Page 42 of Wedlocked

“For you?”

“Well, not for anyone else,” I grumped.

She gave me a stern look.

“I’m a selfish man, baby.”

“Over-protective. Bossy. Archaic.”

“Tell me you love me,” I commanded.

“As long as you understand that you are not the boss of me.”

“Well, you’re the boss of me.”

Her lips parted. “What?”

I grinned lazily. “You completely own me, Carrot, and you know it. The least you could do is pretend I have some say in your well-being.”

“I love you,” she confessed.

I mean, this girl was a lot of work. I had to tell her she owned me just to get an I-love-you.

“And of course you have a say,” she asserted. “Thank you for jumping in after me today, Ry. I promise I’ll try to be more careful from now on.”

“Give me some sugar.”

She leaned in, and I kissed her long, languid, and deep.

We didn’t talk again for a long time.

8

Max

The night skywas inky black but filled with glimmering stars, the half-moon high among them like a king reigning over his subjects.

When we got to the mountain, that pristine view overhead competed with the slopes below it. Besides the ski lodge glowing with warm light, the mountain and all its fresh white snow was lit up in neon blue and pink. Every piste was lined with LED lights, and there were more floodlights overhead so people could make their way to the lifts.

White Pine Summit had twenty-six trails with about half open for Midnight Madness, which was basically night skiing. Trails opened at eight p.m. and closed at midnight. In addition to the open slopes, there was live music, open concessions, and an area with fire pits and seating.

Personally, I liked night skiing better than daytime. I liked the dark sky, the absence of the glare of the snow, and the fact there were fewer people around to get on my nerves. The lines for the lift were shorter too.

“Look at that slope over there,” Lars exclaimed, gesturing off to the left. “It’s red and white.”

Following his direction, I looked at the run that was lit with red LEDs and designed to look striped with the white snow.

“That’s the candy cane run, angel. It is getting close to Christmas,” Win said.

“Let’s do that one first.” Lars reached for Win’s hand to drag him off. Once he figured out no one around here would be butt hurt that he could literally outski all of us, he turned into the Energizer Bunny.

Win glanced at me, his face filled with amusement. “He’s so adorable.”

“Tell me that after he leaves you in his dust another twelve times,” I mused.

“I will,” he said, confident. “You coming?”

I glanced at Wes who was gazing up at one of the blue runs. “Nah, we’ll catch up with you later.”