“Eek!” She launches herself at me again, wrapping her arms around my neck. “It’s the perfect next adventure! Let’s do it!”
She’s bouncing and wiggling up against me so much, I can’t believe what starts to happen inside my pants. This is fucking embarrassing. I’m sure it’s because I lost my wingman, Miles. I’ve been going through a bit of a dry spell, but still, I’m over thirty. I shouldn’t just be popping boners like Pez.
She pulls back, and her eyes are alight with excitement. “I haven’t even sent Sterling a picture yet! He’s going to flip when he sees me on that silo!”
With that last remark, my boner drops like a cooked noodle. But like a thick noodle. A big ole cannelloni for sure.
“Yeah, you’d better get those sent,” I grumble and stand to make my way toward the door. “I’m going to go pack up my shit. I’ll see you in the truck.”
The door closes behind me, and I feel like I need to shove my own face in the snow for being so stupid just now. She’s after her ex, not my fucking noodle. I need to get my shit straight before being locked away in that cabin with her for an entire weekend.
Complimentary Coffee And Advice
The next day, I’m seated at Miles and Kate’s kitchen table when Miles comes strolling in. “You’re up early,” he states with a yawn as he reaches into the cupboard and pulls down a box of corn flakes.
“I put on a pot of coffee!” I reply excitedly, doing my best not to seem like the freeloading pain in the neck little sister who showed up unannounced and has no specific departure date in sight.
“Oh, you shouldn’t have,” Kate’s voice croaks from around the corner before she shuffles into the kitchen in fuzzy slippers and another one of Miles’s giant T-shirts. “We don’t drink coffee at home.”
“You don’t?”
“She doesn’t,” Miles replies with an eye roll as he dumps some cereal into a bowl and adds milk to the top.
“I’m a purist,” Kate replies and offers Miles a sleepy-eyed smile. “I wait for Tire Depot coffee because it’s the best.”
I nod slowly at that response. “So, do you go to Tire Depot every day then?”
She shrugs. “Not every day. I mean…the days I don’t want to shower, I usually stay home and write because I get good words in here too. But today is shower day, so I’ll be going in with Miles. You should come with us!”
“To Tire Depot?” I ask as I shovel a bite of cereal into my mouth. “Like where Sam works too?”
My face instantly flames red when my brother frowns at me. “Well, Sam more than works there. He’s months away from owning the joint. But yeah, that’s where he works. Why do you mention Sam?”
“Oh…well,” I begin to stammer. “He, um…”
“Meg gave Sam a ride home after his birthday shindig Saturday,” Kate interjects helpfully. “So I’m sure she’s just connecting all the Boulder dots.”
“Yes,” I agree quickly, my eyes feeling wide enough to pop out of my head as I nod a silent thanks to Kate. “I met a lot of people that night. Hard to keep track of everyone.”
Miles shrugs and slurps a big bite of cereal while mumbling, “Is your car due for an oil change? I could do it there this morning. Easier to do it there than here.”
“Ummm, probably,” I reply as I try to figure out if this could be weird with Sam. I mean, we faked it at a bar, so surely we can fake it at Tire Depot, right?
“It’s settled then!” Kate states happily. “I’ll ride in with Megan. That way you don’t have to wait for us to get ready, Miles. Meg, I just want you to know we’ll be missing the Danishes most likely.”
Her face is so somber, I wait for her to start laughing.
She doesn’t.
“Okay then,” I reply with equal somberness. “Thanks for letting me know.”
“No prob.” She nods. “But don’t be too sad. The cookies are very scrumptious as well.” She beams over at me knowingly, and I know instantly she’s not just talking about the cookies.
“Sounds greeeat,” I reply slowly and then excuse myself from the table. If I’m going to Tire Depot today, I suppose it’s a shower day for me as well.
Before Kate and I leave the house, I send a quick text to Sam to warn him of the plan. He doesn’t flipping reply, and that only makes me more anxious about how this all could go.
“Why do you look so nervous?” Kate asks, cutting into my internal freak-out.
“I’m not nervous!” I exclaim, my hands wrapping tightly around the wheel.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see her turn in her seat to face me fully. “Admit it, you’re totally smitten with Sam!”
“I am not!” I exclaim and then flinch at my way too defensive and shrieky tone.
“What the hell happened yesterday then? You got home kind of late, and Miles wouldn’t leave us alone. I’ve been dying for some details, so spill.”
“Nothing happened. Sam helped me go silo ice climbing, and he was really sweet and really impressive at climbing. That’s all.” I say it all in one breath like that’s somehow going to make this conversation easier.
I’m wrong.
“Did you say silo ice climbing?” I glance over and see Kate’s twisted-up, confused face. Gosh, she’s adorable.
“Yes, that’s what I said.”
“Silo ice climbing is not a thing.”
“I thought the same thing at first, and I was wrong.” I whip out my phone and show her a selfie of me at the top with the big ole iced silo behind me. “It’s a thing.”
“Amazing,” she states, grabbing my phone and swiping through more of the pictures. “Were you any good at it?”
“God no, but Sam was amazing. Like gladiator good. I couldn’t believe my eyes. No one could.”
My mind drifts back to watching him scale that wall like a…man. It was so unexpectedly sexy that I found myself drooling at one point. Those tight pants and the grunts I could hear every time he swung his ax…mmm.
And then he had such a casual look on his face as he finished. He just rang that bell and hoisted himself onto the top of that silo like it was no big deal, win or lose. It was…impressive.
Sterling is the complete opposite of Sam. He’s actually practiced victory dances in front of me to get my opinion on which one I loved more. I never understood it because he’s a quarterback and that seems like something receivers do, but regardless, he wanted to have his dance down. He said it was for his future video game endorsement deal.
But Sam…Sam was so mature about it. It made it impossible for me not to hug him the second his feet hit the ground. There’s a quiet strength to him that draws me in so easily. And the fact that his ass didn’t look bad in those pants yesterday made it all the more confusing.
Kate hands me my phone back with a shit-eating grin on her face. “Did I just hear you compare ginger-bearded Sam to a gladiator?” Her peals of laughter completely yank me out of my delightful memory.
“You’re a redhead too. Where’s your solidarity?” I snap back defensively.
“I’m totally kidding,” she replies and reaches out to touch my arm, making me realize I’m probably overreacting a bit. “But wow, silo climbing? What made you decide to do that of all things? Miles never mentioned you were the outdoorsy type. I thought you were one of my people…a book nerd!”
My brows knit together with that very apt description of me. “I am a book nerd, but I’m trying to win back my ex by showing him how un-basic I am.”
“Books aren’t basic…books are life,” Kate deadpans, and I know she’s one hundred percent serious.
“I agree,” I reply quickly so she knows I’m not downplaying her amazing abilities. “But Sterling wants someone with some adventure inside her.”
“Like becoming a frosty dildo climber,” she states, still not laughing.
“And snowboarding.”
“When are you going snowboarding?” she asks, her eyes bright and intrigued. “Have you snowboarded before?”