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He pressed his lips together and kept his eyes focused on everything that lay beyond the tubing hill.
“Where’s my cider?” Harper huffed, shuffling up next to me.
“Saved by your sister, Steven.”
He blew out a huge breath in response.
“I don’t buy drinks for giant cheaters,” I replied, turning back to Harper and gesturing to her with my gloved hand.
“It’s not cheating if you’re slow.”
“Proper race etiquette is for all parties involved to count to three and go.”
“On three or on go?” She tipped her head, and I suddenly had a strange urge to run my fingers along the soft skin there.
She’s your best friend’s sister.
I cleared my throat. “On three.”
“Fine. Steven, you ready?” She tipped forward to glance at her brother.
He nodded, clearly eager to change the subject.
“Hold on. Excuse me.” Harper shoved past me, dragging one heel through the snow.
“What are you doing?”
“You’re so bent on rules, I’m giving us a starting line. That way you won’t have a reason to back out when you owe me my drink.”
I’d riled her up. She wouldn’t say so, but I could see the underlying fire sparking in her eyes when she finished.
“Wins only count when they’re fair.”
“You’ve got your starting line; we go on three. Anything else?” She sniffed.
“Nope.” I shot her a big grin.
She scoffed and rolled her eyes before briefly glancing back over at me. Until that moment, she’d seemingly worked hard to ensure that everything between us was like it had been before I left. But then she held my gaze, and the look she gave me was no longer playful. I’d only seen it one other time.
“Welcome home,” she murmured, as if she only wanted me to hear.
“Glad to be home.”
And then the moment vanished. She yanked down her goggles and began counting so quickly that Steven and I scrambled to pull ours down over our eyes.
“Cheater!” I yelled after her, laughing as Steven and I plunged down the hill half a second after her.
For a brief moment, the world seemed exactly as it should.
Except for the fact that I was about to go on a show to find awifeto settle me down.Someoneto somehow repair my reputation. And the only woman I’d cared about in the better part of a decade, the only woman that I wanted to settle down with, was my best friend’s sister.
