"Not right now. Raya is cold and needs a change of clothes. Not to mention, I'm starving."
Maybe they'll take the damn hint.
"I'll catch up with them later," Tag says from beside Raya, probably talking about women, reminding me he's a wolf.
"You can head on. I've got Raya," I say, motioning for Tag to go away. I want him far, far away from her.
After I kneel down and unbuckle her feet from the skis, I motion for a snowmobile to join us. The guy promptly makes his way over here, cutting the engine when he coasts to a stop.
"Carry her up to the house for me."
Considering our prominent group, everyone on staff knows me without having to tell them who I am.
The guy nods as I help Raya onto the back.
"Come meet me at the lodge when you have on dry clothes, and I'll have you something warm to drink ready and waiting," I say, watching her stare at me like there's something she wants to say. Later. Tonight is definitely the night. No more chickening out.
With everyone else skiing, I'll have her to myself. Everyone will go out to dinner tonight, and I'll convince Raya to stay with me. Then I'll tell her how I feel, and pray that she's ready. I know she wants to be with me, but I also know she's hard to get close to without getting spooked.
But she's not skittish around me anymore. She leans in to my touch, she wants to be held by me, and she's more comfortable around me than anyone else. Tonight. No more waiting on her to come to me. Time to man up and go to her.
"We'll come hang out with you for a few minutes," Erica says, pissing me off when I realize how close they are. Why can't everyone just leave us alone?
Raya still has her eyes locked on me, so I offer her a wink, making her smile as she's hauled away from me.
"I can't believe you let her out of your sight," Tag teases, making me groan.
Erica tilts her head, but she doesn't say anything. Wren, however, is quick to catch on.
"Wait. You and Raya? You two are together now? I thought you were still claiming to be friends," Wren murmurs, sounding confused.
Tag's snickering grows more annoying by the second.
"You still buying that shit?" Tag asks Wren, rolling his eyes. "Kade has it bad. Bought her all kinds of pink shit."
He makes it sound as though that says enough. Buy a girl some necessary equipment for Aspen, and apparently you might as well be breaking out an engagement ring.
"What's taking you so long to ask her out?" Erica asks.
I really don't need this right now, and I'm not crazy about speaking to Erica.
"I'm pacing myself. Raya is hard to get close to. If it was easy, do you think she'd still be single?" I ask as we close in on the lodge.
"Hang on a second," Tag says, seeming to look behind in search of something.
"What're you doing?" My brow lifts as I study his weird and random actions of inspecting the trail of snow behind me.
"Looking for your balls. I figure if I find them for you, you'll stop making excuses."
Everyone starts laughing, and even I have to chuckle a little. Maybe I am scared—okay, I'm fucking terrified—but I'm finally doing this. Tonight.
We get stopped at the entrance by several people who know our families, and I drop to a bench to remove my skis. After a few minutes of meaningless conversation, we head in, discarding our gear on the racks off to the side. I wish everyone would just go and leave me alone with Raya.
"Mom's over there," Wren says, pointing out Melanie, who is shooing away a man trying to flirt with her.
For a woman in her early fifties, she still has the goods. Her blonde hair seems natural, not one strand of gray, and she's fit.
"Was that as