Chapter 25 Giselle
GISELLE
Thayer reached across the table and linked his fingers with mine. “This feels so good.”
“What?” I said, staring across the table at him, a candle flickering between us in the upscale restaurant he’d picked for us.
“Being able to take you out.”
“Yeah? Why’s that?”
“Because you’re hot,” he said.
I laughed. “You’re so stupid.”
The waiter walked over and placed our drinks down in front of us before walking away.
“No, seriously. I’ve just always known we’d be good together,” he said.
“Why’s that?” I asked, picking up my drink and sipping it.
“Well…” he thought about it for a second. “Are we talking before the almost-kiss or after? Because after definitely sucked.”
“Before.”
“Before, you used to laugh at the way I could silence your brother. You and I always liked the same music. And, even though you claimed not to be good at snowboarding, you could tear up a mountain like no girl I’d ever seen before.”
I was beginning to enjoy hearing how much he’d paid attention over the years.
And, I was actually glad we didn’t start this sooner.
I needed time to see that I had this amazing guy in my life who deserved someone who wasn’t so caught up in their work.
It had taken some time, but I could see now that there was more to life than monetary success. “Is that it?” I asked.
He shook his head. “When we were all just hanging at your parents’ house, and you weren’t around your friends, you were so damn gnarly.”
“Gnarly?” I asked, dubiously.
“Yeah. Like you were just so real. And I just wanted to be wrapped up in your world. But you didn’t see it.”
“You were younger than me,” I said, taking another sip of my drink.
“I’m always gonna be younger than you.”
“Yeah, but I thought older guys had it together. I didn’t want to date younger guys who I couldn’t trust.”
“You know you can trust me, right?” Thayer said.
“With my life.”
His eyes flashed away for a second, as if he didn’t know what to do with my honesty, but then he looked back at me with curiosity in his gaze. “What changed?”
“You,” I said matter-of-factly.
He tried to stifle a grin, and it was cute because dimples dipped into his cheeks instead.
“And…” I continued. “It turns out age doesn’t matter. Older guys suck.”
He took a pull of his beer. “So, how are we going to come clean to Kason?”
I dropped my head back and groaned. “I have no idea. You want to do it?”
“Nice try,” he said.
“You could be more agreeable, you know.”
“Is that so?”
I nodded, biting my bottom lip to stop from smiling.
“How about we do it together,” he offered. “Safety in numbers.”
I laughed. “Don’t be so sure.”
Thayer’s phone buzzed in his pocket. He ignored it.
“Maybe you should answer it,” I said.
“There’s no one more important than you,” he said.
“What if it’s your dad?”
“Right.” He slipped his phone from his pocket, and his eyes widened. “Shit. It is my dad.” He stood and answered the call as he walked toward the door. I watched him through the front window as he paced the sidewalk. His face gave nothing away as he listened to whatever his father was saying.
A few minutes later, Thayer tucked his phone back into his pocket. But, instead of coming back inside, he tunneled his fingers through his hair as he stared out at the passing cars.
My heartbeat quickened. What had his father said?
Eventually, he turned and walked back inside the restaurant.
“What did he say?” I asked as soon as he slipped into his seat.
He looked across the table at me and was silent for a long beat. “They can’t find a Carlo who grew up with Gino.”
“What do you mean?”
“My father’s guy went back through school records, real estate documents, even employees at Gino’s jobs growing up. No Carlo.”
“Maybe Carlo’s his middle name. You know how people sometimes go by their middle names,” I said, grasping at straws because the alternative was feeling like we were back at square one.
“I asked the same thing. He said they checked all the information they could find, and they came back with nothing.”
“So, what’s next?”
“He wants to know what you think,” Thayer offered.
“What I think?”
“If they approach Gino asking about Carlo, it could go one of two ways. Gino could lead them right to Carlo, or he could warn Carlo and Carlo disappears.”
I closed my eyes, not sure what other option we had.
“Hey,” he said softly, likely realizing I was reeling.
I looked at him.
His eyes were gentle and caring. “He said he’s reaching out to the local authorities to see if they’ve found anything. Maybe they’ve got videos from sidewalks or intersections. Who knows? Maybe they’ve already been able to ID him, and they’re just keeping it quiet.”
I nodded, wanting to believe he was right.
“Don’t worry, G. My father’s got this.”
“I know. I just want to know the truth.”
“He’ll find it,” he assured me.
The waiter stopped at our table to take our order.
“Can we have the check?” I asked him, earning me a confused look from Thayer.
“We haven’t eaten yet,” Thayer said as the waiter walked away to get our check.
“I know you took me here because you thought I’d like it,” I said. “But, I want to do something you want to do.”
A sly smirk crawled into his cheek. “You sure you want to know what I want to do?”
“Keep it clean Caruthers—at least for now.”
He laughed. “I’ll try.”
Thayer led me upstairs in Mount Cranmore’s ski lodge to an attic stock room.
We ducked, so we didn’t bump our heads on the beams on the pitched ceiling, and moved around boxes before stopping at the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the mountain.
It was dark on the mountain, except for the light coming from an inflatable movie screen at the base.
People watched the movie from snow tubes while heaters were all around to keep them warm.
Thayer tugged my hand and pulled me down to the floor with him, bending his legs so I fit between his knees. “We won’t be able to hear it, but I figured it’d be warmer,” he said as he wrapped his arms around me, and the back of my head rested against his shoulder.
“How many girls have you taken up here?” I asked.
“Just you, G.”
“I don’t believe you.”
He tightened his arms. “I promise. It’s been you and only you.”
My stomach dipped. This right here, this was what our first date should have been. An upscale restaurant was not what I needed. And certainly not what I wanted—especially for us. “We’re finally watching a movie together.”
“You totally could’ve joined us in Aspen.”
I elbowed him, causing him to laugh.
“What? You definitely would’ve taken all of them in the pillow fight.”
“I would’ve,” I assured him. “If any of that actually happened.”
“You don’t think it did?”
“Nope,” I said.
He huffed. “Okay, there was no movie.”
“And?” I prompted.
“There were no games.”
“And?”
“And, there was only a small pillow fight.”
I elbowed him again, eliciting more laughter. “Liar.”
“Fine,” he relented. “There was no pillow fight. I passed out as soon as I left you and Gino in the hallway.”
“I knew it,” I said. And, even though I never really thought any of it happened—especially the pillow fight—I liked knowing for sure. I closed my eyes, remaining present and living in the moment. Being in Thayer’s arms. On our first real date. Alone. Happy.
“Will you come to Steamboat with me?” he asked.
My eyes sprang open. “If you want me there.”
“G, I want you with me at all times.”
I smiled because even though I knew he’d get sick of me if I was always around, I wanted him around me at all times, too. Those were the only times I felt complete. “Well, then it sounds like we’re stuck together.”
He sighed, and it was that exact moment that I knew he was in just as deep as I was.
“Our first date is pretty magical,” I said, taking in the view in front of us.
“It’s not a sleigh ride.”
Having the sudden urge to see him, I twisted around until I kneeled in front of him. I cupped his cheeks between my hands so his eyes were on mine. “I don’t need a sleigh ride. And I don’t need a fancy restaurant. There’s no need to pull out all the stops when you’ve already got me.”
“For how long?” he asked, a vulnerability in his gaze I wasn’t used to.
My heart stuttered. Was he serious? Didn’t he realize that I was all in? “For as long as you’ll have me.”
“So, forever,” he said.
I released a contented sigh. “Sounds perfect.”