Page 23 of Stuck on the Slopes

Oh.

Oh.

Fuck.

“Sorry, is this okay?” She looked up at me with those wide amber eyes of hers and I nearly choked.

“Yeah, this is fine. Your room, after all. Get comfy.” As soon as I spoke, I felt like an idiot. Here she was, warm and cozy up against my side, and I was babbling like a teenager who’d never kissed a girl.

“You seem flustered tonight. Everything alright?”

Yeah, everything is fine except for the fact you nearly caught me masturbating to thoughts of you like a degenerate piece of shit. No big deal.

“I just… I’m sorry, Rachel. For everything. I’ve been a total piece of work. Hearing you on the phone with your old boss today got me thinking. I don’t want to create a shitty environment for you. And don’t you dare tell me it’s been fine because I know it hasn’t. I know I can be tough.”

“I appreciate that. But I meant it when I told you earlier that I don’t think you’re an asshole.”

“Yeah, okay.”

“I mean it! Well, I did think you were an asshole when we first met. But I saw a new side of you during our movie night. You’ve been through some shit, that’s all.”

I nodded. “You have no idea.”

“If you ever want to talk about it,” she said, “then say the word.”

“Thanks. Not tonight, though. I, too, would like to turn my brain off.”

“I just started this season, so you haven’t really missed anything.”

We ragged on some contestants for a few minutes as they spoke through their pods. Then I said, “You know, this isn’t really a horrible concept.”

“I know what you mean. The people suck.”

We both laughed. “You know, there’s something to be said for people having no idea who the hell you are. It’s one of the reasons I hired you.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I mean, your resume impressed the shit out of me. You know that already. But when we spoke, you legit had no clue who I was. Not a lot of people applied for the gig, but the few that did were fan girls.”

“And on that note, I’m sorry I got so snippy with you over the reporter incident.” She twisted the ring on her right pinky. “I can see why you’d value your privacy, given everything.”

“No need to apologize. I could have handled it better.”

“Good thing you have me, right?” She looked up at me and winked, and all my lust-addled brain could think about was her winking at me while on top of me as I held her down by the legs so I could properly eat her out.

I stopped the train of thought before I could get hard again. As she’d said, I valued my privacy—and it was for that exact reason I hadn’t been with anyone romantically or sexually in years. The thought hadn’t even crossed my mind, so I chalked it all up to hormones and nothing more.

“Good thing, indeed.”

Maybe our movie night wasn’t a fluke, and we could coexist after all.

After two and a half episodes, when I looked over, both Rachel and Sasquatch were asleep. I didn’t have it in me to wake either of them, so I closed my eyes and willed myself to do the same, letting the background noise of the television prevent my mind from wandering too far in a dangerous direction.

My back would kill me in the morning, but that’s what my meds were for.

Chapter 7

Rachel

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