I rapidly blinked away the burning sunlight from my eyes. “What? Who’s there?”
“They’re here to get us out,” he said. “The storm must have passed.”
“Yeah. I got that from the bright white light burning holes into my corneas.”
“It’s Azi and Mateo. We have brought the snowmobiles to save you!” Azi shouted and banged again.
“I’m going to murder him.” I launched myself in the direction of the door. Owen grabbed me by the middle to stop me.
“Easy there. Might want to get some clothes on first,” he rumbled from behind, his hot chest hard against my bare back.
My mind flashed to last night, on our second or third round, when he had me pressed into the mattress, face down, grinding into me from behind, while he teased me with his hand. I felt myself melting back against him now at the memory. His large hand sprawled and cupped both my breasts and squeezed to emphasize my nakedness. My head lulled back, and I was seconds from purring and rubbing myself all over him. It was like he found my reset button, and I immediately lost control of my body.
He groaned.
“Fine. I’ll get dressed. But then somebody is getting punched in the gut,” I said, letting him release me. I found my dried-out snowsuit and tugged it on, though I had absolutely no desire to. My options were limited.
“I thought you’d be a morning person,” he said.
I looked over at the loose smile on Owen’s face and the gleam in his eyes.
“Ew. You’re a morning person, aren’t you?” I made a disgusted face.
“You are adorable.” He kissed my head, and I swatted at him as he ducked out of the way.
“Pretty cold out here,” Azi called with another knock.
“Just give us a minute,” Owen said.
The two low voices outside exchanged laughter after a mumbled comment. So much for subtlety. Owen’s face turned bright red as he busied himself gathering our meager supplies. Was he embarrassed by me? Or was he worried about the sort of assumptions they’d make about his character? He wouldn’t meet my gaze as we rushed to open the door, and my first knot of worry formed. We hadn’t discussed what came next for us … other than each other. That took most of the night, and we fell asleep before logistics. I wanted to know where we stood.
After our clothes were situated, I quickly packed my bag—emergency or not, the rest of these snacks would not go to waste. Owen let the guys in. I recognized Azi from the shift the day before. He had short curls currently hidden under a winter hat and dark eyelashed-lined eyes that had the tourists all over him. He was with Mateo, an EMT for the local rescue crew, but he also worked on The Slope as needed. He had lighter hair and was a little taller, but both men seemed short compared to Owen. They unabashedly eyed up the place, including the rumpled sheets. No doubt they were fully aware of the amenities here. Owen blushed harder. The arrival of the new people had completely popped our perfect bubble.
Azi’s eyes moved up and down me. “Nice hair, Perkins.”
I blinked, shocked that he acknowledged me and knew my name.
Was he being sincere about my new cut, or did I have messy sex hair? I tried to subtly check my reflection, but when I looked over my shoulder, Owen was right behind me, anarm protectively wrapping around me and glaring daggers at Azi before I could answer. Which ended up being for the best because I was tongue-tied and indecisive. I felt like the person I’d been yesterday, and I hated that. This wasn’t the side of me Owen had seen. He’d seen NYNB Bee, not this shy-side character Bee.
“Let’s get going,” Owen said.
I had questions about how the sheets would get washed and who would replenish the firewood, but I recognized that this was not the time.
“I’ll take Bee if you wanna ride down with Mateo,” Azi said.
Azi looked me up and down again, and my indignation rose. He hadn’t noticed me yesterday, even when he’d looked directly at me. Now, because he assumed a new fact about me, I became worth his notice. I was about to say something when Owen spoke up.
“No. Bee is coming with me,” Owen said, a warning low and deep.
“Do you know how to drive the snowmobile? I don’t know if Benny Jr. would be okay with that,” Azi argued, looking at me again as if he could X-ray vision through the snowsuit.
“He’s down there with Officer Martinez,” Mateo said.
“I was told to bring her to Benny Jr., so that’s what I’m doing,” Owen said.
My heart sank, and an icy chill ran down the back of my neck.
“Wait—” I started, but the boys all began to talk over each other, not a single person looking at me anymore. I faded into the background once again.
