I breathed her in.
“No need for the show,” she whispered. “There’s no one around to see it.”
“Maybe it’s not for them, maybe—”
“Well, aren’t you two cozy,” Daniel said, skidding to a stop right next to us.
I dropped my hands, and her head swung in his direction. “Fuck off, Daniel.”
The laugh was out before I could stop it earning a hard glance from Charlie’s ex.
“So much energy. Is Nick not burning that off with you between the sheets? Too bad. She can be a real wildcat—”
“Finish what you’re about to say and you leave in an ambulance. Got it?”
Charlie gasped.
Daniel puffed out his chest. “Bring it.”
“Nope. You guys are not doing this shit.”
“She’s right,” Daniel said. “How about we make this dignified? The Dagger. First one to the bottom wins.”
“We haven’t even done a practice run yet,” Charlie said.
“You need one, Nick? I don’t, but hey, I can wait if you want to get a run or two in if you think you need the practice.”
This son of a bitch. He’d had his eyes on me, and definitely on us, but had he spent any time focusing on Charlie in all that time?
No.
Because he didn’t want her. She was reduced to a toy he’d cast aside that he suddenly wanted to play with the minute someone else showed interest. He needed to control her. Nothing more, nothing less.
To him, she was merely a possession.
Couldn’t he see she was the last woman on the planet to let a man possess her? Or did he just not care?
Maybe that was the challenge.
It stopped here.
I nodded. “Let’s go.”
The chilly ride to the top of the mountain took eight minutes in all. Eight minutes of Daniel whistling on one side of the quad like he already had this in the bag and Charlie shooting daggers at both of us while muttering the word “idiots” as often as possible in between.
“This is stupid and juvenile.”
“He won’t stop until someone puts him in his place.”
“I’ve got news for you, Nick. I know him a lot better than you do and even then, he will not stop.”
Only a handful of skiers joined us on the single most dangerous trail on the mountain. Hairpin turns leading into dangerous narrow sections wide enough for just one left little room for passing. Whoever took the early lead would hold the edge for most of the ride.
Steep inclines, craggy rock outcroppings jutting out over those sections only upped the stakes. If you made it through all of that, moguls lay in wait, ready to attack your body until your teeth rattled.
Charlie shuffled over and grabbed the front of my jacket, pulling me in close.
“Baby, if you want one more kiss, all you have to do is say so,” I said, unable to resist the opportunity to get under her skin.
