As Jessie told Harmony they were stuck, Kai tried to move away from her. It was difficult, since their skis were crossed in awkward ways. Looking down at Jessie, Kai mumbled some excuse to Harmony about falling repeatedly. Jessie’s cheeks were pale and her breath was sharp. Being caught had scared the crap out of her, too.
Harmony laughed as she reached down to help. “Here, just lie still.” She unbuckled Kai’s skis from his boots, then Jessie’s. As she helped them untangled their legs, she said, “April headed back to the lodge. I thought I’d find you guys, and we could all get dinner together.” She smirked as Jessie and Kai quickly became two separate people again. “Good thing I came for you. You two looked like pretzels.”
Harmony laughed, but Jessie looked away. Whether she was embarrassed, mortified, grossed out…Kai wasn’t sure. All he knew was that he’d screwed up. He sighed as they followed Harmony back to the lodge. Guess he wasn’t as much of an adult as he thought.
Back at the lodge, Jessie handed Kai her skis and asked him if he could put them in their room. Nodding, Kai watched her immediately turn away and dash after Harmony. Not even looking back at Kai, she climbed the stairs to go get ready for dinner in the girl’s room. Kai had gone too far with his teasing, and he could tell he’d made Jessie uncomfortable. He couldn’t even tell her he was sorry, because really, how many times could he apologize before it just started sounding ridiculously repetitive. Maybe instead of having Thank you put on a T-shirt, like he’d jokingly told her once, he should have an apology printed instead.
Rubbing sore, aching muscles, Kai headed to his room with Jessie’s skis. They were bright pink, and he received more than a few odd looks as he walked across the lobby with them. Sighing as he slinked into his suite, Kai put away the flamboyant skis and flopped onto his bed. Taking a moment, he blankly stared at his ceiling and let every ounce of his confusion wash over him in waves. First he was fine, then he was hurt, then he was angry, then he was sad. He wasn’t sure where his mood was going to settle by the time he met back up with the girls.
Throwing an arm over his eyes, he considered not showing up, but that would seem weird to Harmony and April, and they might even come looking for him. If they did, he could always play it off as being too sore to do anything but soak in his jetted tub…which actually sounded pretty nice. Exhaling in frustration, he sat up. No, he needed to check on Jessie. He needed to make sure his latest mistake wasn’t bothering her too badly. The last thing he ever wanted to do again was make her cry. He’d seen enough of her tears.
Changing into a warm, tight sweater and some jeans, he ran his fingers through his drying hair and mentally prepared himself to see his cousin again. After not having seen her for so long during their forced separation, Kai was becoming increasingly uneasy the longer they were apart. He was certain he wouldn’t be able to go back to avoiding her after this. He didn’t know what that meant for them in the long run, but he needed her too much to push her away.
Hastily leaving his room, he made his way to the lobby where they’d all agreed to meet up. He had to wait forever, but that was to be expected when three girls were getting ready to go out for the evening. Standing near the front doors, Kai passed the time by watching the snow falling outside through the glass. It was so incredibly beautiful, almost unreal.
Lost in the magnificence around him, he almost missed the sound of girls giggling. Slowly turning around, he spotted them a few steps behind him, watching him watch the snow. Harmony grinned when he finally noticed them. “Island boy, you’re so cute.”
Kai felt his cheeks heat and wanted to look away, but Jessie was standing right beside Harmony, and once his gaze locked on her, he couldn’t turn his head. He inhaled a deep breath and held it. Her curls were loose around her shoulders, brushing over the marvelous cleavage that she was exaggerating with a deeply cut V-neck sweater dress. It clung to every curve, sliding down her hips in an intimate way. And good God, she had on thigh-high boots. Kai wanted to curse at her for looking so good. Maybe he should have had the Can you dress ugly for me? talk after all. The brain ruling his lower body vehemently disagreed.
Jessie smiled under his intense scrutiny, but it was eventually April who brought him back to reality. Coming up to him, she teasingly smacked his shoulder. “Snap out of it. I know you’ve been surrounded by beautiful women before.”
She winked at him and Kai rolled his eyes. “Right,” he murmured, shaking his head. He needed to stop letting Jessie distract him from this charade they were acting out. This play where they pretended to not be head over heels in love with each other.