Page 40 of Wildest Dreams

Her eyes widen. “Why not?”

“Because you’re so beautiful.”

She presses a hand to her chest, blinking quickly. “Oh, wow.”

I decide to use this moment to state my intentions loud and clear, more grateful than ever that Aisling doesn’t know about my reputation off the ice.

“I want to take you to dinner. I want you to know the kind of guy that I am – the kind of guy that I’ll be for you. I can tell that you’re not a roll-in-the-hay kind of chick and that’s fine with me. In fact, I like that.”

Aisling picks up her glass of water and begins furiously sipping.

“So, if you’ll let me, I’d love to take your number. And if you decide that you wanna see me again, I’ll book something real special. Dinner for two, or I could take you horse-riding one town over. Or, hell, if you’d like it, I’m pretty decent in the kitchen so I could show you what I can do–”

“Tanner?”

“Yes?”

“Just kiss me already.”

“Yes ma’am.”

Chapter 11

Aisling

Present day

For the first time since we got here I wake up in the lake house alone.

After our super long hike up the closest of the Larch Peak mountains, which ended with the vastest, sparkliest view of the lake that I’d ever seen, my brother Connell gave me a piggy-back for almost half the return journey, and then we all traipsed lazily for the rest of the trek because after seven hours of working our way through the larches we were all wobbly as hell, which wasn’t helped by the fact that we couldn’t stop laughing.

The only thing that could have made the hike better had stayed behind at the lake.

I force myself upright in my sleeping bag, refusing to let myself wonder why Tanner didn’t join us yesterday. I mean, in the morning I’d definitely thought that he was coming – in fact, I kind of secretly thought that he’d organised the whole trek.

I frown, unzipping the bag with a violent flourish as I definitely donotconsider why Tanner didn’t want to come.

I love you, too.

His night-time phone call from a week ago, where his voice was hushed and his tone was gentle, makes something clench tight in my chest.

Is he seeing someone? Someone who he literally loves?

I kick the soft quilt off of me and walk over to the doors of the balcony.

The morning light, shimmering all the way to the head of the lake, is so beautiful that it momentarily thaws my temper. But when I realise that Tanner isn’t by the shore this morning, doing the workout that I’ve grown so used to watching, I’m even more emotional than I was ten seconds ago.

Why wouldn’t he be out here? I mean, okay, we’re kind of the opposite of friends, but I thought that maybe we had some sort of secret understanding that it was okay to feelsomethingas long as we didn’t get too close. Hence quietly watching each other from afar, a literal lake between us.

I fist my hands into the bottom of his khaki shirt, feeling like an idiot.

There’s only one reason why he wouldn’t be out here. There’s only one reason why he wouldn’t care about joining us on yesterday’s hike.

There’s only one reason why he’d rather stay in bed and put an end to our morning secret.

He’s got a new girl in his life.

Trying to push the gut-wrenching disappointment from my mind, I blink rapidly into the golden sunrise and will the stinging sensation away from my eyes.

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