Page 9 of Holiday on the Rocks
He buckled his seatbelt and looked back at me. Those eyes that had been missing for seven years were turning me into a mushy mess.
“I will always hate you.” I hit continue on my Maps. “The very least you can do is disappear. You’re just a cousin; you aren’t needed at this wedding. I’m a bridesmaid. Totally needed.”
He shook his head of Prince Charming hair before he looked out the window. As much as I fought it, my eyes soaked in his perfect profile and strong jawline. Stop!
“Sorry sweetheart, I’m staying.” He glanced back with a cocky grin.
My stomach tripped over his words. “Well, you’ll have to stay in a hotel. No way in hell you’re staying under the same roof as me.” I hated the crack in my voice and quickly cleared my throat.
“I’ve heard the house is huge. This isn’t a big deal.”
The way his green eyes messed with my equilibrium was a big deal. He was still the most beautifully handsome man to ever walk the earth. It wasn’t fair that I had to stare into the face of the man who left me shattered.
My heart was thumping against my ribs while I assessed the shitty situation I was in. I didn’t know if I needed a hug, hammer, Xanax, five shots of vodka, or to beat the shit out of Emily, but I couldn’t come up with an option that didn’t end with me behind bars.
I took a controlled breath. I could do this. I had to do this. I was no longer the young woman he’d crushed. I would deal with this situation with the maturity I lived by each and every day of my life.
“I hate you. I hate your stupid face, and you suck ass.”
Clearly maturity had run screaming through the forest, flung herself over a cliff, and died a bloody death.
We drove the remaining seven miles in silence. He flipped on the radio and after ten seconds of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, I flipped it off because I was in my bitchy to Levi Era.
I closed my eyes tightly trying to not remember what his fingertips felt like sliding up my thighs. “It’ll always be you and me, Allie.”
I jumped at a horrid screeching sound that filled the SUV. He grabbed his phone from the dash and before he answered I got a glimpse of a woman with dark hair that popped up on the screen.
“Hey.”
I looked out the window and hated everything. A woman was calling Levi. He had a life and people in it.
“Yeah, go ahead, it’s fine.”
What was he talking about?
There was a pause and my chest cracked open when his laughter bounced around me. The great laugh was the same and it hurt.
“Got it. Talk soon, bye.”
How was I going to survive a Christmas Eve wedding with him?
The car finally reached the house that looked large enough to be a hotel. The exterior was stunning with stone and wood crawling up the front and windows everywhere with views of the snowy mountains and trees as far as the eye could see.
Our group decided renting this ginormous house with seven bedrooms, indoor pool, land out back for bon fires just off of a ski resort, was the perfect fit. The wedding party was just our group so we would stay here together except for the bride, groom, and their families who were staying at a hotel in town.
It sounded like a good plan until now.
Levi leaned up in his seat. “Holy shitballs, look at this place.”
FOUR
LEVI
HATING LEVI
Allie hopped out of the car so fast she was a blur, and in a second her bag was out of the trunk.
I got out and looked over at the same second Allie stopped and flew back in my direction. What was happening?
