Again with his grin and knowing look.
The others were locked in a rabid discussion about our current president when Ethan handed me the drink and leaned over to whisper in my ear. “You’re cute when you’re being Nurse Hailey.” His lips caressed my ear at the same time his hand squeezed my thigh.
Four ski runs was enough, right? We should probably go back to our hotel room now.
When he pulled back, I gave him “the look,” the look a woman gives a man when they want sex. There’s nothing subtle about it; I might or might not have even bit my lip, causing him to grin wider. Ethan smiling was the best damn thing in the world. Some guys get uglier when they smiled—sorry, but it’s true. Some just stay the same. But Ethan, ohhh, Ethan, got ten degrees hotter when he grinned.
I was just about to retort with something sexy when I saw Bryce walk into the lodge with his parents and search the space with his eyes like he was looking for someone.
My stomach turned to stone as my mouth hung slack.
That motherfucker.Fear and anger washed over me, which was an improvement from straight-up fear. I was getting stronger.
Ethan saw the change in my face and turned to follow my gaze.
“Oh hell no.” He stood. “Boys … that’s Bryce.”
It was like he’d pointed out the devil incarnate to them. Sebastian, Cody, and James simultaneously dropped their food and stood, chests puffed out, ready to attack. The mere mention of Bryce’s name was enough to invoke their rage.
Bryce’s parents spent the snow season in Aspen. EVERY season. Why the hell were they here? The moment Bryce’s gaze landed on mine, he gave a lopsided grin.
I looked at Ethan to see the veins were popped out of his neck, fists clenched. A steely glare settled in his gaze, aimed right at my psycho ex. The last time they’d seen each other was in the ally at Mickey’s. Ethan had threatened to kill him if he ever touched me again.
Ethan looked down at me and his face softened.
“They are coming over here. Quickly, tell me two things. One, are his parents good people? I mean, do you want to keep them in your life?”
My answer was instant. “No.” His dad was an emotionally absent asshole who never showed love to anyone in the family. His mom was a victim somewhat, but I’d never forget when I told her Bryce had hit me. She’d been the only one I could talk to. She’d frowned and said. “Well, what did you do?”
They were both rotten apples.
“Second question, Hailey…” He bent down and met my gaze. “Do you think Bryce followed you here? Or is he just skiing with his family by accident?”
Ethan was trying to assess the level of stalker Bryce had become and so was I. I wanted to believe he was just on a vacation with his Beverly Hills parents in Podunk Flagstaff, at the never-heard-of Snowbowl Ski Mountain, but no … they owned a three-million-dollar cabin in Aspen, and you couldn’t pry his mother away from there once the snow came.
“He followed me,” I breathed.
That was all Ethan needed. He stood, his back to me, and I looked up just in time to see Bryce and his parents walk up to us.
“Hailey!” Kitty Conner cooed, opening her arms out to me. She was decked out in a Gucci snowsuit with fur lining, cheeks flushed from being out in the cold. Kitty didn’t ski; she hung out at the Aspen lodge with her girlfriends and drank two bottles of wine. Ethan stepped in front of me, and Sebastian, Cody, and James flanked him. They had made a wall between me and my worst nightmare.
“Hailey doesn’t have anything more to say to your family. I think you should leave.” Ethan’s voice was firm but slightly unhinged. I looked up between Sebastian's and James' shoulders to see Bryce looking right at me.
“Excuse me?” Kitty brought out her claws, hand on chest as she looked all kinds of offended. “What jail did you just escape from? I can talk to my daughter-in-law anytime I please.”
Ethan took a deep breath. “She’s not your family anymore. Walk. Away. Now.”
The look on Kitty’s face would forever go down in my memory as the greatest thing I’d ever seen. She looked like she was taking a shit. She was so mortally offended she’d been slapped into submission with nothing to say.
“Bryce, who is this?” his father asked, looking dumbfounded himself. He probably didn’t even know we were divorced. He spent most of his time in Europe with his mistress.
“Her new fuck toy,” Bryce said coolly, keeping his gaze on me.
“Bryce!” Kitty smacked his shoulder, but his eyes were pinned on me and wouldn’t leave. Ethan stepped forward, coming right up in Bryce’s face and opening the wall so that his parents could finally see me. I hope they saw the terror. The scars I wore were invisible.
“Stop looking at her or I’ll rip your eyes out of your head and shove them up your ass,” Ethan growled.
His parents collectively gasped, but Bryce just grinned, like he was enjoying getting under Ethan’s skin. He was poking the bear on purpose. He’d planned this. His gaze was still on me and I held it, pushing every ounce of hatred I could into my face. Ethan’s hand came up lightning-quick and grabbed Bryce’s jaw, forcing him to look away from me.
