He smiled and took a sip. “I can think of worse ways to spend an afternoon.”
My face grew hot at his comment. “You probably didn’t even learn on the bunny hill,” I joked. “Probably just went straight to jumping off cliffs.”
He chuckled. “Not quite. My dad was definitely out there on that exact hill towing me around with a leash.”
I smiled at the thought of a miniature Giles riding a tiny board.
“That sounds like the cutest thing I ever heard.”
His eyes looked bright and happy with the memory of his dad. I decided to take another chance on asking him about his life.
“So.” I approached the subject cautiously. “What were your parents like?”
His face hardened at the mention of them, and I immediately regretted bringing it up again. Why did I insist on being so nosy? Especially when things were going so well between the two of us.
“They were the best. The warmest people you could ever hope to meet.”
I waited for him to elaborate, but when he didn’t, I stared back at the fire. Not wanting to push him further, I desperately searched my mind for something to say.
“My parents are warm too, not just because they live in Florida.” I wanted to hit myself for how stupid that sounded and for bringing up my parents, who were very much alive. “Sorry, that was a dumb thing to say,” I muttered.
The corner of his lip tugged up slightly. “No, tell me about them.”
“Well,” I started carefully, not wanting to gush too much. “They’re great. They’ve always been so supportive of my sister and me. Even with the whole Garrett thing…” my voice trailed off. The last thing I wanted to discuss with Giles was my cheating scumbag of an ex-boyfriend.
“What’s your sister like?”
“Beautiful. Amazing. Adventurous. Pretty much me, but better.”
He gave me a puzzled look. “I could argue that all of those words describe you too.”
My cheeks flushed. I hoped my sunburnt face disguised it. I should have worn more sunscreen, but who knew you needed to lather that on when you were surrounded by five feet of snow?
“If you met her, you’d get it.”
“I don’t think I would.”
I glanced up, and our eyes locked for a few heartbeats.
“Hey, you two.” Erin popped up out of nowhere and had one hand on the back of each of our chairs.
Giles cleared his throat and started to fidget as if we had just been caught doing something inappropriate.
“Sorry, did I interrupt something?” She winked at me.
“Stop that,” I mouthed silently at her.
Had she gotten Giles and me alone together on purpose? From the huge grin that was plastered across her face, it sure seemed that way.
“No, good timing,” Giles said, standing up. “I’ve got to check on something. I’ll see you two later.”
He walked away, but before he was out of earshot, he turned back. “Good job today, Florida.”
“Thanks,” I called after him, his back already turned again.
Erin looked at me expectantly. “So? How did it go?”
I shrugged. “It was fine. I’ve almost got turning down.”
