Page 47 of Late Nights

His grin was so big, his cheeks squished against his ski goggles. “So you’re saying I’m the lucky one who gets to know this Demi, the one who doesn’t hold back and is unapologetically herself?”

“Possibly.” I dug my poles in and pushed off hard. “Race you to the bottom,” I yelled back over my shoulder.

His chuckle sounded behind me, blending with the shush of his skis against the snow and the scratchy noise of his pants and jacket as he moved down the hill. I knew he was close behind, but he never overtook me, even though he was capable of leaving me in the dust.

We clicked out of our skis and headed into the lodge, ready to meet everyone for lunch. We sat at a large round table that could fit all of us, the conversation flowing easily as we chatted and laughed, having a great time. Once we’d finished eating and resting for a bit, we started to collect our jackets, hats, and gloves, getting ready to go back out for a few more runs before heading back to the house.

“West,” Halle said. “Why don’t you and Cannon go do a few runs together? You’ve been stuck with us beginners for half the day.”

“Are you sure?” he asked. “I’m fine staying on the green trails.”

“I know, but you should at least do a few of the black diamonds while you’re here,” she said. “Plus, I could use a little longer break.”

“I don’t mind hanging out in the lodge longer, if that’s what you want to do.” He tucked a stray hair behind her ear, looking at her like she’d hung the moon.

It had been four months since they’d officially gotten together, and he was just as smitten with her as he had been in the beginning. It was cute, if not slightly sickening.

“And that’s sweet of you, but I want you to go,” she insisted. “I’ll be here when you get back.”

“Okay,” he relented. “I’ll be back soon.” He gave her a quick kiss before he and Cannon walked out of the lodge, leaving the rest of us in silence.

“Finally,” Halle exclaimed. She turned to look at me. “I’ve been wanting to talk to you forever, but West is always with me when I see you.”

“Probably because you guys are joined at the hip,” I pointed out.

“More like the lips.” She gave me an exaggerated wink.

My face scrunched in disgust at her teasing. “You do remember that’s my brother we’re talking about? And that unfortunately, because I’m staying in West’s bedroom, the one exactly below yours, that I know exactly how much you two like to be joined?”

Her face paled. “You can hear us?”

I lifted a brow. “You think those vents only let conversations through?” I asked, reminding her of how her and West used to talk through the vents that separated their bedrooms.

She covered her face with her hands, then peeked through her fingers. “I’m sorry.” She slowly let her hands drop to her lap. “I guess I should have thought of that. I just have a hard time thinking about anything else when West’s—”

I held up my hand to stop her. “And that’s more information than I need to know.”

She pulled in her lips, trying not to smile. “Right. Well, enough about me and your brother. What I really want to talk to you about is you and Cannon.” She waggled her eyebrows.

I figured she’d want to talk to me about him and was actually surprised it had taken her this long to bring it up. But she hadn’t been exaggerating when she’d said that she was always with West.

“Jax and I want to know too,” Kate chimed in, scooting her chair closer.

“You and Jax?” I asked, looking over at her best friend. Later we’d have to get her alone so we could talk about her and Jax.

“Yeah, I tell him everything,” she said, like it was normal her best guy friend was interested in my potential love life. “He’s caught up on everything I know about you two, and we both have our own theories.”

My brows rose.

“It’s true,” Halle added with a nod. “Jax and Kate are practically the same person.”

“Now, that’s an exaggeration,” Kate disagreed. “He likes Red Vines.” She paused to add in her facial disgust of the licorice. “And I like Twizzlers. He prefers movies to books, and I think reading is a superior way to spend one’s time. He—”

“I didn’t mean the same person in the sense of being identical,” Halle interrupted. “I meant you guys literally know everything about each other. Whatever you know about something, he knows about it too, and vice versa. You two talk constantly.”

The little bit of time I’ve spent with Kate, I knew that Halle wasn’t exaggerating about this. She and Jax texted during the day and talked on the phone every night.

“Anyway,” Jax said, leaning his forearms on the table like he was just as interested in hearing what I had to say as Kate and Halle were. “Let’s get back to Cannon and Demi.”

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