Page 50 of Next in Line
And just like that, she doesn’t look like an insecure twentysomething anymore. She doesn’t look like a drowning puppy. She has that same look of determination she had with me last night in the hot spring. Her hand goes to her back to unclasp her bra, and when it falls off her shoulders, she chucks it right at my face.
I’m pretty sure I have to roll my tongue back into my mouth as I get a glimpse of her perfect pink nipples through her bra that’s now draped over my face. I quickly peel the barrier of fabric preventing me from fully ogling Maggie, but she slips down into the protection of the bubbles from the jets before I get another glimpse.
She ditches her bottoms next, and now we are a couple of bobbing heads in a hot tub on the top of a mountain as the winter sun casts golden sparkles all over the snow.
“I can’t believe you spilled my hot chocolate,” she pouts, and it’s so cute, I get a little hard.
I reach over and grab mine that’s resting safely on the far edge of the tub. “You can have mine.”
She glares at my outstretched hand but takes the drink anyway. When our fingers brush during the pass, a frisson of electricity shoots all the way up my arm. The spark makes me wish my fingers were brushing another part of Maggie altogether.
“I don’t have that many clothes here with me, you know.”
My eyes dance with mirth. “You have your snowsuit.” Her jaw juts out angrily, but before she freaks out on me again, I add, “And if you need clothes, you can borrow some of mine.”
She sets her mug down and swims over to the edge of the hot tub to watch the sun as it begins to disappear behind the mountains. I join her and absorb the scenery in comfortable silence as the orange sky turns pink and violet, and darkness begins to fall.
“This does feel pretty good,” Maggie states, turning around so the jets hit her back muscles.
“I tried to tell you,” I reply with a half-smile.
She exhales and lays her head back on the headrest. “Is this the kind of stuff you did growing up?”
“Get naked in hot tubs with girls? Yes,” I deadpan, my eyes glancing down at the swells of her breasts sticking out above the water.
She gives me a side-eye with a playful smirk. “I just mean, go on ski trips and hang out in cabins. I don’t know…you just seem so at ease with everything. Snowmobiling, climbing, snowboarding. You take risks like it’s just a normal day. You make it all look so easy.”
I shrug dismissively and spread my arms out on the edges of the hot tub. “Growing up in Boulder makes it easy, I guess. My buddies and I taught ourselves to climb and board. And I’m a gearhead, so I’ve always played with motorized toys.”
Maggie bites her lip, failing to hide a mischievous smirk on her face.
“I didn’t say battery-operated toys,” I state knowingly. “Jesus, get your mind out of the gutter.”
“What?” she replies with a laugh. “I didn’t say anything! It’s not my fault you can read my mind!”
I shake my head at her, blown away that a girl this beautiful can actually be this fun. Most of the girls I meet are either one or the other…never both. “You keep surprising me, sparky.”
“How so?” she asks, sliding deeper into the water.
“Last night was a surprise. Today was a surprise. Hell, watching you make it to the top of that silo was a surprise. You’re pretty amazing when you put your mind to it.”
She blushes under my compliments, and I feel genuine affection for her that I know I shouldn’t be feeling. This is casual. Nothing more. “So what’s your ex think of all your adventures so far?” I ask, trying to give myself a much-needed gut check. “You’ve achieved a lot in only a few weeks, I’d say. Is everything going according to plan?”
Maggie’s expression changes before my eyes from happy and carefree to confused and somewhat troubled. “I’ve been texting him some pictures here and there, and I think he’s impressed.”
“Does he not say it?” I ask, my brow furrowed.
She shrugs. “He seems genuinely surprised by all I’ve been up to on my winter break, but he doesn’t necessarily say he’s impressed. Maybe I’m downplaying it too much, though? I’ve been trying to play it off like I’ve wanted to do this kind of stuff for years.”
“But you haven’t?” I ask, feeling confused.
“God, no!” she replies with a laugh. “You saw me on that bunny hill today. I am terrible at sports!”
“But you still have fun doing it?” I ask because she doesn’t seem miserable when she’s doing any of it. So either she’s a great actress or she’s just so hyper-focused on her goal, she is willing herself to have fun.
“I’m having more fun than I would have expected, I guess,” she answers with a thoughtful expression on her face. “But I think that’s mostly because of you. You’re so easy to get along with, Sam. And you’re a fun teacher. I get why you and Miles are so close.”
The mention of her brother brings a stiffness to my posture that wasn’t there before. Probably because I’m currently butt ass naked in a hot tub with his sister, and she’s just reminded me of that fact. But hell, she’s a grown-ass woman, and I’m a grown-ass man. I know this is getting more complicated than either of us originally expected, but Maggie is clearly still focused on her ex, and I’d be an idiot not to jump at a chance with a girl like Maggie.
