11. Lana
eleven
lana
“Are you sure about this?” I asked, looking at him like he was crazy. He had to be. My brows bunched as I looked out at what he wanted to do.
“Do you trust me?” he asked, extending his arm for me.
“Yes,” I immediately answered and meant it. I did trust him. In more ways than I was willing to admit.
“Then let’s do this!” He laughed, and I shook my head while looking at the escalator that took you up a hill. My eyes dropped down his body. We were both in snow suits and boots. He held two huge inflatable rings.
“You really think this is safe?” I complained, taking his hand.
“Baby, I would never let anything bad happen to you.” He pulled me closer into his body and pressed his lips against my temple. “This is going to be fun. I can’t believe you’ve never gone snow tubbing.”
“I live in LA!” I laughed and shrugged. “And any time my mom or best friend and I have gone to Big Bear or Serendipity Bluffs, it wasn’t snowing.”
“It’s going to be fun. I promise.” He winked, and I believed him. Standing on the tips of my toes, I kissed him. When I pulled away, I could tell I’d surprised him. Probably because this was the first time since we’d stepped out of the cabin that I had made the first move out in public.
“Not that I’m complaining, but what was that for?” he asked. His hand rose and caressed the side of my face tenderly. So tenderly, I couldn’t help but lean closer to his touch, soaking in the softness I had a feeling was only for me.
“For this and the last couple of days,” I whispered, emotion getting the better of me.
I had fallen for him. Head over heels in love. It was crazy.
Technically, it had only been four days since we’d arrived on the mountain and made it through a blizzard together in the cutest cabin I had ever seen. More than likely way too fast to fall for someone. But it didn’t make it any less true.
Holy shit! Not only was I in love for the first time, but I was in love with Wilson Harding.
It would have been impossible to deny it or lie to myself. Wils was incredible, and it wasn’t just because the sex was out of this world. Just being around him felt like I’d known him forever. I was comfortable and felt safe with him. I didn’t have to pretend to be someone else or try to be someone he might want to be with.
Not to mention the way he looked at me. Even while we were surrounded by snow bunnies and women who were blatantly checking him out since we arrived at the snow play area, he looked at me like I was the only woman to ever exist.
But despite everything I was feeling and how great the whole trip had been, I kept reminding myself that all good things came to an end.
It was silly to feel sad.
I’d known from the beginning that we had an expiration date.
I understood that in the heat of the moment, Wilson said things. Promises so big and beautiful, I wanted to believe them the same way I’d wanted to believe in fairy tales when I was a little girl.
And maybe I’d said them back to him.
But the realistic side of me couldn’t help but notice the way he hadn’t brought up what would happen once we got back home.
I felt a little selfish. I wasn’t ready to go back.
I didn’t want to start to imagine what it would be like to fall asleep without him. Or not share a meal with him.
“Hey, what’s that look about?” He snapped me out of my thoughts. I shook my head. It wasn’t the place or time.
“Nothing.” I smiled. “Just nervous.” My heart quickened. I didn’t like to lie, but I needed to have at least a little bit of self-preservation. What if I told him how I felt, and he reminded me of our stupid little deal?
“Don’t be.” He kissed the top of my head, and just like that, I relaxed, like Wils had some kind of magic hold on me. We reached the top and stepped off the escalator, and before I could look around, one of the employees, probably a high school student, looked at us.
“How many in your party?” the kid who asked.
“Two,” Wilson answered.
I looked around. It hadn’t felt like we had gone up that high, but from there, it was a reality check. We were high up on the hill. Nothing but snow surrounded us. You could hear the laughter of the people tubing down or waiting for us, not that it was all that busy. The scenery was beautiful!
“You guys going in separate tubes or together?”
“We can ride together?” I asked, and when Wils eyes connected with mine, I could see he liked the idea.
“Yeah. Two, three people max, can ride in one tube.”
“We can ride together if you want,” I suggested, and Wils nodded. The kid walked over with us and held the tube. Wilson sat down, and I moved over to sit on his lap.
“You ready?” he whispered against my ear, and I shivered. I had no idea how he’d done it, but not only had he reawakened my libido, he had brought this whole other side of me to life. One that was already thinking about how to talk him into some backseat action in the SUV before we drove back to the cabin.
“Yeah, with you, I’m ready,” I breathily answered. It wasn’t a lie either. When it came to Wil, I was ready for anything.
“Ready?” the kid asked, and we nodded. “One, two, bye!” he said.
Before I could ask what he was doing, he pushed the tube, and we went sliding down the snowy hill. Icy cold air hit my face as the tube picked up speed and laughter bubbled up inside me.
It was exhilarating! I’d never done anything like it. And doing it with Wilson? His big strong body behind mine, taking some of the chill for me, holding me with his free hand as the other steered the tube this way and that? Incredible!
When we reached the bottom, I was still laughing, smiling so big it almost hurt my face. “What did you think?” He wrapped both arms around me, pressing his lips against my cheek. I turned towards him, loving the way his eyes seemed to sparkle.
“Can we do it again?” I asked, and he chuckled.
“Of course. All day if you want.”
And that was exactly what we did.
We went up and down the hill. Chatting about little things while we waited for the escalator to take us back up. By the end of the day, just as the sun started to set those last three times we stood, Wils at my back, holding me close, we didn’t say a word. It was like the two of us knew the day was ending and that meant we had a plane to catch first thing in the morning.
Even so, at the end of the night, we pulled over to a little pink hut that sold French hot chocolate and crêpes. We ate them around a bonfire the little café had set up. Small touches and heated glances were enough to build the heady anticipation between us. So much we didn’t make it back to the cabin before pulling over on the side of a dark road, where Wilson showed me just how spacious the backseat was.