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I nod. “Plus, another cousin married that professional soccer player, Rylan Greene. His family is from Sunrise Bay, the next town over.”
He sits up straight and shakes his head. Matt’s a big deal, especially in the snowboarding arena, but the Winter Games are only every four years, so he’s not nearly as well-known as Palmer’s cousins. I don’t mention the fact that her mom’s twin is the famous singer Phoenix Bailey and her husband, Griffin, is an esteemed music producer.
“Damn. That’s impressive. No wonder she doesn’t get all googly-eyed like so many other women around me.”
That comment right there makes me suspicious. Is Matt only pursuing Palmer because she’s not fawning all over him?
“I feel like I really need to make sure this is a good date now. Maybe we should go to Anchorage.”
I nod. “You’re safer there than anywhere around here. Even Winterberry Falls has informants who will gossip about you guys to Buzz Wheel.”
“What the hell is this Buzz Wheel?”
I take off my gloves, dig into my pocket, and pull out my phone. “It’s an app that posts the town gossip. Anyone who’s a Bailey is always in there, along with other people in town. No one knows who writes it. It used to be an online blog that would erase each entry after twenty-four hours, but now that it’s an app, you can read any article you want.”
“Fucking small towns.” He hands me back my phone.
I nod and put it back in my pocket, zip it closed, and pull on my gloves.
“One more run and I’m done.” He gets up and walks over to the top of the halfpipe where he takes the liberty of going ahead of everyone.
I get on my board and make my way down the hill to meet him at the bottom. I hate the fact Matt’s going to be alone with her tonight. I know Palmer—she might even sleep with him. Fuck, the image of Matt having his hands on her, grinding inside of her, kissing her skin is agonizing.
Jesus. I slide to a stop at the bottom of the hill. I’m in so deep, I don’t know how to climb my way out. Where is all this coming from? Jealousy isn’t my thing. It never has been.
Damn it all to hell. I might need an exorcism.
I walk into Palmer’s house later that day. “Hello!”
“Up here,” a voice other than Palmer’s calls.
I groan because I recognize that voice, and this one’s always giving me shit.
I climb the stairs and follow the sound of laughter to Palmer’s bedroom. Adley is lying on the bed, enthralled with some television show.
“Hey, kiddo,” I say, sitting next to her.
“Daddy!” She climbs into my lap but continues watching television, leaning her head against my chest.
Harper is curling Palmer’s hair while she sits in a chair facing her vanity mirror, watching.
“What’s all this?” I motion to the two of them. I know, but I want Palmer to tell me.
“Don’t you know, my cousin has a hot D-A-T-E with a snowboarder.” Harper waggles her eyebrows.
At least she spelled out the word date. I’m assuming for Adley’s benefit.
“The other day it looked like you wanted to be the one out with the snowboarder.”
Harper glares at me with the curling iron still in Palmer’s hair.
“Harp!”
“Shit. Sorry.” She quickly loosens the barrel and pulls it from Palmer’s hair.
“Now you swear in front of my kid?” I say, arching an eyebrow.
Harper and I have a unique relationship. She’s the classic feisty redhead who speaks her mind about everything. And usually, when I’m alone with her, she’s telling me that I’m an idiot and saying cliché things like, “shit or get off the pot” or “fish or cut bait.” I’m not sure Harper would be capable of being only friends with a guy. She’s the horniest woman I’ve ever met. She’s always talking about sex or men or her hook-ups. That’s not a judgment. She’s single and an adult, she can do what she wants. But I think to her, Palmer and I are like a rare species she just can’t wrap her head around.
