Chapter 16 Zoe
ZOE
“And then I need you to go and check with—” Mrs. Greer was mid-sentence when her phone rang.
She picked up the phone, and I took a step back, half-relieved. I’d been worried she was about to tell me to check something with Asher. And while we’d been getting along a tiny bit better, that was still my least favorite task.
Mrs. Greer hung up and finished her sentence. “The ski instructor.”
“Pardon?”
“Check with the head ski instructor and make sure he’s got next week fully staffed for lessons. All guests will have checked in by then, and we must do whatever we can to keep them entertained and content.” She said that last part very sternly, as if I’d suggested otherwise.
“Of course. I’ll go right now.” It was late afternoon, so Kai was probably done with his lessons for the day.
“Talk to the other one, too.”
I paused, assuming she meant Landon. I didn’t particularly like the way Mrs. Greer referred to him as ‘the other one,’ but I kept my expression neutral.
“Make sure he’s checked that the maintenance and inspections are up to date on the chairlift.”
“Landon knows how to do that?”
“He knows how to check a report, I presume.”
“Right. I’ll find them now.”
I walked away thinking that at least Mrs. Greer was occasionally giving me something useful to do.
But so far, this internship hadn’t been at all what I’d thought.
I’d imagined making improvements, implementing changes, fixing problems. Not running around checking on reports and schedules like some glorified messenger.
A wry thought crossed my mind—maybe Mrs. Greer didn’t like me because I’d accidentally written a bad review about her and forgotten about it, too.
I was crossing the lower lobby when I heard laughter ahead of me, loud and unmistakably Kai.
I rounded the massive Christmas tree and found him talking to an older couple. He was still in his ski jacket, animated and grinning, clearly entertaining them. The older man was chuckling, and his wife was beaming at Kai like he’d just told her the best story she’d heard all year.
For a minute, I wished it were Landon. I’d like to see him act that way—so open and carefree. But Landon carried his grief like a weight that was always there, whether it was visible or not, and I wondered if he’d ever be that lighthearted again.
The older man glanced at his watch and said something to his wife before heading toward the elevator. Once he was gone, I realized there had been someone else on his other side—a younger woman.
She was drop-dead gorgeous. Blonde, probably in her early thirties, with bouncy hair and glowing tan skin that looked like she’d just spent two weeks at the spa. Her green eyes were trained on Kai’s face.
I slowed my steps, half-hidden by the Christmas tree.
The older woman patted Kai’s hand, and he took hers and squeezed as they talked, his smile easy and warm. The blonde touched his bicep, and he didn’t pull away. He laughed, deep in his throat, and when the two women finally moved off together, his blue eyes followed them.
Well, not them.
He seemed to be focused on the tight backside of the younger woman.
“Making friends?” I asked archly as I stepped around the tree.
He grinned. “Always.”
I felt a spike of irritation. “So is it your job to flirt with the guests?”
“Sometimes.” His tone was even, but there was an edge to it. “Just like it was your job to not tell off that horny old man who kept touching you at the bar?”
“That’s different.”
“Why?”
“It just is.”
“Ash tells me you’re a good student. You can come up with a better reason than that.”
How would Asher know what kind of a student I was? Then again, from the start, he’d known a lot more about me than I’d known about him. “I could, but it’s not my job to explain it to you.”
His jaw tightened slightly, and for a moment, he reminded me of Asher—stiff and defensive. But then his grin returned, easy as ever. “You’re more fun in the hideaway in front of the fire.”
“No doubt,” I said stiffly.
“Or in the gym.” He smirked.
“I’m here on business. Not to discuss your favorite places to hit on women in the lodge.”
“Good,” he said, his tone lightening completely now. “Because you haven’t even begun to list all of them.”
I couldn’t help it—I almost smiled. Now that I knew him better, it was nearly impossible to stay upset around him for long. That grin. The glint in his eyes. I could kind of see why those two women had liked talking to him so much.
“Do you know where Landon is? I need to talk to him next.”
“Probably in his sanctuary.”
“The place with the plants?”
Kai looked surprised. “He showed you that?”
“Yep.”
“Well, he’ll be there at sunset. Not sure where he is now.”
“Thanks.”
As I went about my next tasks, keeping an eye out for Landon, I kept thinking about Kai.
He acted like nothing ever got him down, and I wondered what it would be like to live like that.
I spent half my days anxious about the future, upset about the present—like that coffee shop I managed back at school.
Despite all my efforts to bring in more customers, it still wasn’t turning a profit.
But Kai just seemed so uncomplicated. So carefree.
He reminded me of Peyton in that way—impulsive, never taking anything too seriously.
But Kai was a world-class skier. Peyton couldn’t even figure out what she wanted to do with her life.
And I knew that if I didn’t spend every moment studying, learning, preparing for my future, I wouldn’t amount to anything either.
I’d end up like my sister—drifting from one thing to the next, never committing, never building anything real.
But was Kai really as uncomplicated as he seemed? Or was that just the version of himself he showed the world? I didn’t know if I’d ever understand someone like him, but that didn’t mean I didn’t like being around him.
Later, after I’d tracked down Landon and confirmed the maintenance reports were up to date, we went down to get a late dinner together.
It was nice, having him at my side. But I couldn’t help but watch the way Kai joked and laughed with everyone around him, completely in his element.
And then I let myself think about the gym.
I wished I hadn’t pushed him away so soon. What he’d done, the way his hands had moved along my body—I’d never felt anything like that. I didn’t know a kiss could feel that good.
Maybe it wouldn’t have with anyone but him. But I had a strong suspicion that Landon and Asher could make it feel just as well if they wanted it to.
Later that night, we gathered in the hideaway. Kai appeared with a bottle of champagne, and the cork flew out with a loud pop. Landon caught it mid-air without even looking.
“What’s the occasion?” I asked.
“If you drink enough of it, you get drunk,” Kai said. “That’s a good enough occasion for me.”
Landon shook his head. “Asher usually has to skip Christmas and New Year’s Eve, because he’s working in the restaurant. So we like to celebrate when we can. I imagine you’ll miss them too.”
“Me?”
Kai poured champagne into four glasses. “Yes. Because you spend the entire day running all over the place, especially walking back and forth across the lobby, your high heels clicking on the floor. It drives me insane.”
That was a little insulting. “Because of the sound?”
“Because of the way it makes your legs look.” He winked.
Heat crept up my neck as I took the glass he offered.
We settled onto the sofa—Kai and Landon on either side of me, their legs pressed against mine. Kai draped his arm across my shoulders like it was the most natural thing in the world. Thanks to the body heat from the twins, I rarely bothered with a blanket anymore.
Asher was in his usual armchair, feet propped on the coffee table, looking more relaxed than I’d seen him in days.
Landon put on music from his phone—instrumental versions of Christmas carols, soft and unobtrusive.
I sipped the champagne, enjoying the way the bubbles tickled my nose. But I enjoyed even more the muscled, masculine presence on either side of me, the weight of Kai’s arm, the firm press of Landon’s thigh against mine.
Landon had his hand resting on his lap, his fingers loose against his faded black jeans. On impulse, I reached over and took it, squeezing gently like I had in the solarium.
“You okay?” I asked him.
“Never better,” he said, but it sounded automatic.
I wondered if he really used to be as animated and cheerful as Kai. I couldn’t quite picture it, but someday I hoped I’d find out.
“So,” Kai said, his fingers playing with a strand of my hair that had escaped my bun. “Truth or dare?”
“We already did fuck, marry, kill,” Asher pointed out. “A middle-school game’s a bit tame after that.”
“We could play twenty questions, and I’ll try to guess what you’re thinking,” I suggested.
“Everyone knows what he’s thinking,” Asher said, and my face flushed because he likely had a point.
“What can I say? I’m an uncomplicated guy with simple pleasures.” Kai turned to me. “But maybe we have more in common than you think. What’s your favorite position?”
I nearly choked on my champagne.
“For sleeping,” Kai added innocently. “Why, what did you think I meant?”
Landon snorted. “You’re full of shit.”
“I’m just making conversation.” Kai’s hand slid from my hair to my shoulder, his thumb tracing small circles. “Keeping things interesting.”
The champagne was making me warm and loose, and sitting between them like this—their masculine energy, their heat, their hard bodies—it was doing things to me. Everything felt charged. Electric.
It all just bubbled up inside me. I was twenty-two years old, and I didn’t have a favorite position for sex. I didn’t even know that many besides the basic ones. How could I go out in the real world with my knowledge completely lacking in such an important aspect of adulthood?
“I need lessons,” I blurted out.
It came out louder than I’d expected, and they all stopped talking and looked at me.
“Ski lessons?” Landon said carefully. “I thought you hated them.”
“How could you possibly hate them if I’m the instructor?” Kai cut in.
I took a deep breath. “Well, let’s test that theory. Because it’s not lessons about skiing that I want.”
“Cooking?” Asher suggested.
“No. Not that either.”
“Then what’s left?” Landon asked.
I drained the rest of my champagne in one gulp and set the glass down on the coffee table with more force than necessary.
“Sex.” I looked at each of them in turn. “I want you to teach me how to have sex.”