Page 31 of Ski You Later
“Let me do what?” I say with genuine confusion.
“I think it’s very clear what I mean.”
“It’s not clear at all,” I respond immediately.
He groans loudly and rubs both hands over his helmet, frustration written all over his face. “Langley, you’re killing me,” he says as his gaze lands on me.
I continue to stare at him with curiosity because his actions are always so cryptic. “Can you just tell me what you mean for once?” I argue back.
He sits straight up and faces me fully, a new look of determination on his face. “I accept. I’m going to help and attend the wedding with you.”
My brain freezes as his words refuse to register. “What?”
“I want to go with you. If that’s what you still want.”
“Why?” It sputters out of me before I have time to think. While this would technically solve all my problems, I need to know what he gets from all this.
“What do you mean why? Because I want to,” he states, the indignation practically dripping from his words.
“Roman, I’m not letting you do this just because you pity me. This whole situation might get uglier than I ever anticipated, and the last thing I want is for you to get in the middle.” His help would be greatly appreciated, but I can’t drag him into this mess just because he feels bad. His friendship has been a welcome surprise, and I don’t want to risk it.
Based on Jasmine’s behaviour today, I have a feeling this entire ruse will go south quickly. The last thing I want to do is hurt his reputation even more.
“That’s not the reason at all.” His voice takes on a serious tone as he looks straight at me. “I don’t pity you, Rhodes. I just want to help.”
Leaning away from him, I narrow my eyes in his direction. “Alright, say I believe you. What do you get out of this?”
“I don’t want anything out of this.”
I lift my goggles and raise my brow, making it clear I don’t believe him for a second.
“Why does there have to be something in it for me? I’m just helping a friend,” he states defensively.
Crossing my arms in an over-dramatic fashion, I attempt to raise my brow higher. “Really?”
He assesses my stare and droops his shoulders slightly. “Fine,” he grumbles. “If I help you with this whole wedding thing, then I think the team might hate me a little less.”
Out of anything he could have said, that was the last thing I presumed it was going to be. He always seemed like he really couldn’t care less what everyone thought about him. Obviously, his roommates are close to him, but other than that, he never showed any interest in being friends with the rest of the team.
“Roman. You don’t need to get involved in my family drama just so you can get closer to your own team. I’ll figure out my issue alone, and we can work together to get the team to warm up to you,” I say as I smile sweetly at him and hope he can see that I’m beinggenuine. If all he wants is friendship, that’s something I’ll help with any day.
The platform at the top approaches, and Roman lifts the bar as the chair slows down. I feel his shoulder press against mine a second before his upper body leans close to me.
“Where’s the fun in that, Langley?” His smile is full of humour as he hops off the lift. “Dinner at my place tonight. I’ll text you.”
With that, he pushes off his poles and skis to the top of the course.
CHAPTER 12
Xander and Landon are too much to handle.
“What do we do? Knock? Holler? Just stroll right in?” Aurora continues to ramble as we walk up the driveway to Roman’s house.
“I don’t know; I’ve only been here once.”
“But you guys are fake-dating now. What if Jasmine’s doing laps around this house right now? Then she sees you knocking from the window of her car.” Aurora starts to increase her talking speed as the ridiculousness of her story grows.
“From that, she can deduce that you aren’t comfortable entering his home on your own. Finally, she finds out you’re both lying your pants off.” She spread her arms wide as if this was some insane revelation.
