7
On the ride up to the mountain, Jeff leaned back in his seat, picking up his phone and looking at his notifications. He hadn’t heard from Megan since the night before when they discussed the nachos, but he was trying to figure out what he could say to keep the conversation going.
A snort made him look up to find Noah watching him.
“What?” Jeff asked.
“Just text her.”
“Text who?”
Noah rolled his eyes so hard that Jeff was shocked they didn’t roll into the back of his head. “Good Lord, dude. Are we going to pretend you aren’t pining after Megan?”
“I’m not pining.”
Noah laughed so loud it boomed through the gondola. Jeff wouldn’t be surprised if their co-workers in the next one over could hear him. He watched Noah and waited for a solid two minutes before he shook his head.
“Are you done yet?” Jeff asked.
Noah held up a finger and continued to laugh for a few more seconds before sobering up. “So we’re lying to each other today,huh? Okay. Good. I can play this game. Um…” Noah tapped his finger on his chin like he was deep in thought. “Jessa and I are pregnant.”
Jeff rolled his eyes. “Now, if you hadn’t just told me you were lying, I’d almost wonder if that was true. Especially with how horny you two are.”
Noah laughed again. “I want to put a baby in her, but we need to wait until after the wedding.”
“Have you started planning it yet?”
“Nope. We aren’t changing the subject. Back to Megan,” Noah said. “Nice try though.”
“It was worth a shot,” Jeff said with a shrug.
“Dixie told me you were smitten with someone you were texting last night. Out with it. I saw the way you looked at Megan the very first time you met her.”
Jeff rolled his eyes. “Dixie is turning into a gossip.”
Noah snorted. “I’m going to tell her you said that.”
“Go ahead. And the first time I met her was when Jessa got lost on the mountain.”
“I know.”
“I didn’t look at Megan in any particular way the first time.” Jeff thought back to the moment Megan had come up to him in a panic that she couldn’t find her friend. She looked beautiful with her red cheeks from the cold air. They were about to make a call over the radio for ski patrol to search for her when Noah approached with Jessa. Jeff saw Megan around town several times after that and had to constantly remind himself that she was a tourist and it was a bad idea to get involved.
So what difference did it make now? The difference was her best friend now lived here, so she wasn’t just a tourist anymore. She visited regularly, and somehow that changed something for him.
Noah leaned forward. The gondola was approaching the top of the mountain soon, and Jeff didn’t want this conversation to continue in front of their co-workers. The last thing he needed was everyone giving him a hard time.
“So what’s the deal? Just text her,” Noah said.
Clearly, Noah wasn’t going to give up, so Jeff resigned. He needed someone to discuss the situation with anyway, and who better than Noah?
“I wrote her last night. I don’t want to come across as obsessive. How much is too much?”
“I don’t think you texting her again today would come across as obsessive. I could ask Jessa if you’d like.”
Jeff shook his head. “No. I don’t want it getting back to Megan.”
“I can ask Jessa not to say anything.”
