close out my speech, I just have a simple message.
You used to race down the mountain, and fly.
But now, at this stage of your life, I hope you’ll take things slower, one day at a time, and enjoy it each step of the way, because I think you’ve finally figured out what matters in your life.
To Holden,” Atlas finished and held up his beer.
“To Holden!” the room echoed, bursting with more cheers and clapping. Lilah got off my lap so my brothers could hug me, one-by-one.
Landon stepped up next, guitar already in hand. “This one’s for the guy who thought buying a mountain was a good idea.” He paused, grinning. “And the woman who tamed him.”
Kiss her! rang out from the crowd. I obliged, no hesitation.
Landon’s guitar hushed the room—the song a slow, aching love ballad. Lilah melted against me, fingers laced with mine.
Family. Community. Her. Everything I needed was right here.
This lodge rebuilt my life after the accident, after Dad, after everything fell apart. And now, with Lilah here, I didn’t feel like I was chasing something anymore.
I was standing still—in the best way.
Later, after the celebration ended, Lilah and I sat wrapped together on my balcony, blankets pulled tight against the cold, to watch fireworks lighting Steele Valley below.
“It feels unreal being together like this.” She snuggled closer into me.
“It feels right,” I said, tightening my hold on her. “Welcome to our mountain.”
She tilted her head. “Have you named it yet?”
“Yeah.” I brushed a kiss to her temple. “I decided to name it Frosty Peak because of you. And this—” I gestured in a full circle to the glowing sky above, the lodge alive around us, and the valley below. “—is exactly where I want to be.”
We’d found happiness for now. But I could see our future stretching far and bright. Eventually, if things went well and I figured they might, we’d have a happily ever after, too.
Because this mountain was ours now, forever.
Keep reading the epilogue on the next page: One Year Later.