Page 34 of Holiday on the Rocks
The silence of the land was a vacation for my ears, and I knew it would help me wrap my head around how to ensure I steer clear of the green eyed monster.
I had to be strong and would ignore Levi. He remembered the effect he had on me, but it would go no further. Inhale. Exhale.
While I tried to forget the eyes that paralyzed me, I realized this was a ten out of ten Vrbo. There was a bench next to the frozen water, and I took a seat and absorbed the view in front of me which belonged in a Christmas movie. Fire pit with logs beside me, trees sprinkled with snow, and the mountains in the distance were breathtaking.
If it wasn’t for Levi this would be the perfect Christmas in Colorado.
Beside me was a large wooden box with a lid. I peeked inside to see kerosene, long matches, and more wood. Nice.
While I couldn’t recall ever lighting a bonfire before, it felt right. I poured on some of the magical fluid, tossed a match, and boom, this gal made fire.
I lifted a lid of another box right next to the lake to see many pairs of ice skates in various sizes. Well, slap my ass and call me Larry, I did not know I’d be learning to ice skate today.
These activities would keep my mind away from the hottie in the house.
FOURTEEN
LEVI
BACK AT IT
Her shoes were inside the door, but no sign of Allie. It appeared she was slipping back into hate mode, so maybe she was relaxing in her room. Or taking a bubble bath. A bubble bath where her hot slippery body soaks in the steamy water. That would be super cool.
I walked past her room, and the door was open, but no Langley wrapped in a towel or anything. Bummer.
I checked the pool area, out front, and the game room in the basement, but she was MIA. I grabbed a Rockstar and sat on the deck for a minute and that’s when I saw it.
Down the hill in the distance was a fire and a tiny person. I narrowed my eyes and the auburn hair with the backdrop of winter white snow answered the question of who it was.
Did I immediately run down the hill so I could be by her and the fire? Nope. Instead, I grabbed a toboggan from the shelf in the garage and slid my ass all the way down the hill in style. While I’d like to say I hadn’t gained speed quickly and ran into some huge wooden box, I can’t. I hopped up realizing any chance of playing it cool had stayed back at the house. Allie skated toward me.
“I’m fine.”
Her eyes rolled. “I didn’t ask.”
I stood by the fire and dusted myself off. “I’m sorry for what I said by the car. I was joking, but it was in bad taste.”
“Let’s play the quiet game, okay?” She skated in a circle.
“I think?—”
“Clearly you still have no concept of the quiet game.”
She propelled in the other direction and stayed about as far from me as possible. Every minute around her was stoking a fire I knew would eventually grow out of control; she was still the only thing I wanted. There had been many women in my life, hookups and purposeful dead ends, because nobody could be what she was, so why try? I’d regretted shutting it down from the day I had.
There were chairs on the ice in the distance, several areas where people had been ice fishing recently. I walked across the ice toward her.
“Hey! Watch for ice holes! It’ll be weaker there.” My voice rolled across the frozen lake.
“I don’t want to hear from you. I’m going back to the house.”
“Come on, Allie. Let’s talk about this.”
“No. I don’t want to talk about anything. I just want to forget it and never speak to you again.”
“Accept it; you can’t steer clear of me. Not then or now.”
“I’m sorry. I couldn’t hear you over the little voice in my head screaming you’re an idiot. No talking anymore. Stay away.”
