Page 31 of Release Me

“I’ll be fine,” she says, smiling.

“Hmmm,” I reply, making a mental note to check in on her first thing tomorrow.

Zoey laughs, her hand moving to my arm. “Thank you, Ethan, really.”

“You’re welcome,” I reply, wishing to fuck I could just stay, because I really don’t want to leave. But I do, making it all the way to my car in the drive before I turn. Zoey is still standing in the doorway, her hands hidden in the long sleeves of the sweater she wears as she watches me. “Hey, Zo,” I call out, the nickname falling easily from my mouth.

“Yeah?”

“Keep the sweater, it looks better on you,” I say, giving her a quick wink before I turn and get into my car, trying to keep the smile off my face now I’ve finally acknowledged what she’s done. When she’d first walked out of her room wearing the sweater I’d lent her at my place a week ago, I’d nearly had a fucking heart attack. It had taken every ounce of self-control I’d had just to keep the smile off my face at the image of her in my clothes.

Now though, it’s practically impossible and as I pull out onto the street, I risk a quick glance in her direction. She’s still standing in the doorway, her sleeved hand covering her mouth as she watches me. There’s no denying the smile behind it though and fuck me if that doesn’t set my whole body on fire.

“How was your lesson?” I ask when I pull into the drive at the front of the lodge, Brandon and Tracy ready and waiting for me.

“Great,” Brandon says, grinning, his cheeks still red from the cold as he climbs into the passenger seat. “Thanks for hooking us up.”

From the back seat, Tracy laughs as she says, “He fell on his ass many times.”

“Hey!” Brandon says. “Not all of us grew up skiing, you know.”

Tracy smirks, leaning forward to kiss her fiancé’s cheek. “Sure, baby.”

I smile, thinking back to my lesson with Zoey a week or so ago, how much fun it had been being out on the slopes at night with just her. Even falling on my ass hadn’t been that bad considering she had fallen with me. It was the closest I’d ever been to her, laying in the snow with her body pressed against mine and yeah, as wrong as it is, it’s still something I think about on an almost nightly basis.

“How’s Zoey?” Tracy now asks as we head up the mountain to my place.

“Okay,” I reply. “She sends her apologies. Hopefully she’ll be back at work tomorrow and can show you around.”

“Speaking of Zoey,” Brandon says, angling himself in the passenger seat as he hits me with a grin. “I think there’s a conversation we still need to have.”

“Nope, there isn’t,” I say, turning onto my road.

“Yeah, there is,” he says, reaching over to punch my arm.

I return the punch, the two of us easily falling into the shit we did as teenagers. “No way.”

“Yes way.”

“Oh my god, what are you two, like twelve?” Tracy says from the back seat.

Brandon and I glance at each other, both of us grinning. It doesn’t matter how long it is that we don’t see each other, our years of friendship means it’s easy for us to pick things up as though no time has passed.

Apparently, it also doesn’t matter how successful we are or how much money we make either, because we can both still act like idiots the second we’re together again.

“Wow,” Brandon says, letting out a whistle as I pull into my drive, hitting the fob to open the gate and garage. “Nice place.”

Chuckling, I reply, “Thanks.”

Inside the house, I show them to their room, leaving them to get settled before I head back to the kitchen. Taking off my jacket and tie, I leave them on the counter and head into the living area to pour myself a drink.

“Can you pour me one?” Brandon asks, as he walks into the living room.

“Tracy?”

He shakes his head. “She’s taking a shower,” he replies, walking over to me. “Right, so tell me how long you’ve had the hots for Zoey.”

“Jesus,” I say, barking out a laugh. “Just putting it out there, huh?”

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