Page 24 of Snow Balled

“Tell me what your new roommates are like.”

I took a breath, thinking about what to say. “Well… I like the dog.”

Ronnie laughed. “You already said that. Tell me about the two-legged ones.”

“They’re… okay, I guess.”

“You’re going to have to get a lot better at providing details before the press tour,” she observed.

“Maybe not,” I said with a little smile. “They’re supposed to send me a list of questions and possible responses. So, all I have to do is memorize, for the most part—I can do that in my sleep.” It was one of the benefits of being an actress.

Ronnie was still on the subject of the guys, however. “Are any of them friendly?”

“One.” I told her a little about Drew. “He’s the one who gave up his room for me. He seems like a good guy.”

“But you can’t relax around him.” It was a statement, not a question. Ronnie knew about my issues with men all too well.

“I’m trying. Then there’s another one, Tristan. He seems okay, too. When it was just him here today, I actually got some work done.”

“I want to hear how the screenplay’s going, but first, tell me about guy number three.”

I sighed. “He’s… kind of… a lot.”

“A lot?” Ronnie echoed.

“Yeah. Kind of intimidating. And… and—”

“Handsome as fuck?”

“Well… yeah.” Not that it mattered. It was his personality that was unattractive to me.

“I think it’s a law of nature,” Ronnie said. “In any group of three good-looking men, one of them has to be a fucking Adonis.”

“Seems like it.” I couldn’t help visualizing the two times I’d seen Carter shirtless. “But it’s just like… it’s too much. His looks, his smirk, his knowing eyes… it’s too much.”

“Over the top,” Ronnie said, and I nodded, forgetting she couldn’t see me. “My brother’s girlfriend is a romance writer, and she calls it OTT, over the top, when a guy is just too hot, and, well, too everything.”

“Yeah, that describes Carter.”

“So, he’s over-the-top-gorgeous?”

“Over-the-top obnoxious,” I said without thinking.

Ronnie chuckled. “Over the top obnoxious. Or OTTO, for short. I like it.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “I’m going to call him that, at least in my mind. Otto.” If there was ever a man who didn’t look like an Otto, it was Carter.

“Hey, say it to his face.”

Ronnie would, but I wasn’t as brave as her.

“But seriously, does he make you feel uncomfortable?” she asked. “I mean, not because of his looks, but like, does he make you feel unsafe?”

“No,” I said after a short pause. Though I was pretty sure he made the deer around here feel unsafe. I’d heard him come back to the cabin, but I hadn’t poked my head out of the room. If he had a dead animal with him, I didn’t want to know about it. “Can we talk about something else?”

“Sure,” Ronnie said instantly. “In fact, I have some good news.”

I sat up, swinging my legs over the edge of the bed. “What?” It didn’t seem like she could be engaged, not since she had to keep her unconventional relationship with Aiden and his friends secret. She might be pregnant, but I doubted she’d be learning motorcycle stunts if she was. “I could really use some good news right about now.”

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