* * *
Harlow: You are the furthest thing from hideous, friend. You are drop-dead fucking gorgeous and sexy as hell and if I didn’t have a weird thing for this guy I used to hate, I would totally bang you all night long.
* * *
Cameron: LOL. Thanks, but that would be weird. You’re like my sister.
* * *
Harlow: Agreed. That would be weird. But you are a straight-up stud muffin and you’re going to find a woman with the good sense to stick around and tap that ass soon. No doubt in my mind. And if you get sick of wimps bailing, you could always omit the V-Card part until after the deed is done. It’s not like she’s going to damage YOUR delicate man flower, you know.
* * *
Cameron: You’re a bad influence. I’m an honest human.
* * *
Harlow: An honest, sexually frustrated human. And really, if you deliver a few Big Os before you give this mystery lady the enthusiastic, five-second ride of her life, does she really have any reason to complain?
* * *
Cameron: I would last at least thirty seconds, you jerk, and I’m going back to sleep. Text me when you’ve completed your mission, and I’ll lift a glass in your fallen hymen’s honor.
* * *
Harlow: EW! Never speak of my hymen again, you weirdo. But will do. And thank you. Even if I decide trusting my instincts is dumb, I appreciate you. You’re a good friend.
* * *
Cameron: The best. I know. It’s a curse. Hugs. And trust those instincts, Raine. They won’t lead you astray.
Chapter Seventeen
Harlow
Cameron is wrong.
My instincts are absolutely going to lead me astray. My instincts are, in fact, in complete opposition to everything I logically know to be wise and proper, but they’re fucking powerful.
And getting stronger with every passing moment.
By the time we load Gram’s wheelchair and walker both into the back of Derrick’s SUV and get on the road—zooming through the sparkling winter landscape with coffee and apple cider donuts from a quaint little roadside coffee shack—my defenses are already in shambles.
Then Derrick pulls into the Skyview Gondolas entrance, and I melt like a marshmallow held over the fire too long. And like that marshmallow, I will probably end up sliding off the end of my stick and being incinerated in the flames, but at least I’m going to have a good time on my way to ruin.
“Thank you,” I whisper, squeezing his hand as we wait for the attendant to brace the enclosed, glass-walled gondola so we can roll Gram inside. “She’s missed ski lifts so much.”
“That’s what she said last night,” he whispers back. “I know this isn’t exactly the same, but…”
“It’s even better,” Gram pipes up from in front of us. “All the gorgeous views and none of the freezing wind.” She glances over her shoulder with a smirk. “I’ve got my hearing aids in, kiddos. If you want to have private talk, you’re going to have to use softer voices than that.”
“Good to know,” I say, laughing as Derrick rolls Gram inside and the attendant straps her wheels to the ground. Then, Derrick and I settle into the bench seat across from her and we’re off.
The gondola whips around a tight curve, then zooms out of the loading building and up the mountain. For a moment, we’re surrounded by snow-covered evergreens and then the track rises sharply and we’re suddenly on top of the world.
My breath catches as I lean toward the window, captivated by the stunning mountain view stretching away in all directions and the adorable town at the base of the mountain. With its church steeples, quaint downtown, and frozen river winding beside the road before it wiggles out into the valley beyond, it looks like something out of a Norman Rockwell painting.
“Oh goodness,” Gram murmurs, clearly as affected as I am. “What a view. And what a beautiful world. I’m so glad I got to spend as much time in it as I did.”
Her words sending a jolt of pain through my heart, I reach out to take her hand. “And you’ll have more. We’ll do this again next year. I promise.”
She squeezes my fingers in return, her smile never wavering. “I hope so. But if not, all my dreams have already come true this time around. I’m ready for my next adventure, whenever it comes. So don’t be too sad, sweetheart. I don’t have any unfinished business.” She casts a sober look Derrick’s way. “Except those fish and chips you promised. I better get a big fat order of those before I go.”
“The biggest and the fattest,” he promises, taking Gram’s other hand, making me simultaneously want to cry my eyes out and tell him I love him.
But, of course, I don’t. I just love that he’s being so good to someone else that I love. The warmth swelling in my chest is confusing things, but that’s the truth of it. I will myself to remember that as we zoom up and down the mountain three more times—because Derrick paid extra so we could have multiple rides without getting on and off again.