Page 12 of Lost on Ice
The concierge frowns, looking confused, before pointing to me. “She’s already checked in, sir. Would you like a second key?”
“What?” Carter turns wide eyes toward Sophie and me, then looks back at the concierge. “I think there’s some mistake. I reserved the last available room…”
“Hold on,” Sophie jumps in. “Ireserved the room for Williams.”
Carter and Sophie stare at each other, and I see the dawning realization cross their expressions.
“Oh shit,” Carter murmurs.
“We booked the same room, didn’t we?” Sophie groans.
Jake arches a brow as he looks between them, amusement dancing across his features.
Carter turns to the concierge. “Do you have another room available? There was a miscommunication between my wife and I…”
“I’m sorry, sir. That was the last available room. We’re all booked up for the night.”
“Shit,” Carter murmurs.
“It’s okay,” Sophie quickly cuts in, putting a hand on Carter’s arm. “I can bunk with Abbie…”
“Hey, it’s no big deal,” Jake shrugs. “Abbie and I can share. Right, Abbie?”
I stare at him, speechless. Seriously? What’s he doing? He’s acting like he didn’t totally ghost me three years ago. Like nothing’s happened at all.
Before I can say a word of protest, the concierge prepares a card for Jake, who thanks her and turns to me with a grin.
“We’re good to go, roomie.” He winks. “Wanna go up and drop our stuff off?”
Oh, fuck no. I’m not going to put myself in any potentially compromising position with him. Not again.
Clearing my throat, I say, “Why don’t you go up first? I’ll go with Sophie to help drop her stuff off.”
Jake looks almost disappointed but then shrugs, shifting to nonchalance.
“Sure,” he replies. “No problem. I’ll see you in a bit.”
He turns and saunters off and once he’s out of sight, Sophie grabs my hand. “Come on.”
She waves Carter off, telling him to go hang with Tom when he tries to say something to her and drags me through the lobby. We get into an empty elevator and ride it up to her floor. On the outside, I try my hardest to appear unaffected by what just happened, but internally, I’m having a full-blown panic attack.
I didn’t expect to see him so soon after moving back to Ivy Glen… especially not this weekend when we’re not even in town! Hell, he hasn’t spoken to me for three years, but we suddenly run into each other just a few days after I move back! That would be just my luck, honestly.
Shit, what if he finds out about Lilah? Sophie won’t say anything, I know, but he’s going to find out eventually. I can’t expect everyone to keep this secret for me forever.
I desperately try to steady my breathing. Okay, is there any benefit to this situation?Yes, actually. At least we aren’t in town right now., and if he doesn’t come back to Ivy Glen for a while, it’ll give me more time to figure things out and prepare for whatever his reaction is going to be.
When we reach our floor, I keep my eyes on the patterned carpet as Sophie and I make our way down the long hallway toward her room. Sophie glances over at me, her eyes wide with guilt. “Abbie, I’m seriously so sorry. I really had no idea he was coming. This isn’t, like, a setup or anything, I swear. And the room thing?—”
“It’s fine,” I assure her, trying to keep my voice steady. “I know you wouldn’t do that to me. It’s not your fault. It just happened.”
She frowns as we reach her room, and she unlocks the door. “Bunk with me tonight. It’s not a big deal, I promise.”
I wave a hand, pretending like my heart isn’t trying to beat its way out of my chest. “Sophie, really. He’s here, and I’m here. I would never impose on Carter’s birthday weekend, or your little babymoon. We’ll survive.”
Even as I say it, I’m telling myself over and over,act normal. Be cool. Maybe if you pretend like you don’t care, he’ll leave you alone and go crawling back to Boston.The other part of me, though, cannot understand why I’m rejecting her offer. Do I secretly want to share the room with Jake?
No, no. That can’t be it. It’s more about knowing that if we share the room and nothing happens, it will put even more barriers between us. Right. That’s what I really want out of this. I give Sophie a hug. “I’m okay,” I say, this time more gently. “Seriously.”
