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She’d been …okaywith it, though. More than okay; she’d seemed to like it. To like him. She’d relaxed into him, encouraged him, until he’d forgotten about everything except the way she looked at him, the way she made him feel.
What was it that Jake had said about her? That she was “pushy?”
Maybe she was pushy, but Liam was starting to think that’s what he liked about her. Someone like him needed a bit of a push sometimes.
He’d thought for sure when they’d woken up this morning that things would be weird now that they weren’t under the influence of all the wine-and-turkey-induced tryptophan. But Liam had to admit that as soon as the day started, it had been fine; normal, even.
As they’d prepared for their day of skiing, Liam suggested that they stop at Crunchie’s for breakfast burritos on their way to the hill. Standing around a tall table in the small restaurant packed with similar-minded skiers and snowboarders, Liam had laughed at the quart of hot sauce Sadie doused her burrito with.
“Ugh, that’s disgusting.” He’d cringed at her, appalled. “How can youeatthat?”
“What?” she’d answered in a muffled voice, her cheeks full and her eyes questioning. “It’sgood.”
Liam had doubled over in laughter, almost spitting his coffee all over the table. It was hard to believe that the woman with a mouth full of hot sauce was the same lofty princess from Antelope Grove.
It was then that it had dawned on him that maybe he’d never really known Sadie Sullivan.
Sure, he’d spent a lot of time with her in his mind. But had he ever shared a burrito with her? Skied with her? Had anactual conversationwith her?
No, he’d never done any of that. She’d never been a person who had likes or dislikes in his mind … or a personality, even. She’d just been an unattainable symbol. Something that he wanted but the person he hated most actually got to have.
It was a sobering thought and put some of his feelings and presumptions over the years since high school in a pretty unflattering context.
Over breakfast, they’d decided to start at the Mount Rose gondola, which connected with multiple chairlifts and backcountry spots. One lift that it didnotconnect with was Stagecoach, where they both knew Jake and Ian would be skiing—something that had caused a moment of gratefulness to flash in Sadie’s eyes when he’d casually mentioned it.
Liam wouldn’t have wanted to spend the day any other way, though—just the two of them laughing and skiing had been unreal.
Once they’d taken the gondola to the top of Mount Rose, the blue sky had been bright and clear above them, and the waters of the lake had glistened happily below them. Sadie had looked over at him, her blue eyes twinkling against the backdrop, and Liam had once again lost his breath.
Is this real?
“I’m glad we came here today,” she’d told him quietly, leaning her face over to kiss him lightly on the lips.
The rest of the day passed in a whirlwind of adrenaline and serotonin. She just had so much energy, Liam discovered. He hadn’t really had any friends to ski with since moving to Lake Conrad, always going on his own to some of his favorite hills and runs. But having someone to sit on the chair lift with and someone to meet at the bottom of the hill, well, it just made everything better, easier … morefun.
After they’d made it down the Wall more or less in one piece before running a couple of moguls, they’d called it a day, since the sun had started to dip below the western mountain range.
Liam looked up at her as she came back into the living room, setting two beer bottles and a box of crackers down on the coffee table before falling down casually on the couch beside him.
“Cheers,” she said, reaching over to pick up her beer bottle and holding it up with a mischievous smile on her face.
Liam quickly picked his bottle up, too, and tapped it against hers before taking a long swig, watching her face as she did the same. Her cheeks were slightly sunburned from the day outside, giving them a rosy look.
“I had a really good time with you today,” he said deeply, setting his bottle down on the table. “And last night … I guess we should probably talk about how this will translate at work.”
He felt future-work Liam take him over, body and brain, as he straightened in his seat, a light sweat breaking out on the back of his neck.
“I don’t want to talk about work right now,” she said, waving her hand in the air dismissively, causing work-Liam to balk a bit. Her face brightened, not noticing his minor freak out as she set her beer down next to his on the couch and scooted closer to him, her hand falling down to his leg. “I had a really good time today, too. You’re a really good skier. When did you learn to ski?”
Liam froze. Now it was high school Liam taking over his body as his mouth went dry, watching Sadie Sullivan lean toward him. He quickly recovered, though, before clearing his throat and responding. “We’d always come to Lake Conrad growing up, so I’ve been skiing since I was a little kid.”
“Me, too,” she said with a smile. “And I’d always come here with friends in high school. Maybe we saw each other here and didn’t even realize it.”
Liam froze, staring at her meaningfully. “What were you like in high school?” He couldn’t resist asking. She was going to realize eventually, right? And remember him?
“What?” she asked, looking up at him smilingly.
“I bet you were the popular girl that all the guys wanted and couldn’t have,” he said slowly, dipping his head between her neck and shoulder in a surprisingly smooth motion, his lips connecting with her warm, soft skin.
