Chapter 21
lukas
Aimee was holding on to the toilet bowl for what appeared to be dear life.
“I threw up on you,” she said, her voice filled with warbly tears and embarrassment.
I rubbed her back and let her hair fall over her shoulder—away from the open toilet. I reached up and grabbed the hand towel, wetting it.
“I threw up on you, and now you’ll never want to kiss me again,” she moaned.
I smirked.
Little did this girl know just how much I wanted to kiss her, and her throwing up on me after a night of her drinking to a dead guy’s shit memory, literally did not rank as a reason to not kiss her.
“That’s not true,” I said.
I took the wet towel and pressed it against her forehead, and when she sat up, I used it to wipe her mouth.
She looked like shit, but drinking all night will do that to a person.
Good thing getting out on the slopes with fresh pine mountain air was a pretty solid cure for a hangover.
The adrenaline and cold shocked the sobriety right up and left you feeling wide awake.
Though, looking at Aimee, I wasn’t exactly sure it would work on her.
I hand her the ginger ale after cracking it open. “Little sips,” I said, tilting the bottle to her lips.
I couldn’t help but watch the column over her throat as she swallowed and dirty things came to mind. I ignored the growing stiffness in my pants, because now really wasn’t the time. When I was sure she wasn’t going to vomit again, I handed her the bottle and stood up.
She looked up at me with these big doe-y eyes, and the dirty images became harder to ignore.
I swallowed hard and turned around. “I’m going to get changed really quick, and then we’re going to get you changed, so we can hit the slopes.”
I heard her groan.
I slipped out of the snow pants after unlacing the snow boots.
The sweater came off next, and the under layer I had on.
Both reeked of vomit. I walked back over to the bathroom, where I found Aimee curled on her side on the floor.
Her eyes tracked my body—the bare expanse of my chest, the tight fitting thermals I’d pulled on this morning.
And I knew she was probably getting an eyeful of how her heated stare was making me feel, but I couldn’t feel ashamed.
I totally should because she was sick and hungover and me fantasizing about her was wrong. But despite it all, her eyes heated and I wanted nothing more than to pick up where we left off last night.
“How’re you feeling?” I asked, pulling on a clean shirt before crouching down.
Brushing hair out of her face, I checked her over. The bottle of ginger ale was clutched to her chest, her temple pressed into the floor.
She blinked slowly and swallowed. “As long as I don’t move, I think I’ll be okay.”
“I was afraid you were going to say that,” I said, sighing.
She mumbled something about how much she loved the tile in this bathroom, but I paid her no attention. I bent over and scooped her off the floor, throwing her over my shoulder. She yelped, startled.
“I promised you skiing, so we’re skiing. You can come back and make out with my bathroom floor after—though, I can totally recommend something much more satisfying to kiss,” I said.
“Lukas, put me down,” she said, smacking my back.
Maybe it was testing a boundary, but I brought my hand up and smacked her ass.
It was a loud satisfying crack. She gasped and then hissed in a breath.
I knew she was about to retaliate—I expected nothing less—so I dropped her from my shoulder onto the bed, where she bounced once.
She made to bolt upright, but I dropped down over her, my left knee pressing into the bed by her hip, my hands on the bed, on either side of her face. She stilled as I moved in closer.
“Be careful what you ask for Aimee,” I whispered along her cheek.
I heard the stuttering intake of breath and I shifted closer, as my lips just barely ghosted along her heated skin.
“I’m not kidding when I say that I’ve wanted to kiss you for longer than you could imagine, and I’m in the business of giving you anything…and everything you could ever want or desire.”
I shifted my weight to one hand and used the other one to brush hair off her face. It was soft and silky and I wanted nothing more than to run my hands through it, tangle in it…tug it.
“Do you know how badly I want to kiss you right now?” I whispered.
“I have vomit breath,” she said, turning her face away from mine.
I grabbed her chin and made her look at me.
I leaned in closer, my chest pressing down on hers—just enough to keep her there, but not enough to crush her.
I watched in mild amusement as she clamped her lips shut, but that didn’t stop me.
I pressed mine to hers, and then her nose, and then her cheek and then back to her lips.
I wanted to devour her, but I knew she wouldn’t let me until she brushed her teeth.
I pressed one more quick close mouth kiss to her lips and then stood up, dragging her into a sitting position at the same time. I grabbed another pair of snow pants, and slipped back into the ski boots.
I looked at her outfit of sweatpants and a long sleeve shirt.
“You’re going to have to change,” I said. “Do you have snow pants and a down jacket?”
“I have a jacket, but I don’t have pants.”
“Okay, we’ll get you some when we get you fitted for boots and skis. Do I need to come with you to get changed?”
“I do not need you to come with me,” she said, huffing.
I grinned. “Do you want me to come with you?”
“Absolutely not,” she said and stood up.
I followed her out of the room. “Meet me in the lobby in 10 minutes.”
“15. I need to freshen up.”
“Fine, 15. It’s already late.”
I headed for the lobby and ran right into her family, plus Aimee’s two cohorts. Her brother looked a little less than thrilled and the girls looked terrible—I’d seen all the bottles they’d emptied last night.
I opened my mouth to introduce myself, but Aimee’s mother pulled me into a hug and squeezed.
“Thank you,” she whispered in my ear before pulling away.
Her husband gave me a quick nod, and they walked away. I felt a burn in my chest, and felt unworthy of her gratitude.
“She’s right. We’d hoped that this trip would help her get back on her feet,” Orion said and held out his hand for me to shake.
“Annalise and Eloise told me everything.”
I took his hand and gave a quick jerk of my head.
“Though, if you break my sister’s heart—I will end you,” he said, and I believed him.
“I’m taking her skiing—has she ever been?”
“It’s been since before the accident. We have passes up at check-in—we’re probably hitting the slopes tomorrow, if you want to join us,” he said.
Annalise leaned into his side, and his arm automatically moved around her shoulders. I watched as she buried her face in the side of his chest.
“I’ll let you know. I think you need to get these two some ginger ale and a toilet bowl. I counted at least six empty bottles of wine when I saw them last night.”
Orion chuckled. “I heard about that. I’ll take care of them. You take care of my sister.”
I nodded again and started to move away.
“Oh, Lukas.”
I turned to look at Orion. His brows were furrowed, a little line creasing between them.
“She’ll tell you her knee is fine, but if it looks like it’s bothering her—it is.”
He turned and walked away, leaving me standing in the lobby contemplating how long I should wait before going to get Aimee. I had a feeling she was going to take a lot longer than 15 minutes.
I lasted all of ten seconds, before hitting the elevator button, calling it to the lobby.
There were a few people milling about, and fought tapping my foot in anticipation.
The lift dinged, and I stepped out of the way to let a couple off.
As soon as I entered, I hit the close doors button like a madman.
I could see a different couple, waving at me to hold the elevator, but I pretended I didn’t, and it closed in their faces.
Maybe not my finest moment, but I had a plan, and I didn’t involve awkward bystanders. I was betting what I wanted to do, on a lot of things, and I hoped they all worked in my favor.
The door dinged and opened, right in front of Aimee, who was on her phone, not paying attention.
“Aimee,” I asked.
She was grinning at her phone, so I reached out and grabbed her the same time the doors slid shut. She screamed, dropping her phone and the jacket she had draped over her arm. I let go of her, and she backed away, pressing herself into the far wall.
“Shit,” I hissed, moving towards her, my hands hovering around her face and head, before cupping the back of it and pulling her against my chest.
I held her against me, her back still pressed into the wall, and I waited for both of our heartbeats to return to a normal rhythm.
“I thought you’d maybe heard me say your name,” I said.
I felt her arms come around my waist.
“I really didn’t mean to scare you,” I said, moving my hands to rub soothing circles on her back.
Aimee inhaled a deep breath and then pushed back, her hands moving to my sides. Tears glistened in her eyes, and fuck, I felt like shit. I brought one hand up and wiped my thumb under her eye.
“I wanted to pull you in here and kiss you absolutely senseless before we hit the slopes.”
Heat bloomed in her cheeks, and I saw the color of her eyes deepen with desire, her hands fisting in the fabric at my sides.
“Then do it,” she said, wiping a rogue tear.
I reached over and hit the emergency stop button, and then I was tilting her head, pulling her to her tiptoes before claiming her mouth with mine.