“Why?” Beck asked.
“It’s no problem,” Pia interjected. “We can be up and Adam whatever time you want.”
“Up and Adam?” Mason asked. “Who says that?”
“I do,” she insisted.
“That alright with you?” Cole asked Delaney.
She looked at me.
It was her slight hesitation that told me to go for it. “Not sure what time you work on Tuesday, but maybe we can even get in our ski day after I meet with the roofer. Maybe crash another night and head out Tuesday morning.”
“Actually,” she said, “I’m closing Tuesday and don’t go in until one.”
“Perfect, but it’s up to you.”
Every single person in the kitchen turned to poor Delaney.
“You don’t have to decide right this second,” I said, letting her off the hook. “Let me know.”
“Whelp,” Beck said, heading toward the fridge. “I for one am making use of the hot tub.” He took out a beer. “Come on, party pooper,” he said to Cole. “Refill your drink and get the hell out there.”
Cole rolled his eyes. “It’s like dealing with a fifteen-year-old,” he said to no one in particular.
“And you’re like dealing with an eighty-year-old. Let’s go.”
The two of them headed upstairs to change, leaving the four of us in the kitchen.
“Gotta pee. Be right back,” Pia said to Mason.
I turned to Delaney. Hopeful, but knowing that a kiss was one thing, an overnight alone… completely another.
“You sure you don’t mind some company tomorrow night?” she asked.
In response, I got off the stool, took her glass as if to refill her drink but used the opportunity to whisper into her ear so that Mason couldn’t hear me.
“Just the opposite, cupcake. I’m very much looking forward to it.”
17
DELANEY
“Do you miss being a cop?”
Mason and Pia sat on the big couch. Parker was on the smaller one, and when I’d come back from the bathroom and the three of them had moved to sit in front of the fire, I panicked. The armchair was cozy, especially since I was closest to the fire. But I should have been brave enough to sit by Parker.
My mind was a jumbled mess of contradictions. Wanting to kiss him again. Wanting to get in the first car out of here tomorrow, go home, and bury myself in my bed. Wanting to bury myself in Parker’s bed. Wanting to go back in time and not have kissed him at all.
How could a person want so many opposite things at once?
Makis. That’s how.
A huge part of me wanted to forget the sleepless nights I spent waiting for a text that never came. Or the emptiness of life without a man who clearly wasn’t right for me but who I missed nonetheless. But the hurt was still there, lingering.
Maybe it was good we weren’t sitting together. He looked so handsome in sweats. Though his hair was dry, when it had been wet earlier, it was all I could do to stop myself from running my hands through it.
Mason had just taken a swig of beer when I asked the question.
