Page 8 of Wedding Bet

Dream Landry might have wanted a wedding at the beach, but Real Life Landry knew better.

I was already up, showered, and hitting the slopes an hour after waking up at sunrise. Skiing was one of the most blissful ways to get my blood pumping, forget what was on my mind, and get lost in the snow. I skied alone for an hour before it was time for Chase, Adam, Emmett, and all of the other guests to arrive.

I stopped into the tiny cabin cafe near the top of the chairlift, grabbing a coffee for some energy and warmth. I spotted a silver-haired guy across the cafe at a table who looked up at me, giving me a smile and a wink.

This would have been a perfect opportunity to delve deep into Operation Casual. To go sweet-talk the handsome man, find out if he was interested, and have a little no-strings fun while I was in the mountains for a week.

So what was holding me back?

Just then I saw Chase, his husband-to-be, and their giant group of friends walking up in the snow. I made my way to the door, walking out into the snowy morning air.

“Landry,” Chase said, giving me a quick hug. “Good morning. I see you’ve already made some dents in the fresh snow this morning?”

“I got up here early to shake off the sleep.”

…and to shake off my weird wedding dream, too.

Chase and Adam introduced me to some of their friends who I hadn’t met yet, and I greeted the rest of the Fixer Brothers Construction crew.

And then, near the back of the group, I saw a certain adorable marshmallow trudging his way through the snow. He was carrying skis awkwardly, and his cheeks were a dusty pink in the cold air.

Christ. Somehow he looked even better in the daylight than he had in the snow. Beach bum tanned skin and sun-kissed hair.

“Jamie. You made it,” I said, walking over to him.

“I feel like I’m already going to regret doing this,” Jamie said, his eyes wide as he looked at the rolling mountains and ski lift.

“You’re going to love it,” I said.

“At least one of us is confident.”

He really did look every bit like a California boy. He could have been in a surfboard advertisement.

Operation Casual would besofun with Jamie. Too bad that I’d gotten the definite vibe that he was not interested last night. No matter how much I liked someone, I was never going to force them to do things with me if they didn’t want to. After Parker refused my proposal—while I was on bended knee, in front of him, at the top of a mountain eight months ago—I hadn’t even cried.

It was as if a switch had flipped inside me. I was numb. Like the idea of falling in love again was an impossibility. I couldn’t force anyone to love me enough to marry me, so I never wanted to have expectations again. For so long, I’d wanted the whole shebang: monogamy, kids, a house on a hill to grow old together inside.

Now, all I let myself hope for was a fun night in bed with someone.

If Jamie didn’t want that, I could at least show him how fun skiing could be.

“Here,” I said, helping him slide his goggles on into their proper place. “You’ve got pretty sweet gear for someone who’s never skied before.”

“This is all Chase’s,” Jamie said. “We have always worn the same size in everything.”

“Your boots feel tight enough?”

“Definitely.”

“And you’re feeling refreshed and ready to learn?”

He glanced up at me, his lashes thick and pretty surrounding those baby blues. “I’ll admit, I’m a tad hungover. That cocktail you sent me was generous with the liquor and very delicious.”

“You liked it?” I asked, genuinely warmed by the idea.

“Loved it,” he said, his eyes glittering up at me.

“Wait until you try their espresso martinis,” I said. “Even better and even stronger.”

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