“Annica and I will stay together,” Dani says.
I scoff at how quick they are to exclude me. “What about me?”
Annica gives me a look. “Are you not staying with Asher?”
“Oh, um, yeah, I am. I forgot.”
Annica only levels a suspicious stare at me.
“His room is at the end of the hall,” Wes says. “Since he didn’t bother to wait for you to show you where it was.”
I give everyone a nod goodnight as I make my way there. Wes has his own room, Annica and Dani go off to theirs, and Charlie, Sam, and Jake argue over who gets a room to themselves and who shares. I don’t hear the decision when I enter Asher’s room. He’s already unpacking when I walk in. I look at the large king bed in the center of the room. I didn’t even think about the fact that we’d be sharing a bed all weekend.
“Listen, I have to go to the resort tonight for business. Don’t wait up for me,” he says. “In fact, wait in Wesley’s room.”
I scoff as I drag my suitcase over to the other closet. The bedroom is huge and luxurious with stone floors and a fireplace in the corner. “What’s at the resort? And why do you need to go over there so late?” I haven’t checked the time but it has to be at least midnight.
“Just some things I want to check up on,” he says, throwing on a jacket. “Get some sleep. Or don’t.” He winks before closing the door behind him. What does he expect me to do? Go into Wesley’s room, strip down, and see what happens?
I start to unpack and put my clothes in the armoire. I think about leaving the room to hang out with Dani and Annica, but then they’ll ask where Asher is, and wouldn’t it seem weird if he left at midnight for the resort, and left his girlfriend here? Unsurprisingly the bathroom has a Jacuzzi tub and a rain shower, so I decide to take a warm bath before getting into bed, thinking about what Asher could possibly be there checking on. Maybe he wants to get a head start on the resort operations. Maybe he wants to prove to Wesley’s dad that he wants it more.
When the clock hits 2 a.m. Asher is still not back. I debate texting him, but he said not to wait up. I close my eyes and go through my nightly routine: Jonah, Ryan, Marco, Bryce. Jonah, Ryan, Marco, Bryce. I count them like sheep.
I stir slightly when I feel Asher getting into bed. I glance at the alarm clock next to the bed and it reads 5 a.m. I close my eyes again to continue sleeping, thinking that he likely wasn’t doing resort business at all.
At seven, Wes is waking everyone up. “Time to hit the slopes!” he yells down the hall, knocking on all the doors.
Asher gets up to shower and I take out my clothes for the day.I bought an all-black ski outfit from some trendy website, and though it does look good on me, it’s so tight I can barely move.
“I approve,” Asher says, checking me out when he comes back from the bathroom. “Don’t forget to layer up on socks.”
I ignore his comment and go right into what’s bothering me the most this morning. “How was the resort last night?”
He clears his throat. “It was fine.”
“Great,” I say, leaving the room and heading downstairs to where the group has started to congregate in the kitchen. Wesley’s mom made a breakfast spread for all of us and the boys are already digging in.
The driver takes us over to the resort, which looks like a log cabin on steroids. Three large buildings surround an ice rink in the center. Behind it, towering over everything, are tall snowy hills. I can see little figures race down them from here.
The moment we hit the lobby, Jake beelines for the large mahogany bar in the center of the room.
“Let’s have a drink before we do this,” he suggests.
“Need some liquid courage?” Wes teases.
“To keep up with you and Asher on the black diamonds, yes,” Sam agrees.
I assume that’s a type of hill, but I ask anyway, “What’s a black diamond?”
“The most dangerous hill,” Annica says. “Probably not something five drunk idiot boys should be going down, but hey, why not.” She crosses her arms in her white puffy snowsuit with fur trim. Dani has on a colorful one, something that somehow looks modern but retro at the same time. Jake orders a shot ski to startfor the five of them and they line up to take it. The bartender is a girl that looks to be in her mid-twenties. She’s got beautiful golden skin with ice-blue eyes and long dark hair. She brings the shot ski and winks at Asher.
“Did she just wink at your boyfriend?” Annica scoffs.
From behind the guys, I can’t see what he may or may not have done back.
“Long night?” she says to him with a smirk. “You look tired.” And then it dawns on me thatshewas the resort business.
“I think she might be flirting with him too,” Dani whispers.
