Wilson Mooney Eighteen at Last (16 page)

“
Well, actually…we saw
each other at a coffee shop. We both ordered the same drink,” Max
let out a slight laugh.

“
That’s right,” I backed
up his story.

“
Then, later that day, we
ended up in a government focus group, and I knew I had to meet
her,” Max said as he looked at me. His eyes narrowed and
glimmered.

Oh my God, we really have
to get our stories straight.

“
That’s right; you’re
teaching government at one of those private schools, aren’t you?”
Reid said as he popped Max across the shoulder. “Well, I have to
say, it’s pretty ballsy choosing to teach government to
high-schoolers over working for your dad at GP.” Reid laughed,
unaware of what he’d just said. I stole a glance over at Max and
noticed how his eyes constricted.

“
Yeah, well I get summers
off, man,” Max said, trying to justify his choices.

“
Which is a complete
bonus,” Reid agreed. “Do you teach at the same school?” he turned
and asked me.

“
Oh no—I’m not a teacher,
I’m still in scho—college,” I swallowed, choking on my
lie.

“
Robbin’ the cradle are
we?” Reid whispered to Max as he elbowed him in the side. Max
wobbled unstably on his skates before he gave Reid a slight
grin.

“
You look really happy,
man. I’m glad to see you back to your old self,” Reid said, and his
expression softened.

“
Thanks, I
am
happy.”

“
Well, Wilson, let me just
tell you—Max here is one of the coolest cats I know. He’s one of
Aspen’s finest.”

“
How much did we decide
I’d pay you for saying that?” Max teased as he reached into his
pocket. “Come on, I didn’t haul off to New York and run with the
big boys; now
that’s
ballsy. You, my friend, are the finest of Aspen,” Max worked
to change the subject.

“
Please, you have no
idea,” Reid said as he shook his head back and forth.

“
This guy right here
single-handedly saved his company from going bankrupt,” Max
bragged.

“
Oh now, come on, you
don’t need to bore your lady with my life,” Reid interrupted.
“Hey—why don’t you and Wilson come to the house? I’ll make you guys
some dinner and then we can reminisce about how crazy we were for
wanting to change the world.”

Max looked at me, his
expansive green eyes rounded like he was asking for
permission.
Shit.
Who am I to make the choice? If Max wants us to hang out with
Reid, then we’ll do it. God knows in the last month, he’s found
himself hanging out with Joanie and me more than he’d probably like
to.
I gave him a nod; it felt strange to
react to one of his friend’s requests like a couple. But I don’t
know, it wasn’t like we had offers like this all the time. The only
person who knew about us was Joanie, so to do something with one of
his friends together was a huge checkmark off the list of becoming
an official couple.

“
Okay great, how about
Tuesday?” Reid pushed.

“
Sounds good; we’ll bring
the dessert,” Max smiled. He knew exactly where to get the best
berry pies in town.

“
Well, it was really nice
meeting you, Wilson, and I look forward to hanging out with you and
Max on Tuesday night,” Reid said as he leaned over and kissed my
cheek.

“
You too—oh, and thanks
for saving us from the peril of the cold wet ice,” I
mused.

“
No problem. See ya, Max.”
Reid shook his hand and slapped him across his shoulder. Of course,
Max nearly fell back down. He grabbed the railing again and was
able to stop himself from faltering. Reid skated off as if he could
do it better than walking. I watched him stop and wrap his arms
around a woman waiting on the other side of the rink.

“
He seems like a nice
guy,” I said.

“
Yeah, we grew up
together. We were actually best friends until he decided to date my
sister,” Max mumbled. I watched his expression shift as he replayed
the history in his head.

“
I never really knew how
much outside pressure you’d gotten to work for your family’s
company,” I said.

Max shook his head. “Well there is a
lot of pressure and guilt when you decide that you don’t want to
work for a family-owned business that has been around for three
generations.” He took a deep breath.

“
Don’t get me wrong—I’m
proud of my dad and what he’s done with the company, but the whole
thing…well, it isn’t for me.”

Max’s body language said everything.
His lips pulled tight into a straight line, his eyes narrowed, and
his shoulders became heavy.

“
Are we gonna try ice
skating some more or just hang on the railing until someone rescues
us?” Max said.

I knew that was my cue to drop the
conversation about his father.

The whole ice skating idea, as much as
I wanted it to be this romantic moment between Max and me, was just
a fiasco. We both struggled to get around the rink, and by the time
we made it halfway, we were both done. My thighs burned, I had
knots up and down my calves, and my hands hurt from desperately
holding onto the railing. It was time for us to hang up the skates
and find some hot chocolate and candy canes.

“
You done?” Max asked as
we came to the first exit on the opposite side of the
rink.

“
Yeah I think we’ve both
proven that we are better off in our boots,” I said as I wobbled
off the ice.

“
So what do you say we
grab a couple of hot cocoas and leave the ice skating up to the
resolute?” Max smiled as the overhead lights flickered in his eyes.
“Besides, between you and me, I hear there’s this guy dressed all
in red handing out candy to people who aren’t on some naughty
list,” Max teased as he pulled off his gloves.

“
And you think you aren’t
on this particular list?” I murmured back as I cuddled close to
him. He wrapped his arms around me and buried his hands between the
space where my jacket met my jeans. God, he owned me; in that
moment, he was so everything to me. He was like a warm fire on a
crisp, chilly night and his aroma knew how to create a slow, rising
tingle deep in my body.

“
Not just yet.” His eyes
lowered down to where our bodies met. His hair tumbled across his
forehead and his jaw tightened before he bit his bottom lip.
Pressure swirled in every womanly space I had.

“
Oh, so you’re planning on
being naughty?” I mused.

“
Only if you are,” he
answered before he pushed his mouth against mine and I felt just
how sinful he wanted to be.

If this kiss is a taste of
what is to come, we’re both definitely going to end up with an
entire coal mine in our stockings.

“
We’d better go check the
list,” I whispered as his lips traced hotly against my jaw
line.

“
Mmmm,” he growled against
my skin as his hands navigated across every inch of my lower back
before leaving a cold trail.

He grabbed my hand and we ambled to
where we’d left our boots.

I heard a cackling, spastic laugh that
stopped me in my tracks. I knew that laugh…and it could only belong
to the one person I dreaded running into. I saw her from behind,
pushing and leaning against a couple of guys whose attention she
was able to capture. Okay, so maybe my senses were heightened, but
I could have sworn it was Cindy. My hands instantly became
drenched—I knew we were caught. “What’s wrong?” Max whispered as he
noticed my damp hands and inability to take another
step.

“
Cindy,” I snapped as I
pointed to the girl dressed in an obnoxious tiger-striped jacket
across the rink.

I felt Max’s hand tighten around mine
as he pulled me closer.

The girl turned around, and right
away, I could see it wasn’t Cindy. Relief swam through my body. Max
noticed and gave me a nervous smile. Either we were getting pretty
good at being together undiscovered or lucky enough to keep dodging
that bullet.

“
Nothing to worry about,
Wilson,” Max hummed in my ear.

“
Is that Wayne? How in the
hell are you?” a voice boomed across the rink. It was loud enough
to notice but nothing I paid attention to.

“
Well, shit, what a
surprise. How the hell are you?” I heard another voice that sounded
a bit more familiar. Max stopped walking and turned toward the
conversation.

“
Is that the ski
instructor who made you wreck down the hill?” Max asked as I turned
to see Wayne Samuels talking to Max’s friend Reid. My gut tightened
into knots and suddenly I felt just how cold the Aspen air
was.

“
He didn’t
make
me wreck. If I
remember correctly, I was distracted by a beautiful girl wrapping
her entire body around you. But yes, he was my ski instructor,” I
retorted as I looked back at Wayne. The tips of his blonde hair
twisted and curved out from under his dark woolen beanie. His eyes
danced in sync with his broad smile as his saintly features were
amplified in the glow of the lights strung above the
rink.

“
Well, he skied halfway
down the mountain and left you at the top—alone,” Max
sneered.

It was like I could hear Max’s smile
bend south, especially after he noticed I didn’t look away from
Wayne. I couldn’t help it, he was so mesmerizing and so physically
attractive; it was like no matter how much I tried to turn away,
there was a force compelling me to keep staring.

“
You can pick up your jaw
now,” Max whispered across my ear as he pushed his body against my
back and rested his hands across my stomach.

I was busted—not only by my boyfriend
but by the very guy who held my attention.

“
Hey—Wilson!” Wayne called
out to me.

I nodded to him, trying to keep my
cool in front of Max.

“
Don’t tell me, you’ve
hung up the planks and now you’ve taken to the blades,” Wayne
teased as he came toward Max and me, then tossed his arm back
across Reid’s stomach to make sure he was paying attention. “This
girl here, she’s tough—she stacked it down the hill, scared the
shit out of everyone.”

“
Thanks, Wayne, I don’t
think Reid needs to hear about my failed attempt at
skiing.”

“
You know my man Reid?”
Wayne asked as his voice rose an octave.

“
I met him earlier. He and
Max are good friends—you remember Max?” I pressed my hand against
the side of Max’s face as his head filled the space above my
shoulder and his body still pressed against me from behind. Max
reached over my shoulder and held out his hand, waiting for Wayne
to acknowledge him.

“
Hi, nice to see you
again,” Max said.

“
Yeah, man, how’s it
goin’?” Wayne reached out and grabbed Max’s hand.

Wayne’s eyes bounced back and forth
between us before they dropped down to the hand Max had resting
across the front of my waist. I watched Wayne’s body language
scream expletives as I saw how tortured he was, and soaked up the
disappointment that oozed from his expression.

“
How do you know this
guy?” Max asked.

Wayne chortled before he stumbled over
answering, “I uh…he um…”

“
Shit, Wayne, how
did
we meet?” Reid spat
before he broke into a laugh.

“
Let’s just say Reid tried
to date my ex-girlfriend’s twin sister and leave it at
that.”

“
Tried?
—
please
.
What were their names again?” Reid tried to remember.

“
Kirsten and Kathryn,”
Wayne answered.

“
That’s right. Which one
had the butterfly tat on her hip?” Reid asked, smiling as he
pointed down at his hip.

“
Kirsten had the
butterfly; Kathryn had the bird.”

“
Which one did I—?” Reid
smiled innocently.

“
Which one
didn’t
you—?” Wayne
quipped, not missing a beat.

“
Come on. In all fairness,
you guys were broken up. Man—those girls were like
wild horses
. Tell me you
didn’t tap both,” Reid said as his expression showed how much he
was enjoying recalling his adventures with the twin
girls.

Max and I stood, frozen, listening to
them carry on about these girls like they were a pair of
hand-me-down shoes. I could feel Max press heavier against me and
my insides twisted.

“
Sounds like you two had
some pretty wild times,” Max said as he tightened his arm around
me.

“
Yeah, well, you could
call it that. God, don’t tell me you’ve seen them. Are they still
around?” A smirk sprang across Reid’s face as he turned to
Wayne.

I felt Max start to guide me toward
where we’d left our boots. I guess he knew where this conversation
was heading; two single guys talking about just how wild those two
twin girls were.