Her wide eyes lock on mine, then drop downward, lingering on my mouth before darting back up. My lips twitch into a smirk.
“What would you like your prize to be, Hart?” My voice drops lower than I intend.
Her breath catches, visible in the cold, and the corner of her mouth curves. “I think you know what I want.”
Every muscle in my body tightens and I feel my cock already starting to come to life. My eyes drop to her lips, hungry and aching, the need to close the distance almost unbearable. But thethought of Levi—of the promise I made him—shoves its way in between us.
“You really don’t give a shit that I promised your brother I wouldn’t cross that line, huh?” I murmur, though my restraint is paper thin.
Maisy’s eyes darken with defiance, her voice steady even as her fingers curl tighter into my jacket. “I really don’t. My brother doesn’t get to make those decisions for me. It’s my boundary to set.” She leans in, close enough that I feel the brush of her breath against my mouth.
Her lips are right there, so damn close I can almost taste her?—
“Maisy!”
We both jerk apart as Levi’s voice cuts through the air, dragging my attention up the slope. He’s a few yards away, board propped casually under his arm, though the frown on his face tells me he’s been watching long enough.
Maisy stiffens beside me, her hands slipping from my chest, and my grip on her neck gaiter lingers a second longer than it should before I finally let go.
“Everything good down here?” Levi calls, suspicion clear in the bite of his tone.
Maisy clears her throat, pasting on a smile that doesn’t reach her eyes. “Yeah, we were just racing. And I won.”
Levi’s gaze narrows, lingering on me like he knows exactly how close I was to giving in.
I force a smirk, even though my blood is still roaring with the taste of almost. “And your sister dusted me. Guess I’m out of practice.”
Levi’s mouth ticks into something that’s not quite a smile, not quite a scowl. He nods once, slow, eyes lingering on me a beat too long before he finally looks back to his sister.
“Try not to kill each other on my mountain,” he says, before turning his board into the snow like that’s all he came for.
Maisy waits until his back is fully turned, then tilts her face toward me. Her lips curl into a reckless and knowing grin, like she’s daring me to care that Levi almost caught us. Her eyes glimmer, holding mine for a second before she returns to her board with a huff, like nothing happened.
But somethingdidhappen. And it’s only getting harder to ignore.
SEVENTEEN
MAISY
I’m curledup on the couch across from Sterling, a paperback open in my hands, pretending to read while he’s absorbed in whatever he’s doing on his laptop. The words on the page blur together, meaningless, because all I can think about is what happened earlier.
The almost kiss.
If Levi hadn’t interrupted us on the slope, what would’ve happened? Would Sterling have actually kissed me? The look in his eyes had said yes, and I don’t blame him. I wanted it even more than he did. Istillwant it.
Sterling cooked dinner when we got home—steak and mashed potatoes—and instead of disappearing into his bedroom, he parked himself on the couch with his laptop.
I contemplate whether I should start the conversation and confront the elephant in the room. Stealing another glance, I notice how his jaw is sharply defined in the glow of the screen, brows furrowed in concentration. He looks up, catching me staring, and I nearly drop my book to the floor. My eyes dart back down to the page, flipping it without a clue of what the hell I just read.
After a few minutes, I peek back up at him and he’s returned to focusing on his laptop, but there’s an amused glimmer in his eyes.
Great. He totally knows I’m staring again.
I clear my throat, forcing myself to focus. This time, I swear I’m actually going to read, but before I can make it two sentences in, the room plunges into darkness, and the soft hum of appliances dies. The only light left is Sterling’s laptop glow.
“What the hell?” I mutter, already digging my phone from the cushions to tap on the flashlight. A weak beam shines across the room.
Sterling closes his laptop and turns on his flashlight too. “Do we need to flip the breaker?”
