posted by Kaylie Newell on Uncategorized

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Justin led the way down the run, the florescent blue light from his headlamp illuminating the frozen night. They stayed mostly quiet, the only sound being their skis cutting into the icy mountainside.

He’d never meant to bring up Harper’s leaving again. He’d sworn when she’d gotten on that plane, that would be the last of them as a couple. He knew she was hurting. But so was he. Hell, he’d been hurting for months. But he’d also been angry. And what better way to forget, than to have a few beers and kick back with an easy girl or two. Katie Lombardi didn’t mean anything to him. But Harper didn’t have to know that.

What he’d really wanted to do the second he pulled her perfectly formed ass out of that hole, was to kiss her. Hard. Make her wish she’d never left. But deep down, despite the anger on the surface, a few months without her had left him a lot of time to think. He’d had moments of seeing her point. He could have waited. And in the meantime, he could have visited, taken her to the beach and nice dinners. Written to her and called. Kept what they’d had alive, instead of giving up on it completely. And the fact that he’d given up so easily surprised him. He wasn’t a quitter. But when it came to Harper, he’d selfishly wanted all of her. Wanted to hold her and kiss her, and have her close. At the time, the thought of her being that far away had been inconceivable. And the rest was history.

They turned a sharp corner and the lodge finally appeared ahead, a beautiful old building made up of dark wood planks, which was nestled in front of a thick grove of pines. The outer lights winked a welcome, but it looked dark and empty beyond the frosted windows.

Harper huffed behind him. “Hmmfft. Glad Amber waited.”

Justin smiled back at her, well aware of their love-hate relationship. “I told them to let her go. You wouldn’t want her driving down the mountain this late, would you?”

He came to a stop about twenty feet from the lodge’s heavy doors, and Harper narrowly avoided running right into him. She snow plowed off to the side and teetered for a second before jamming her poles into the snow. “No. I don’t trust her reflexes. They’re almost as awesome as mine.”

She leaned down to unsnap her skis from her boots, and he took in the view. Long, slender legs, a heart-shaped behind, and a waist which begged to be held. Standing up, she whipped around, her dark brown hair falling seductively around her face which was rosy and pink from the cold.

“Were you just looking at my butt?”

He shrugged, unlocking the front door. “What if I was?”

She clomped after him, their boots leaving big chunks of snow at the base of the staircase which was wrapped in a fresh pine garland and velvety red bows. “I didn’t think you were interested anymore. Isn’t silicone more your style?” She obviously thought she was being clever, because he could hear the smile in her voice. Harper always laughed at her own jokes, sometimes so hard tears would squeeze from the corners of her brown eyes. He loved that about her. That innate ability to embrace her inner goofball.

“Nice one, kitten.”

“I thought so.”

Reaching the top of the stairs, they stepped into the main room of the lodge, which was bathed in the soft white glow of hundreds of miniature Christmas lights. They lined the ceiling and wrapped around the pillars beside the fireplace. A fat spruce stood in the corner, delicate blue icicles hanging from its branches and catching the light from the room to reflect it in little sparkles. The tree smelled like Christmas. Like childhood memories and presents, and waking up at dawn to open them.

Justin hesitated for a second before reaching out to flip the lights on. But Harper put a hand on his arm, stopping him.

“No, don’t. It’s beautiful, don’t you think?”

 

*Thanks for stopping by!  Hope you’ll join me next Thursday for the final installment of Winter Break And don’t forget to stop by my friend, Ashlynn Monroe’s blog tomorrow for her story, Reunion- http://www.ashlynnmonroe.com/apps/blog/