Page 63 of On the Edge

I swallow down the growl that rises up in my chest. “Good luck to them,” I scoff.

Dan looks around, then shrugs. “I don’t see her boyfriend here.”

The mention of Marco is like a cold splash of water to my face. I adjust myself and then stand, hoping the fact that there’s essentially a steel pipe behind my zipper isn’t obvious.

“Where’re you going?” Mark asks as their eyes all shift to look up at me.

“I suddenly have to take a piss.” I turn and stalk away from them, walking along the perimeter of the bar to avoid notice. Sierra’s like a fucking guard dog and if she sees me she’ll be on me in seconds, trying to keep me away from Jackson.

I wait for Jax near the bathroom door, with my shoulder leaning up against the wall and my back to her table of friends. The minute she opens the door I push off the wall and step in front of her.

She inhales sharply and looks at the ceiling before turning her eyes back to my face. “This is starting to feel a lot like stalking.”

“This time it’s purely coincidence. What are you doing here, anyway?”

“What areyoudoing here?” she says.

“I live here.” I take a step closer to her and she wobbles a tad as she steps back toward the wall.

“I thought you lived in Park City.” She sounds uncertain, like maybe she imagined me being her neighbor, and I have to wonder how many drinks she’s already had.

“Right now I do, but this is where I’ve lived for the past few years.”

“Ah”—her head bobs like she understands something that has previously alluded her—“your secret hideaway.”

“It was not a secret that I lived here. Anyone who was actually looking for me could have easily found me.”

“I guess no one was looking then.” She crosses her arms over her chest. It pulls at the top of her sweater, revealing her cleavage. I can’t help but notice her nipples are hard, and it’s not the least bit cold in here so I have to wonder if my proximity still does that to her. I feel like a teenager in how I can’t tear my eyes away. “Up here, Davenport,” she says as she raises a hand to point at her face.

I take my time sliding my eyes up to her face, just to piss her off. When our eyes meet, I’m surprised to see a look I know well—hugely dilated pupils and naked lust. She’s never been good at hiding her attraction to me and she can’t hide shit when she’s drunk. “You didn’t answer my question about why you’re here.”

“Girls’ weekend,” she says. “Since it’s the last weekend I’m home for a while, my friends wanted to do something special. Did you know I was going to be here?”

“If I knew, I wouldn’t be asking, would I?”

She rolls her eyes in response.

“I didn’t know you’d be here,” I assure her. “I came up this weekend to pack some personal items. I’m going to rent my place out this winter.”

She just nods, then starts to walk past me, but I put my arm out against the wall to block her and I lean in. “You sureyou’renot stalkingme?” I tease.

The fire in her is palpable—it’s equal parts anger and attraction, and the heat radiates off her cheeks until I feel singed. “I’ve never been further from stalking you in my entire life. Even when you walked away from our relationship five years ago and didn’t look back ... I hated you less than I do now.”

“Whoa,” I lean away a little so I can get a better focus on her. She might be madder than I’ve ever seen her, which is saying something. I wish an angry Jackson wasn’t such a turn-on, because I know I need to defuse this situation, but all I really want to do is push her up against this wall and kiss the shit out of the lips that just spoke a truth I don’t understand. “What is this about? Is this all because I can’t tell you why I was at Blackstone a few weeks ago?”

Her eyes get glassy. “Nate, you deserted me when I needed you most. You came back when I needed you to stay gone. The photos of us before your second race in Levi ruined things you can’t even understand. And now you’ve got your fingers all over some aspect of Blackstone ... theoneplace you know I love more than anywhere else. Why can’t you just stay out of my life?”

I lean in again, so close my lips practically brush her ear. “If you really want me out of your life for good, Jax, you’re going to have to stop looking at me like you want to fuck me.”

She sucks in a surprised gasp and her hands are on my chest pushing me away. “Get the hell away from me,” she spits out, but her eyes haven’t lost that look. Her mouth is saying one thing, but her body is saying another.

On my other side, I hear a voice I was hoping not to hear this weekend. “This asshole bothering you, miss?” My eyes swing over to Johnny Todd—womanizer, ski pro, and all around asshole. One of the things I’ve missed least about Big Sky is running into him.

“So much,” Jackson says, her voice breathy. She’s looking at him like he just found her lost puppy. “Would you mind walking me back to my friends?”

“You don’t want to do this,” I tell Jackson.

“I’m so glad you’re always around to tell me what I want,” she says, her voice full of searing sarcasm.

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