Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
Rain hammered steadily against the lodge windows, turning the lake into a sheet of gray and canceling every outdoor plan he had lined up for the day.
No hikes. No trail rides. No excuse to be busy.
Slater sat at his desk in the office up in the lodge, arms crossed, feet up, watching droplets race each other down the glass.
He hated being idle, especially when idle meant thinking.
And all of his thoughts were currently about Evie.
She was in the office down the hall with Milo.
The rain had been torrential this morning, with flooding possible on the road leading into town, so they decided to work here today.
He’d snuck out of her cabin before the sun was up, but a few hours later, he caught her trying—and failing—to get up to the lodge with a poor excuse of an umbrella that was practically turned inside out from the wind.
“Wait,” he called out, grabbing the heavy-duty umbrella he always kept in his cabin.
She’d run up on his porch looking a little like a drowned rat—an adorable drowned rat—and looked at him questioningly.
“You need something a little more durable than that little thing.” Then he grabbed one of his parkas and forced her to put it on.
It was comically large on her, but it gave her even more protection.
“Come on. Let’s get you up to your car.”
“Oh, we’re not going into town,” she told him. “Milo said it would be okay for us to work up at the lodge today. We’re going to have breakfast and then work in his office.”
So he’d held her close and walked with her up to the lodge, and if anyone questioned why he was holding her close, he would have simply said it was to protect her from the storm.
But no one said a word, and he got the thrill of a few minutes of holding her curvy little body against his.
So now he was bored and entirely too focused on the fact that she was in the office right next to his.
The door was closed, so he couldn’t hear her or walk by just to catch a glimpse of her, but in his mind, he imagined her all focused and organized.
Unlike him. And probably not thinking about how she’d kissed him breathless against her cabin wall last night before playfully shoving him down on her bed and having her way with him.
He dragged a hand down his face.
This was fine. Totally fine.
Everything was just freaking peachy.
“Wow.”
Slater didn’t turn.
“Didn’t realize we’d switched to the brooding mountain-man aesthetic today. I’m not sure it’s a good look on you.”
He glanced sideways and saw Axel standing in the doorway, mug in hand, watching him with entirely too much interest.
“I’m not brooding.”
“Mm-hmm. Sure.”
“I’m assessing.”
“Assessing,” Axel repeated. “The rain?”
“The schedule.”
“Yours or Evie’s?”
Slater’s head snapped fully toward him. “Why would I be thinking about or assessing Evie’s schedule?”
Axel took a slow sip of coffee. “Don’t deny it. You absolutely were.”
Slater dropped his feet to the floor. “It’s a bad weather day. I’m bored. Connor refused to let Lexi drive in today, and Nora’s off doing something somewhere and I’m just…”
“Bored?” Axel finished for him.
“Exactly.”
“Right.”
With a huff of frustration, he glared hard at his friend. “I lead outdoor activities, Axel. When it rains, I don’t have a job.”
“You have a job.”
“Not today.”
Axel studied him over the rim of his mug before stepping further into the office. “Look, call me crazy, but…last night around the firepit? There was a vibe,” he said casually.
Slater froze. “A what?”
“A vibe.”
“What does that even mean? There was no vibe. You’re crazy.”
“Just as I suspected.” Axel tilted his head slightly. “I knew you’d instantly go for denial. It’s a classic response, but I just figured you’d own up to it.”
Slater scoffed. “Own up to what? I still don’t know what we’re talking about.”
Axel just looked at him, and Slater held the stare for a beat too long. With a muttered curse, he knew it was pointless to keep playing this game. “There’s no vibe.”
“There is,” Axel countered. “Between you and Evie.”
Slater let out a sharp laugh that sounded nothing like amusement. “Evie’s a friend.”
“So?”
“She works for Milo. She’s going back to Seattle in a few weeks. Her life’s there, not here.”
“And?”
“And nothing,” he snapped wearily
Axel lowered his mug slowly. “Defensive, much?”
“I am not defensive.”
“You’re aggressively not defensive.”
Slater stood and paced behind his desk. “There’s nothing going on. So whatever you think you saw or whatever vibe you think you felt, you’re wrong. There’s nothing going on.”
Axel’s eyebrow lifted. “I didn’t say there was.”
They stood there in not-so-companionable silence for several long moments. Rain pounded harder against the windows. Unable to stand it, Slater looked away first.
Axel stepped closer, voice still easy. “You know I don’t care if there is.”
“There isn’t.”
“You’ve said that four times.”
“Because there isn’t.”
“Okay.”
Slater frowned. “Okay?”
“Yeah. Okay.”
“That’s it?”
Axel shrugged. “You’re not pacing because you miss her. You’re not staring at the office door like you’re waiting for her to walk by. And you definitely didn’t look like someone trying very hard not to touch her during s’mores last night.”
Slater went still. “You noticed that?”
“I have eyes.”
Slater exhaled through his nose. “It’s nothing,” he said again, but it came out quieter this time. Less certain.
Axel softened slightly. “Look,” he said. “If it’s nothing, fine. If it’s something, that's also fine. Just don’t pretend you’re bored because of the weather.”
Slater’s jaw tightened. “I’m not pretending.”
Axel gave him a look that said he absolutely was.
The office door down the hall creaked open, and both of them glanced instinctively toward Slater’s open door.
Evie walked by and then stopped, laughing at something Milo was saying.
Her hair was pulled back in a sleek ponytail, the sleeves of her blouse were rolled up, and she was completely unaware of the way Slater’s entire body shifted at the sight of her.
She looked into his office and smiled at them both, but her gaze lingered on Slater for just a moment longer before her attention returned to Milo.
Axel didn’t miss that either, letting out a low chuckle. “Yeah. No vibe at all.”
Slater shot him a glare.
His buddy simply grinned into his coffee. “You’re in trouble,” he added lightly.
Slater watched Evie tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, still smiling as she turned and walked away.
His chest felt tight. “Shut up,” he muttered.
Axel just laughed.
And Slater didn’t deny it again.
Instead, he sat back down behind his desk, huffing out a long breath.
Axel pulled up a chair, and the two of them sat there quietly for a minute.
He knew it would be easy to talk about business and what was going on at the resort, and he definitely didn’t want to talk about what was going on with Evie, but something else came to mind.
“I got an email from my dad the other day,” he began slowly. “They’re retiring his jersey and having a Cal Slater Day at the stadium.” He rolled his eyes.
“And he expects you to be there?”
“Yup.”
“Damn. That’s ballsy.”
“I know.”
“Are you thinking about it?”
Leaning back in his chair, his feet went back up onto the desk. “I want to say no, but…is that just a knee-jerk reaction? Like…am I too old to be holding onto this anger toward him?”
“Slater, come on. I don’t think you’re ever too old if someone hurt you, and clearly your father did. You don’t owe him forgiveness. Especially if he never apologized.”
“Yeah, but…shouldn’t I be the bigger person? Wouldn’t forgiving him—whether he asked for it or not—be good for me?”
Where the hell did that thought come from?
Clearly Axel must have been thinking the same thing because his brows went up. “Wow. Someone’s maturing.”
“I know, right?” The mirthless laugh was out before he knew it. “I’m not saying I’m going to forgive him and then we’ll be best friends or anything, but maybe I just need to let this shit go.”
“That’s totally up to you. I know I can say that I forgave my mom, but that was years after she died. I don’t know if I could have done it if she were still alive,” Axel solemnly admitted.
“I’m not even sure I can do it. Like…in my head, I’m like…sure. Yeah. But I have a feeling I’ll take one look at him or he’ll say something to praise his fabulous parenting skills and I’ll want to punch him in the throat.”
Chuckling, Axel shook his head. “Yeah, you might not be ready to forgive him yet. But maybe you need to actually sit down and have a conversation with him. But not until after the ceremony. Right now he’s going to be in PR mode and I have a feeling that will frustrate the hell out of you.”
“Probably. Then again, everything is frustrating right now,” he murmured.
“And we’re back to Evie,” Axel said with a sly grin. “Are we going to talk about that?”
“No.”
“Oh, come on! You’ll feel better if you do.”
“Somehow I doubt that. Plus, you’re all a bunch of gossips around here. I’ll tell you, you’ll tell Maisie, Maisie will tell Nora…”
“And so on, and so on,” Axel said, clearly amused. “You gossiped about all of us. Seems only fair that we get to do it to you.”