Baylor crawls himself out from under the sled and manages to get to his feet. That’s when I notice his boots are untied, he’s still in his jeans, and his jacket isn’t zipped up.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” He stomps toward me with purpose, brushing off snow stuck to his front.
“Is that rhetorical or—”
Suddenly, he’s beside me. He reaches down and fists the front of my jacket, pulling me so I’m standing in front of him.
“Hey!”
“God-fucking-damn it, Aspen!” he yells, and I think he wants to hit me. “Do you have any idea how dangerous it is out here?”
I’m on my toes, my chest brushing his, but he’s still towering over me with murderous eyes.
“What were you thinking, huh?” He tightens his fists and jerks me forward.
“I told you, I needed some goddamn air!” I shout up at him.
“Next time, step out onto the fucking deck or something! You don’t go riding off into the dark on the side of a mountain!”
I grit my teeth together. “You didn’t have to follow me! What, are you scared of what Henry would do if he found out you knew I’d left?”
“No, Aspen! Fuck!” He shakes his head, seething. “I’m scared of you not coming back! Why did you run off like that?”
His concern for me makes my chest tighten.
“I needed to get away from the house! Okay?” I swat at his chest, but he doesn’t loosen his hold. “I needed …” I stop fighting him and look away, feeling weak. “I needed to get away from you.”
After a few moments, he slowly lowers me and unravels his fists from my jacket. He doesn’t speak. All I can hear in the silence of the snow are his heavy breaths.
“I don’t understand what you’re doing,” I whisper, shaking my head. “You’re mean to me. You’re always mean to me.”
“I know,” he whispers.
“You referred to me as the help and practically threatened me in my bathroom the first night here, and then two days later, you were teaching me how to snowboard. You made sure my date stood me up, and then you kissed my shoulder and talked dirty in my ear the next day.”
His expression is unreadable.
I sigh and look up at him. “I don’t want to play your stupid games anymore, Baylor. You’re screwing with my head, and I don’t like it. If you hate me, you shouldn’t be trying to get in my pants.”
“I’ve never hated you,” Baylor says, glancing down at my lips.
I let out a frustrated growl and push him away. “It’s like you didn’t hear a word I said, did you?”
His white teeth appear as a smile spreads across his face. “I heard you, Aspen.”
“Whatever.” I huff and climb back onto the snowmobile. “Let’s get back then. I’ll go slower so you can keep up this time.”
Baylor walks over to his sled and pushes it upright. I wait for his engine to sound, but after a few seconds, I don’t hear anything.
“What’s wrong?”
He shrugs and tries it again. “Must’ve messed something up when I landed.” His boots sink into the deep snow as he walks back over to me.
“Sucks to be you.” I grin.
“What? Are you going to leave me out here?” He mocks me, as if he doesn’t think I have that cold of a heart.
I raise my chin. “Maybe I will.”
