Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
CHLOE
The next morning, I start my day by skating on what’s hands down one of the most picturesque rinks I’ve ever been to.
There’s a stunning backdrop of snow-dusted mountains and the faint smell of cinnamon and pine drifting from the nearby cocoa stand.
It’s all so magical! For the first time since I’ve arrived at the Mynt Peak Resort, I feel relaxed.
The rink has always been the place I go to clear my head. It’s a space where everything slows down, and my body knows what to do even when my brain doesn’t. Which is ironic, considering how cluttered my thoughts are right now.
Instead of focusing on the lesson I’ll be giving to some of the resort’s guests a little later today, I stroke around the rink’s perimeter, mentally replaying every word from yesterday’s lunch with Drew. He agreed to spend the week with me. Just as friends. No big deal.
Except it kind of is a big deal. Because I’ve had a crush on him since forever, and now he’s going to be spending time with me. On purpose. I half expected him to laugh at me. I didn’t even plan to ask. The words just slipped out. But if I’m being completely honest, I’m glad they did.
Because this? It feels a little bit like the beginning of a fairy tale. I know I shouldn’t get carried away. But deep down, there’s a tiny flickering hope that maybe, just maybe, by the end of the week, he’ll see me the same way I’ve always seen him.
My mind jumps back to the night we met. Emma and I were in LA, spending the week playing tourists during spring break at the end of our freshman year.
We were trying to take a selfie at the Santa Monica Pier when a voice said from behind us, “You guys need a person with longer arms to take that for you if you wanna fit the whole boardwalk in.”
I lowered my phone and turned, already mentally prepared to give the guy a “No thanks” and tell him that was one of the lamest pickup lines I’d ever heard.
The guy was wearing a Pacific Skyways hoodie, athletic shorts, and aviator sunglasses.
I had to admit, he was attractive. But that was beside the point.
My hands went to my hips. “Uh, thanks for the offer, but we don’t need your—”
“Drew!” Emma squealed, launching herself at him. She jumped up, wrapping her arms and legs around his body. He caught her and spun her around like they did this all the time.
I frowned. This was supposed to be a girls’ trip, not a couple’s trip. I didn’t even know Emma had a boyfriend. I thought she was single, like me. How long had she been keeping him a secret?
Once Emma’s feet were back on the ground, she grinned and gestured toward me. “Chloe, come meet Drew, my brother.”
I relaxed. This was Drew? Huh. She made it seem like he was a skinny, string-bean guy with pale skin from spending all his time indoors playing video games. But he wasn’t. He reminded me of one of those stereotypical California surfers.
Drew was about a foot taller than Emma. About five foot ten.
He had golden sun-kissed skin and nutmeg-colored hair with a few blond highlights.
He wasn’t super muscular-looking, like the guys we saw on Venice Beach, but he wasn’t a stranger to working out either. His legs had some definition to them.
Drew pulled down his sunglasses just enough to give me a look over the top of them.
They were a warm honey color. His smile was teasing.
As I looked closer, the family resemblance was obvious.
He and Emma might have different-colored eyes and hair, but they had the same playful energy.
“So, you’re the Chloe. Emma talks about you all the time. ”
“Oh. Uh. Cool,” I mumbled, completely losing track of what I was supposed to say. For all my friend had talked about her brother, she hadn’t actually given me too many details on him.
Emma punched his arm lightly. “You said you were too busy and too important to hang out with us!”
“I decided to make an exception,” he said with a shrug.
She narrowed her eyes. “How did you even know where we were?”
“Location sharing on your phone. You didn’t disable it. Rookie move.” He flashed a grin like he’d just outwitted a spy network.
Emma groaned. “Creep.”
“You mean genius,” he corrected smoothly, sliding his sunglasses back on. “And besides, I figured I’d be the best possible tour guide. LA is my hometown.” I tried not to stare at his arms as he gestured dramatically to the pier.
“At least someone will appreciate my efforts,” he added with a wink in my direction.
My cheeks flushed. I was sure they were lobster-red. “I’m just here for the churros,” I muttered, quickly looking away.
“Spoken like a girl after my own heart,” Drew said in a way that made my stomach flip. “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure you get the best ones. Not the expensive tourist-trap ones that taste like freezer burn and cardboard.”
Emma looped an arm around my shoulder. “Chloe’s from San Diego, which is like three hours from here. I’m sure they have better churros down there. But if you want to show us where to grab dinner on our broke-college-girl budget, we won’t say no.”
“I’ll do you one better,” Drew said, slinging an arm around his sister and steering us toward the street. “Dinner is on me.”
Emma threw her hands in the air. “Yes! That means I can splurge and get a double chocolate-chip frappuccino with extra whip from Norma’s Cafe for breakfast tomorrow!”
Drew chuckled. “Wait until you two graduate and get real jobs as concierges at high-end hotels, then you can drink overpriced foam every day.”
“Drew,” she groaned. “Get your facts right. I’ve told you before, Chloe isn’t studying hospitality management like me. She’s smart. She’s a math major. And she won’t need a real job. She’s a figure skater who’s gonna go pro when we graduate.”
“Figure skater, huh?” Drew turned to me, cocking a brow. “So you do spinny things on ice?”
I rubbed the back of my neck. “That’s one way to put it.”
Emma gave him a look like, “I can’t believe you said something that stupid.” She sighed dramatically. “Ignore him. I got all the brain cells in the family.”
Drew groaned. “You’re lucky Chloe is here, otherwise your dinner would be gas-station hot dogs and a bag of chips.”
“Yuck.” Emma scrunched her face. “Everybody knows that’s one food you should avoid.”
“What’s wrong with gas-station hot dogs?”
“Don’t get me started,” she muttered.
“I’m genuinely curious, sister dearest. Now tell me . . . what’s wrong with them?”
I laughed, finally relaxing.
Somehow, in the span of fifteen minutes, Drew had gone from the random guy in aviators to someone who made me feel like I belonged. Like I wasn’t just Emma’s quiet roommate tagging along on a trip.
I remember thinking that for the first time in my life, I felt like I wasn’t the awkward third wheel.
Don’t get me wrong, I love my parents, and I know they’ve always wanted what was best for me, but for so much of my life, they were too busy for me.
Emma and Drew, on the other hand, treated me like one of their siblings. I felt like I belonged.
And speaking of Drew . . . just as I skate over to the boards to grab my water bottle, I spy him leaning casually against the rink rail with a coffee in hand, his gaze fixed firmly on me.
“Hey,” he says, lifting the cup slightly in greeting.
I nod to him, take a drink from my bottle, then skate over. “Hi. You’re here early. I didn’t think I’d see you until later.”
“I had a delivery to drop off. And I also wanted to check on the fish tank.”
“And how’s it doing since yesterday’s deep cleaning?”
“Better,” he says, rubbing the back of his neck. “But I still need to replace part of the filtration system and the, uh . . . never mind. It’s aquarist stuff. I don’t want to bore you.”
I tilt my head. “If I wasn’t interested, I wouldn’t have asked.”
He blinks, then a slow smile creeps across his face. It’s a look that sends a shiver of delight up my spine.
I take another sip of water. “How much time do you have on your hands?”
He glances at his watch. “I can spare a half hour.”
The wheels in my head start to spin. Here’s my chance to spend some time with Drew! And introduce him to my world. “Perfect. That’s just enough time to squeeze in a skating lesson.”
He inhales sharply. “I run, I ski, and I snowboard. But I’m not coordinated enough for ice skating.”
I cross my arms and raise an eyebrow. “When was the last time you tried?”
“Uh . . . I don’t know.”
“If you don’t remember, then it’s time to try again.” I gesture toward the empty rink. “Who knows when we’ll have private ice again?”
His gaze shifts to the rink, then back to me. There’s a split second where I think he might back out, but then he sighs. “I wear size nine in skates.”
Internally, I’m doing my happy dance. “I’ll see what I can find.”