Chapter 15
Chapter Fifteen
They didn’t stay up all night.
Actually, they both fell into an exhausted sleep sometime around midnight, and now that the alarm was going off, Slater had nothing but regrets.
Reaching over, he shut the alarm off and laughed quietly when he realized he was indeed hanging on to the edge of the bed. Evie, meanwhile, was sleeping diagonally across the rest of the space with most of the blankets.
“Note to self, make sure whatever place we buy has enough room for an Alaskan king bed where we’re going to have to give the Scandinavian Sleep Method a try.”
Carefully, he rolled over and smiled. Her mouth was open, there were creases on her face from the way she must have been sleeping, one arm was thrown over her head, and her hair was in wild disarray.
As crazy as it was, she was still the sexiest woman he’d ever seen.
And he had to drive her to the airport in a few hours.
Milo had originally said he’d do it, but Slater talked him out of it. It felt like something he ought to do. It would have been wrong to stay at the resort and watch her drive away. This way, they could have their goodbye privately without all of their friends standing around watching.
Speaking of their friends…
Slater sat up, propping his pillows behind him before reaching for his phone. They’d had their “goodbye” dinner last night, but he wanted to make sure no one planned anything for breakfast.
Slater: Morning. Just wanted to see if anyone had breakfast plans I need to know about.
Three dots immediately appeared.
Milo: Since you’re not letting me drive Evie to the airport, I thought maybe the four of us could have breakfast together.
Groaning quietly, he knew it wasn’t an unreasonable request.
Slater: Sure. What time? Evie’s still sleeping.
Milo: I was thinking around nine? What time do you leave for the airport?
Slater: Ten. It’s an hour's drive, and she needs to be there two hours early for her flight.
Milo: Okay, How about 8? It’s only 6:30 now.
Slater: That should work.
He paused as a text from another thread came in.
Dave: Hey, Slater! That job you asked about is all set!
Dave: I’m emailing the contract for you to digitally sign right now.
Dave: I’ll see you later today, man, and thanks!
Relief hit him hard as he read and re-read the text. He’d been half-heartedly putting out feelers for jobs for the last few months, with no luck. But this was more like a favor, and it would get him started on the journey of moving to Seattle.
Slater: Thanks, Dave. I’ll get everything signed and back over to you.
Slater: Talk to you later.
Then he switched back over to the group chat and saw that Connor had begged out, but that he wished Evie a safe trip, and Axel and Maisie were also bowing out because they wanted a quiet morning. Slater couldn’t blame them. That’s what he’d been hoping for too.
Soon.
Slater: Are we doing breakfast up at the restaurant or down here at the cabins?
Milo: Nora suggested here at the cabins. Just casual. I’ll go up and grab muffins and whatnot. Why don’t you and Evie come over at 8?
Slater: That works.
Slater: But I have something I need to talk to you about. Privately. Can we make that happen before I leave for the airport?
Milo: Absolutely.
Tossing the phone down, he shifted slightly to nudge her to wake up. It was no simple task. The woman slept hard.
“Evie,” he whispered, nuzzling her cheek. “Wake up, beautiful.”
“Mmfft…”
Slater let his hand gently caress her jaw, and then down over her shoulder, taking the blanket down with him until he exposed her breast.
That’s where he focused all of his attention because he knew she’d arch her back and stretch up into his hand in no time.
“Come on, sleepy girl,” he said softly. His finger traced slow circles around her nipple. “You need to wake up…”
She let out a throaty hum, shifting beneath his touch, and he couldn’t help but smile.
“That’s my girl. It’s time to wake up.” He kept his voice quiet so he didn’t startle her, but Evie’s eyes opened and she gave him the sweetest smile. “There you are. Good morning.”
“Mm…Good morning. What time is it?”
“About 6:40,” he replied, his hand still touching her. “We’re meeting Milo and Nora for breakfast at eight.”
She hummed again. “Then I guess you’ll need to make love to me really quickly so we have time to shower and get ready for breakfast.”
This girl…
Hauling her close, he kissed her even as he positioned himself over her. He hated the thought of being quick, but he sure as hell loved being thorough.
“So you’ll help me with this?”
Milo sipped his coffee, and in typical Milo fashion, took his time answering. “Of course I’m going to help. It just seems like you could have planned it a little better.”
“Look, I can’t keep saying that I’m not good at this stuff, okay? I get it. And I suck at making plans in advance. This was the best I could do.”
“Well then, don’t worry about it. I’ll handle the rest.”
“Thanks.”
“Just maybe next time…”
“Alright…I get it. You hate last-minute stuff. Do I need to ask Axel or Walker to do this?”
“No, no, no. It’s fine.”
But Slater knew his friend was inwardly freaking out because he overthought everything, whereas Slater did not.
Yeah. I should’ve asked Axel or Walker.
They were sitting in Milo’s cabin while Evie and Nora had gone back to his cabin to finish packing. Evie needed another suitcase, so Nora was lending her one, and they decided to deal with it now after Slater had casually mentioned that he had urgent resort business he needed to discuss with Milo.
“You’re sure about this?” Milo asked after a long moment.
“Yup.”
“I think I know the answer to this, but did you ever decide about going to your father’s big ceremony?”
Shaking his head, he said, “I did, and I’m not going. Nope. I said everything I needed to say that day in my office. He hung around and tried to talk to me some more, but I wasn’t interested.”
“Good for you.”
“I guess. Although I’m sure it’s going to be big news for a day or two.
You know, it kind of turns the bastard into a holiday.
A monument. A banner. A piece of baseball mythology.
” With a snort of disgust, he shook his head.
“I don’t need to be there, and I certainly don’t want a commemorative bobblehead or anything. ”
Milo chuckled. “I can’t even imagine.”
“Sadly, I can.” He took a sip of his coffee.
“But from here on out, I refuse to think about him or give in to all the propaganda I’ve had to listen to my whole life.
I feel like I’ve finally hit a point where I’m living my life for myself.
As myself. And not living it based on what he did or didn’t do. ”
“That’s awesome, Slater. I’m proud of you. Really.”
“Thanks. Maybe I’ll finally get my shit together like the rest of you.”
“It’s not a competition.”
“I know, but…I’m kind of looking forward to it.”
Milo looked like he was going to say more, but Nora and Evie were walking through the door.
“Okay, now I think she’s all packed,” Nora said as she sat down on the couch beside Milo.
“I probably should have just shipped everything home,” Evie said with a small laugh, taking her place beside Slater. “It would have been easier, and then I could have skipped dealing with checking my bags at the airport.”
“You still can,” Milo reasoned. “Nora and I can take everything into town and ship it. All you’ll need is your carry-on. All your necessities can fit in that, and it’s not like you brought a ton of stuff with you.”
“Tell that to my fourth suitcase.”
“You know what I’m saying. If not having to deal with checking bags and then worrying about them getting lost and not making it all the way home with you…”
“Does that really happen?” Evie asked, looking at all of them.
“It shouldn’t, but you have a layover and if there are delays…” Milo went on with a shrug.
“And you can really ship my luggage?” she asked incredulously. “That seems like maybe I’m being excessive.”
“Or practical,” Nora added. “Besides, your boss will pay for it, so it won’t cost you anything. Right, Milo?”
He smiled serenely. “Of course.”
She looked up at Slater. “What do you think? Am I being ridiculous?”
“Personally, I’m all for convenience,” he said easily.
“I hate having to wait in line and tag my own bags only to get to my destination and find they didn’t make it.
If Milo’s willing to handle it, I say do it.
You’re going home, so it’s not like you’re going to be without the things you need.
Just put your essentials in your carry-on. ”
She glanced at Milo. “And you’re sure you don’t mind?”
“I’ll ship it out today and pay for it to get there the quickest way possible.”
Beside him, she sagged with relief. “Okay. Thank you. I don’t travel a whole lot, and flying alone makes me a little nervous.”
“Don’t worry,” Nora assured her. “We’ve got you covered.”
“Thanks.”
“Anyone want more coffee?” Nora asked.
Slater’s phone rang, and he glanced at the screen as he stood. “Uh…none for me, but I need to take this.” He looked down at Evie. “I’ll meet you back at the cabin.”
Then he waved goodbye and stepped outside and onto the path before answering. “Hey, Dave! What’s up?”
Evie stared out of the window overlooking the runway and tried not to think about the fact that she was leaving.
Not just the resort and the friends she’d somehow collected in a mere month, but Slater.
The gate area buzzed with the usual airport chaos—rolling suitcases, muffled announcements, someone arguing with a gate agent about a missed connection—but Evie felt strangely removed from it all, like she was watching someone else’s life unfold from the outside.
She wrapped her fingers around the paper cup of coffee she’d bought ten minutes ago and hadn’t touched since.
It had been a good goodbye. A clean one. A temporary one.
And that was the only reason she’d been able to hold herself together.
Slater had walked her into the terminal, carried her bag even though she’d insisted she could manage it, and given her that easy, crooked smile she’d come to love.