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“Tell me what it was like growing up around here,” I say, hoping to distract her.
Delaney lets out a scoff. “You know, you are the master of deflection,” she says and even without looking, I can tell she’s smiling.
Chuckling, I brush her hair back from her face. “Laney, I’m the master of a lot of things.”
“Oh boy,” she groans, shaking her head at me. “Okay, what do you want to know?”
I lift a shoulder in a shrug, taking another sip of tea before saying, “I don’t know, how’d you meet Zoey?”
She lets out a breath. “High school ski team,” she says. “Even though she was older, she was always so nice to me, not giving a shit that I was two years below her in school. We became friends pretty much instantly and she and her friends welcomed me into their group, even the ones who weren’t on the ski team.”
“Sounds about right,” I murmur, knowing that Max was pretty much the same with me when I showed up at college in Colorado, not knowing a soul.
He and Nick had been at some orientation party I’d gone to, watching some video on their phone of this guy snowboarding off a ridiculously steep cliff. When I’d walked over to grab a beer from the nearby keg, I’d glanced over, my jaw dropping at what this guy was doing. Max had noticed and beckoned me over, rewinding the video to show me from the start.
It was fucking unbelievable, the drop a literal cliff face, but when Max had told me the video was of Nick, I’m pretty sure my jaw had hit the floor. Nick had just laughed, totally not fazed by the video or my reaction, instead urging Max to show me a video of something he’d done too.
The three of us had hung out for the rest of the night, getting drunk and trading skiing and snowboarding stories as we sank beer after beer, not bothering to talk to anyone else. We’ve been friends ever since.
“Yeah,” Delaney replies. “She and Max really are two of the coolest people I’ve ever met.”
“Definitely,” I say with a nod.
“Zo has these two friends, Mila and Charlie,” Delaney continues. “They actually live in Hawthorn now, went down for college, but I saw them a while back when they came to Tahoe for a wedding. Mila’s sister’s wedding, actually.”
“Oh yeah,” I say, wondering where she’s going with this. She looks up at me, a soft smile on her face, that I return just before another coughing fit takes over. Delaney takes the mug from my hand as I practically hack up a lung, my eyes watering as I try desperately to stop. When it eventually does, I brush the moisture from my face, giving her a smile as I take the mug back. “You went to the wedding?” I ask, attempting to distract her.
She gives me a look that almost makes me laugh, but instead I take another mouthful of tea, hoping she continues. “No,” she eventually says. “I actually worked at it. But it was good to catch up with them. I obviously knew them through Zoey, but they are both really cool. They’re coming back at New Year’s with some of their friends. I was hoping to…”
She trails off and I know it’s because she’s thinking that if we recently celebrated Christmas in here, then surely that means it’s nearly New Years.
“We don’t know the exact date, Laney,” I say.
“I know,” she breathes out. “It’s just that…”
I finish off my cup of tea, putting the mug on the floor before wrapping my arms around her again. “It’s just that you really wanted to introduce your hot as fuck boyfriend to them, am I right?”
She jolts up, hitting me with a look that makes me laugh even as I immediately start coughing again. Delaney grabs me another mugful of tea, holding it out to me as she rests a hand against my forehead. Without a word, she gets up, grabbing the ibuprofen and holding two out in her hand.
I give her a questioning look because I know we are supposed to be rationing things, medicine included, but she just shakes her head and thrusts her hand closer. I take the two tablets, swallowing them down with another mouthful of tea.
As she settles herself against me again, I can’t resist teasing her, adding, “I mean you totally want to, right?”
She laughs, shaking her head. “So, I’m like, officially your girlfriend then, huh?”
Chuckling, I lean down and press a kiss to the top of her head. “Well, like I said, Jessica Steinmanwasmy last girlfriend and that was literally my longest ever relationship. But yeah, Laney,” I pause, kissing her head again. “You are definitely my girlfriend.”
It feelslike there’s a weight on my chest and this fucking cabin is on fire, it’s so hot in here.
“Laney,” I murmur, her name coming out as a wheeze. “Laney, it’s hot…so…”
“Shhh, Alex,” she says, before a block of ice lands on my chest, another one on my forehead.
I push at it, my hands and arms fumbling with trying to get it off.
“Stop, Alex,” she pleads, pushing my hands away. “We need to cool you down.”
I groan, suddenly feeling cold as I’m overcome with shivers, my whole body shaking violently on the mattress, which feels wet beneath me. Fuck, I haven’t pissed myself, have I?
