Page 47 of Next in Line
“Spraying us?” I ask with a frown.
With a half-smile, he says, “Yeah, they ski really fast straight at you and then stop and kick their heels out, resulting in a spray of snow. They always do it to newbies.”
“What dicks,” I reply with a huff.
Sam just shakes his head. “Yeah, but it’s all a part of the fun, though.”
I nod and stare at Sam, waiting for him to show any signs of weirdness about the abrupt end to our evening. Surely he’s annoyed, right? I rushed back to the cabin so fast, I was changed and pretending to sleep on the couch before he even walked in the door. That had to frustrate him, right?
“How’d you sleep last night?” he asks while scooping the food onto a couple of plates.
“Great!” I exclaim a bit too forcefully. “That couch is really comfortable.”
He turns to eye me for a second before flipping the last few pieces of bacon. “Maybe we can trade tonight.”
“Forget it.”
He turns to look straight at me, sighing in exasperation. “You’re very stubborn, you know that?”
“My brother reminds me almost daily,” I reply, nabbing the piece of bacon he’s just set on a towel. Taking a deep breath, I add, “Hey, sorry I got kind of weird last night.”
He shakes his head and replies, “It’s okay, Maggie. I figured you changed your mind, and I’m all right with it. It’s probably for the best.”
My eyes fly wide. “Changed my mind about what?”
“About us hooking up or whatever. It’s no big deal.”
“I didn’t change my mind,” I exclaim, grabbing his meaty bicep so he turns to look at me.
His brow is furrowed as he stares down at my lips. “You didn’t?”
“No! What would make you think that?”
“Because you basically ran away from me in the hot springs last night. I might not be the most intuitive guy, but I am perceptive, and regret was written all over your face.”
My eyes slam shut in horror as I realize that Sam interpreted my mental breakdown completely wrong last night. “It wasn’t you…it was me.”
He huffs out a laugh. “Got it.”
“No…oh my god, I’m horrible at this.” I release his arm to hoist myself up on the kitchen counter as I attempt to form my words so I don’t sound like a total headcase. “I had a bad experience going down on a guy once. So bad, I never want to do it again, and I was worried that’s what you were expecting last night since we didn’t have condoms.”
Sam’s jaw drops. “You thought I wanted you to suck my cock?”
I shrug, flushing with embarrassment and feeling a little turned on at his casual use of such a dirty word. “Well, yeah. I mean, you’d just gone down on me, and I could tell your dick was like…majorly hard.” My face flames with heat as I stutter out, “Returning the favor would have been the appropriate thing to do.”
“Jesus Christ, Maggie…you’re really fucking nuts sometimes, you know that?” Sam barks, his tone gruff with chastisement.
“What?” I exclaim in confusion.
“Only assholes expect reciprocation. Men expect orgasms. You orgasmed, and that was my goal. End of story. What kind of douchebags have you dated anyway?”
My entire body recoils with mortification. If I told Sam that my bad experience was with Sterling, he’d never agree to keep helping me win him back. “I don’t know…one time a guy just got too excited I guess and he sort of gagged me until I threw up.”
Sam’s eyes close in anger at my words. “Goddamnit, I want to punch him.”
“You don’t even know him.”
“I still want to punch him.” Sam shakes his head sadly and reaches out to shut off the stove burners. He moves closer to me, and I flinch a little as he slides his hands up my legs, positioning himself between them. “I feel like I shouldn’t be teaching you how to snowboard. I should be teaching you how to know your worth.”
