Page 15 of Snow, Ice, and Spice
Holy. FUCK.
It’s no surprise that Theo is in shape. He’s a professional athlete, so I knew his body would be impressive.
But he’sjacked. He’s got the body of a literal god. I think of the marble Roman statues I saw during my semester abroad in Italy. Theo’s physique rivals the perfection of those works of art.
My gaze travels down his cut pecs and abs. When I count eight ab muscles, I make a noise that sounds like a cross between a gasp and a laugh. He’s cut all over—arms, shoulders, forearms, quads, calves…
God, what is wrong with me? Am I really this shallow that a leanly muscled body would turn me into a cavewoman? My gaze lands on the package between his ripped thighs.
Well hello there, you absolute stud.
Evidently, I amthatshallow.
Theo’s low, rumbling chuckle jerks me out of my trance. He grins at me, like he’s enjoying every second of me ogling his flawless body.
He winks at the phone in my hand. “Hey. I’m Theo. Nice to meet you…”
“T-T-Tori,” she stammers before making a crazed giggly noise. “Good to meet you, Theo. You’re quite…impressive. Just like…wow!”
When her eyes dip down between his legs, I finally come to my senses. I spin around and dart out of the bedroom.
“I’ll call you back, Tori.” I hang up and scurry away.
“Whoa hey, Maya. Hold on a sec,” Theo calls from behind me.
I contemplate running out the door and burying myself in a snow drift to avoid the sheer awkwardness of this moment, but I don’t. I stop walking as embarrassment cooks me from the inside out. I just violated Theo’s privacy and objectified him—right to his face. I may not like the guy, but I have no right to treat him like a piece of meat. I owe him an apology.
I close my eyes and take a breath. “You better have clothes on, Theo.”
That low chuckle echoes in the hallway around me. “A towel is the best I can do at the moment. You kind of caught me off guard.”
I swallow back a groan, spin around to face him, and keep my eyes on his. “I’m sorry. I, uh, I thought you were still out hiking. I must not have heard you come back in when I was getting ready in my room earlier.”
I take in how his smile doesn’t waver. Neither does his eye contact. He looks completely relaxed while standing in front of me, wearing just a towel.
“It’s fine.”
I press my eyes shut and shake my head. “No, it’s not. I shouldn’t have gone into your room like that. I was just trying to show my friend Tori a tour of Ingrid’s place and I thought that you weren’t here and…” I cover my face with my hands for a moment before looking at him again. “I’m so, so sorry.”
Theo’s expression softens. He no longer looks smug and it’s throwing me off. “Hey. It’s okay.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
“How are you so cool with this? I would have been livid if you had walked in on me naked.”
I expect Theo to make a smart-ass joke about just how much he’d enjoy that, but instead, he flashes a smile that looks more tender than I’ve ever seen. It’s so beautiful, so arresting that I have to remind myself to breathe. I’m not used to Theo showing a genuinely sweet smile. He’s breathtaking when he smiles that like.
“I’ve played hockey almost my whole life. My second home is a locker room. I’m used to people seeing me naked.”
“Oh. I guess that makes sense.”
I start to feel my body loosen as the embarrassment begins to fade. For a second we’re quiet as we look at each other. I take in his gaze, how it’s somehow teasing and sincere all at once.
And that’s when I realize how different the air between us feels. For once we’re not arguing or taking jabs at one another. We’re being decent to each other. And it feels…it feels really freaking good.
Something about that throws me off. Does this mean Theo and I could actually get along?
