17. AVA

17

AVA

"Pink or blue?"

Jules pointed her happy stare at her teammate, Marco, and waited for his response.

"What are the categories again?" he countered.

"Pink is entertainment. Blue is geography."

Marco shrugged. "They could be equally good or bad. I'm fine with whatever you decide."

Jules beamed at him, slid their piece across the spaces, and said, "We'll take pink."

Rhea read their question. "What actor played the role of Dawson on the TV show Dawson's Creek ?

I shook my head, a smile playing at my lips. Jules was grinning like an idiot, and judging by the look on Marco's face, I wasn't sure he even knew that Dawson's Creek was a thing.

Puffing up her chest with pride, Jules proudly declared, "James Van Der Beek."

Rhea gave her a nod of affirmation. "Grab yourself a pink pie wedge."

As Jules reached for the pie wedge, Cooper muttered, "Wow, Marco. I'm surprised you didn't beat Jules to the punch on that one. Aren't you a fan of Dawson's Creek ?"

Marco laughed. "I've never heard of it."

Jules twisted in her seat, high-fived Marco, and reasoned, "That's why you're lucky to have me on your team." Her eyes cut to Cooper's. "And don't give him shit about not knowing. I'm convinced you would have never gotten that one right."

Wyatt had decided he was getting in on the fun. "I think the better question is, how did you even know who the actor was, Jules?"

She cocked an eyebrow. "James Van Der Beek? Are you kidding me, Wyatt? I can't even justify that question with an answer."

"Alright, alright. Who's next?" Ivy chimed in, attempting to bring the focus back to the game.

I was the happiest I'd been in months.

It was the week after Christmas, and I was taking part in one of the best Christmas gifts I'd ever received. Larry and Wendy Westwood had organized a ski and snowboard trip to Keystone Mountain Ski Resort for the whole family.

Keystone Mountain was a family-owned and operated ski resort in Scarlett Valley, Pennsylvania. Their daughter, Mina, had married into the family years ago.

Larry and Wendy had decided they could support their daughter's family business at the same time they gave everyone the chance to kick back and have some fun. They'd extended the gift not just to Malcolm, Evelyn, and their grandkids. They'd invited Rhea, Skye, Marco, and me as well. And since his uncle's funeral had been three days ago, Marco had chosen to come on the trip. There hadn't been any pressure—everyone understood if it was too much for him—but we were all thrilled he'd come along. For the most part, it seemed he was enjoying himself, too.

We'd arrived late yesterday afternoon, so today had been our first full day at the resort. Following a big breakfast this morning, we all got our gear on and spent the day on the mountain. Everyone had a blast, and now, after a long day of skiing and snowboarding in the cold winter weather and a warm, hearty dinner, we were looking for the fun to continue.

So, we'd decided on a game of Trivial Pursuit. And if there was one thing the Westwood siblings—especially the boys—were known for, it was their competitive spirits. Wendy Westwood had paired us up into teams of two, and she wanted us to be opposite sex teams.

Naturally, Wyatt and Rhea teamed up, as did Cooper and Skye. Then it was Jules and Marco, Ivy and Liam, and Tate and me.

Tate and I had been getting along well, too. Things were much better between us. I was beyond grateful I'd approached him and fixed the situation between us early Christmas morning. Knowing things weren't perfect, but that we were both going to try to work on becoming friends again, had alleviated so much tension, and we were able to enjoy the day with the entire family. We didn't actively avoid one another, and we even sat beside each other during dinner.

Since we'd arrived in Scarlet Valley, things had been improving more. We'd spent a good deal of time talking and laughing with everyone in the family during any of the group conversations.

Of course, I'd noticed Tate's ability to find time alone with me wasn't diminished. And in each of those instances, he didn't hesitate to flirt. His flirting had been elevated to a level I'd never experienced from him before in my life, and it had started when I ran into a technical difficulty with my gear while we were on the mountain.

"This is the story of my life," I muttered, struggling with the zipper on my jacket.

"Do you want me to help?" Skye asked, moving toward me carefully at the top of the lift we'd all just exited.

I shook my head. "No, it's okay. I'll get it. You guys can go down ahead of me, and I'll catch up."

"Well, this isn't exactly my forte," Rhea chimed in. "Even if you're up here another ten minutes struggling with that and I start my descent now, you'll likely still pass me."

"Oh, you're not that bad," I insisted, still struggling with my jacket.

"Tell that to my legs. We've only gone down twice, and I'm already exhausted."

"It gets easier," Jules assured her.

Ivy didn't hesitate to chime in and offer some encouragement, too. "Yep. I remember when I was first learning. I thought it was hopeless."

"Hey, what's going on?" I looked up from my jacket and zipper along with the girls and saw the guys making their way in our direction. Wyatt continued, "Are we heading down or what?"

"In a minute," Rhea answered. "Ava's fixing the zipper on her jacket."

Nobody else seemed to give it a second thought, but Tate couldn't let it go. He made his way over to me and asked, "What's wrong?"

I let out a frustrated sigh, dropping my hands to my sides. "Ugh, all I wanted to do was get out some lip balm and apply it before we went down the trail. I had it tucked in the inside pocket of my jacket, but now the zipper is stuck. I can't get it up or down."

"Oh, I wouldn't say that," Tate muttered. He brought his hands to my zipper and began fiddling with it while I was busy trying to process what he'd just said and making sure nobody else had heard. When I returned my attention to him, Tate's eyes were focused on me, his lips twitching. "I never thought I'd see the day."

"Pardon?"

"Since when are you shy? I would have expected you to be the one to say something like that."

He wasn't wrong. But it seemed I was struggling these days to feel even a smidgen of confidence when it came to teasing Tate. There was far too much at stake to risk going too far with it.

Ignoring him, I glanced back down at the zipper. Sure enough, with a bit of finesse, Tate managed to get it unstuck and opened for me.

"How did you do that?"

"What? Unzip your jacket?" he countered. When I gave him a nod, he said, "You're crazy if you don't think I'd do anything necessary to get you out of your clothes."

The shock that moved through me was so profound, it was a wonder my eyes didn't fall out of my head. Where was this all coming from?

In any other situation, I would have been jumping for joy. But this was so out of character and unexpected that I wasn't sure how to respond. Plus, my mind was pulled back to the night of Wyatt and Rhea's wedding. If I allowed myself to get lost in it, I could just barely remember what it was like to feel his hands gliding over my skin. What I would have given to experience his touch like that again.

Tate stepped close. "You seem distracted. Is everything okay?"

I blinked my eyes rapidly to rid it of the thoughts I'd been having and so I could return to the present moment. "What? Yeah, I'm totally fine."

He chuckled, clearly not buying it. Even still, he jerked his chin toward my jacket and asked, "Are you going to put your lip balm on, or are you and I staying here the rest of the day while everyone else takes off down the trail?"

I was tempted to ask him why he was suggesting he'd stay with me when there was no obligation, but I decided it was best to simply find the lip balm.

And that's when things took a turn.

I pulled off my glove and reached inside one of the inner pockets of my jacket where I'd dropped the lip balm earlier. I found it, but that wasn't all that was there.

The horror I felt must have been written all over my face, because Tate's expression grew concerned. "What's wrong? Did you forget it back at the chalet?"

My body was frozen to the spot; I only shifted my head back and forth.

Tate's hand came to my elbow, his grip firm and comforting even through the thick layers. "What happened?"

I closed my eyes and sighed. This was just my luck. When I returned my attention to his handsome face, I slowly pulled my hand out of the pocket and showed him the problem.

There was a moment of concern followed by realization and finally, amusement. "Is that… is that chocolate?"

"Why do these kinds of things always happen to me?"

"Why do you have chocolate in your jacket?"

I licked my lips, well aware they were going to be chapped later since my lip balm was ruined. "I must have put it in there at some point and forgotten about it."

His eyes roamed over my chocolate coated fingers, which were still held up between us. "I sure hope it's Westwood's chocolate."

My eyes narrowed. "Seriously, Tate? Don't insult me."

Laughter spilled out of him. "I was just trying to lighten the mood. Alright, well, we've got two options here."

Before I could ask him what they were, the rest of the crew surrounded us and took in the scene. It was Cooper who spoke. "Everything okay? Jesus, what happened to your hand, Ava?"

I shot him a look of desperation. "Why is this my life?"

Tate was failing miserably to contain his laughter. "Ava loves Westwood's so much, she carries our chocolate around in her winter gear. It melted, and now she's a mess."

"Tate seems to think this is hilarious."

Cooper offered a sympathetic look. "Uh, what are you going to do?"

I sighed and shook my head.

Tate sprang into action. "I'm going to take her into the mini lodge here to help her get cleaned up. You guys can all go down ahead of us, and we'll catch up with you afterward."

"Are you sure?" Jules asked. "We can wait."

"Tate, you don't have to wait with me," I insisted.

He shook his head and put his hand to the small of my back. "I'm not going to leave you alone here. Plus, let's face it. At the rate you're going today, you might need someone with you to help you out of your next predicament."

It was a valid point. "Indeed. I am a disaster."

Tate chuckled and urged me ahead of him, bending down to pick up my gear for me. I waved with my clean hand to everyone and said, "See you in a little bit."

I was fortunate that Keystone Mountain had several smaller lodges throughout the mountain. Otherwise, I'd have been trying to clean my hand in the snow.

"Thank you for waiting with me," I said as Tate fell into step beside me.

"You know it's not a problem."

Despite the humiliation I felt, warmth moved through me. It was nice to know Tate and I were making strides toward rebuilding our friendship. "I don't know why stuff like this always happens to me. Get me on a stage, and I can blow your mind, but put me in any other situation, and I'm bound to make a fool of myself."

"You're not a fool. In fact, I think it's this side of you that makes things fun."

I twisted my neck and looked over at him as we came to a stop just outside the lodge. "Fun? Having to stop what we came here for, simply because I couldn't open my jacket and then made a mess all over myself?"

"Well, the zipper could have happened to anyone," he reasoned. "As for the chocolate, we don't have to go into the lodge to clean it off."

My brows pulled together. "You think I should just use some snow?"

He leaned our gear against the ski rack, held my filthy hand up between us, and said, "It's chocolate, Ava. It's edible."

Was he saying…

"Are you suggesting I stick my fingers in my mouth and lick them clean?"

His remarkable eyes darkened. "I guess that's an option, too. I hadn't considered that one."

"What? What were you thinking?"

His lips twitched. "I was thinking I could stick them in my mouth and lick them clean."

My jaw fell open, disbelief moving through me. What had gotten into him? "You would never," I challenged him.

"Oh, but Ava, I absolutely would."

His voice. It was so deep, so promising. It reminded me of the night we had together before I left without a word. A shudder ran through me that had nothing to do with the cold.

For a brief moment, I tried to work out what Tate was hoping to accomplish. Did he really mean what he was saying, or was he simply trying to get me to see how I'd made things for him for years?

Maybe it was the fact that we were alone that led me to being a bit bolder. I inhaled deeply, kept my eyes pinned on his, and demanded, "Prove it."

A devilish grin spread across his face. Without hesitating, he dropped his mouth to my middle finger and began licking the chocolate from it.

Heat built in my body, an ache forming between my legs. I bit my lip as I watched him clean the chocolate from my fingers, recalling how it felt to have his tongue on other parts of my body.

I had to stop this.

There was far too much at stake.

Giving a tug on my hand, I pulled it out of Tate's grasp. Unsure I could trust myself to walk the remaining distance into the lodge, I bent down and grabbed a hunk of snow. It was freezing, and I'd probably regret it later when I couldn't feel my fingertips, but I needed anything I could get right now to douse the flames that had built inside me.

Tate must have realized how unbalanced I'd become. "You didn't think I'd do it, did you?"

I shook my head, unable to meet his stare.

While I continued to focus on the snow in my hands, I felt his bare fingers pinch my chin gently. He urged me to look at him. "I told you I want all the flirting and teasing and playfulness back. I meant what I said, and I'm keen to prove it to you."

I swallowed hard. I desperately wanted to believe him. My mind and my heart were a mess of emotions, and I couldn't begin to figure them out in order to respond.

Luckily, Tate didn't seem to have any issues easing some of the tension for me. In a move I hadn't been expecting, he released my chin, reached into the pocket of his jacket, and held up his own tube of lip balm. "You can use mine."

I had a thought. For a fleeting moment I considered asking him if he'd really be okay with my lips being on it. That was the natural thing for me; that's what I would have done if things hadn't taken that turn between us. Now, I held back.

Because based on what I just saw, it was likely that Tate would make it clear just how much he'd want my lips in other places.

But even if I couldn't bring myself to say precisely what was on my mind, when I took the tube from him, I didn't hesitate to apply it as slowly as I could.

"Thanks," I said when I handed it back to him.

"You're welcome. Now, would you like me to zip your jacket back up, or do you think you can handle it?"

I rolled my eyes. "I think I've got it."

"Just checking."

I zipped up my jacket without incident and reached for my gear. And as Tate and I made our way back to the top of the trail, he said, "You know, I should be thanking you."

"For what?"

"You just gave me an idea for some improvements on the chocolate at work. Maybe we need to have an alternative to the foil paper most of our chocolate is wrapped in. It would work wonders for people like you," he teased.

My eyes were focused on the ground, but a smile formed on my face. I stepped closer to him and shoved him playfully with my shoulder. "I'm glad my misfortune could give you your next big idea."

"It could be huge, Ava. Maybe I'll work out a royalty schedule for you when it takes off."

I stopped walking, which led Tate to do the same. My eyes roamed over his face. "I'd take a lifetime of your friendship instead."

The corners of his eyes crinkled as his features softened. Then he wrapped his arm around my back, his hand landing on my opposite shoulder. "You're getting that regardless."

Peace settled over me, the remaining tension vanishing. And for just a few seconds, I allowed myself to melt into his hold until we reached the top of the trail.

And from that point forward, we had a great day together. Tate spent more time with me, insisting he was doing it in case I found myself in any more predicaments. It had been such a fun-filled afternoon—the finger licking portion of the morning popping into my mind every now and then.

Now, we were here, teamed up to play Trivial Pursuit against the rest of the family, and I wondered how the evening would go. At Ivy's question of whose turn it was, I answered. "It's Cooper and Skye's turn."

Skye picked up the die, turned to Cooper, and said, "You roll." He tossed the die onto the board, and Skye evaluated their options. "Purple or green. So, either Arts & Literature or Science & Nature."

Cooper laughed. "I wasn't bad at science, but I'll take my chances with Arts & Literature. You've got to be the most capable person to answer any of those questions."

She rolled her eyes. "No pressure, right?"

"I have faith in you."

Tate said, "Okay, so here's your question. In The Great Gatsby, what color is the light that Gatsby sees at the end of Daisy's dock?"

"Oh, this is just plain unfair," Wyatt grumbled, as the smile spread across Skye's face.

She looked at Cooper and asked, "Do you want to take a shot at this one?"

He laughed, shaking his head. "I'll let you handle it."

"The answer is green."

"Here's your purple wedge," Ivy said, holding her hand out to Skye.

Cooper leaned over, kissed Skye on the mouth, and said, "Excellent job, sweetheart."

She melted, and my heart squeezed. I was so happy for them, wondering if Tate and I would be able to get ourselves to some place similar.

"Ivy and Liam are up next."

They rolled, looked at their choices, and Ivy said, "Well, we already have the yellow wedge, so I guess we're going with orange, which is sports. Liam, this is going to be all you."

Marco read their question. "What is it called when you score three goals in a hockey game?"

"Oh, crap. You don't watch hockey, do you, Liam?"

"I do not," he said.

"Great. I have no clue."

"Just because I don't watch it doesn't mean I don't know anything about it," Liam shared. Ivy twisted her neck so fast, her eyes nearly falling out of her head. Liam smiled at his sister. "It's a hat trick."

"A hat trick?" Returning her attention to Marco, she asked, "Is that right?"

"It is."

"Sweet. Great job, Liam."

"Thanks."

While Ivy worked on getting their wedge added to their game piece, Tate leaned toward me, holding out the die. "Would you like to do this round?"

"Okay."

I really didn't care, but I found myself eager for any bit of touch I could experience. My hand touching his wasn't much, but it was something. It was pitiful how quickly and easily I craved Tate's touch again. But that was my body—and maybe my heart—reacting. My head was a bit more resistant and not so willing to cave to him.

I rolled. "History or sports. I hate history, so I will be absolutely no help there. What do you think?"

"Let's do sports, then," he replied nonchalantly.

"Are you sure? Would you rather do history?"

Tate shook his head. "Sports are fine."

"Okay. Sports, please," I said, turning my attention to Ivy.

"This is the most ridiculous question for you," she griped. "True or false? A ballet dancer uses both feet for a pirouette."

I turned to face Tate and saw the amused look in his eyes. Warmth spread through me, warmth that had nothing to do with knowing the right answer and that we'd maintain our position in the current game ranking. "Do you know the answer?"

"I think you do, wild one."

The words came out slow, purposeful. There was more meaning behind those words than should have been in this scenario.

A flush of heat crept over my skin. Was he crazy? As much as I loved it when he called me that, I didn't need him saying it in front of his whole family when things were still unsettled between us. Sure, we were getting back on track, but we weren't there yet. I wasn't sure I could face his family.

When I kept my horrified eyes on him and said nothing, he leaned close, settled a hand on my thigh, and asked, "Is it true or false?"

"It's false," I whispered, keeping my face hidden behind my hands while I failed to ignore the way it felt to have him resting his hand on my thigh.

Tate didn't remove his palm. In fact, he squeezed my thigh reassuringly as he declared, "False."

Though there had been plenty of banter and talking throughout the game, it seemed Tate's words and actions had rendered just about everybody speechless. The silence in the room was deafening.

"Oh, kids, I almost forgot. I made a special dessert for all of you tonight. Who wants some cookies? There're red velvet shortbread, classic peanut butter, and butter cookies. How about an intermission on the game while you grab a treat?" Wendy suggested.

If I wasn't so embarrassed, I would have jumped up and kissed her.

"Sounds great to me," Rhea said, clearly understanding what Wendy was attempting to accomplish.

"Me, too. Wyatt and Rhea are up next when we get back," Jules said.

There were swift movements around us as everyone dispersed from the table and made to follow Wendy in search of treats.

"You're not getting up for cookies?" Tate asked once we were alone.

"Kind of difficult to do with your hand pinning my leg to this chair." His lips curved into a smile, his hand stroking gently along my leg. "What are you doing, Tate? Why would you say that in front of everyone?"

"What did I say?"

"You called me wild one."

He tipped his head to the side, his eyes searching my face. "If I recall correctly, you loved it when I called you that. It drove you to new heights of wild."

A shiver ran along my spine, recalling the night we were together. "Tate," I rasped.

His fingertips pressed in on my leg, his body leaning in my direction. His mouth was mere inches away from mine, and the scent of him was holding me captive. I couldn't move, couldn't speak. I was barely breathing.

Tate's lips brushed lightly against mine, forcing a whimper to escape from me. "Tate, please," I begged.

"What is it, Ava? Tell me what you need." His voice was just a touch over a whisper, and the need dripping from his words was palpable. I believed he was just as desperate for me as I was for him.

But this was too much too soon. And he couldn't have picked a worse time or place to do this. "You have to stop."

"What?"

I leaned away from him, my hand pressing firmly against his shoulder to ease him backward. "We're not ready for this. I'm not ready."

In a flash, he removed his hand and looked away. "Right. Sorry."

"You don't have to apologize."

"But I am sorry, Ava. I'm not trying to make you uncomfortable. I know we're working on getting ourselves back on track, and it's only been about a week since we became cordial again. I get it. It's just that I've missed you, and even when I was upset with you for not coming back, I was still craving being with you again. It's been months, and you're gorgeous. Every time I look at you, all I want is to be with you. This last week, especially today, has been incredible for me. It's been difficult not to remember how good we were together."

I couldn't say I didn't understand. I'd been fighting that feeling the same as him. But if we hopped right back in bed with one another before we were sure about what we were doing, I was afraid we'd risk losing it all over again. "I just want to be sure that once we get there again that we don't lose it."

He nodded, even if there was a look of disappointment lingering in his stare. "I know. I'll take it easy on the displays of affection."

I sent an appreciative smile his way. "Maybe we should go get some cookies."

Tate laughed. "Yeah. That's not a bad idea."

With that, he stood and held his hand out to me. I hesitated for just a moment before I placed my hand in his and allowed him to escort me out into the kitchen, where Wendy was serving up her cookies.

Best of all, when we all returned to the game and finished it, the tension between Tate and me had dissipated and we managed to come in second place behind Cooper and Skye.