AVALANCHE

Chapter 6

The next morning, Dan showed up and immediately jumped into the shower. When he was done, we all headed to breakfast. As part of the giveaway, breakfast and lunch were free, but we were on our own for dinner.

The dining room was immense and filled with tablecloth-covered tables. The floor was a slightly lighter shade of redwood than the rest of the lodge, but it went nicely with the darker shades on the walls. Modern but classy chandeliers hung from the ceiling so that it was one big glittering plain of lights. There was a giant buffet on one side, and servers flitted about taking drink orders. Soft classical music pumped through invisible speakers, and the room was filled with chatter and the clink of silverware. It smelled of all things breakfast, and I sucked in a long whiff.

A hostess with the biggest smile I'd ever seen sat us in the middle of the room, and a young and peppy server promptly came to deliver our plates and take our drink order while bouncing on her toes. After that, the three of us wasted no time heading for the buffet.

When we reached it, I paused. I'd never seen a buffet quite like this one. Of course, there were the typical hotel breakfast buffet foods, but then there was so much more. Instead of a waffle maker machine, a chef operated a small built-in stove, making pancakes to order. Same for eggs. The biscuits and bread all looked homemade. There was a giant fruit basket of the freshest and most brightly colored fruit I'd ever seen. Attendants filled our plates with whatever we wished for instead of us doing it ourselves. Honestly, it was a little overwhelming.

I got a small bowl of strawberry yogurt, a pile of pancakes, and a giant chocolate chocolate chip muffin. As we walked back to our table, Dan frowned down at my plate but said nothing about how unhealthy it was. Apparently, the one-night stand hadn't been enough to pull him out of his slump. Our drinks were already on the table when we reached it.

"I'm sorry about you having to leave Paulo last night," I said to Ava between bites of syrup-drenched pancakes.

She waved a hand. "Sisters before misters and all that."

I smiled at her, feeling utterly undeserving of her loyalty. "Chance was just such an ass. I couldn't take it anymore."

Ava nodded. "Do you know who he was?"

I paused with my fork right in front of my mouth. "Chance? No. Should I?"

"That was Chance Belgarde." Ava let that sink in.

"The Chance Belgarde that owns the company that pretty much makes every app known to man?"

Ava nodded with wide eyes.

I wasn't into the techie world, but Chance Belgarde was a sort of celebrity. I might always remember conversations and people, but faces were fair game for me to forget. However, now that I knew, I could envision Chance's picture on the front of prominent magazines. He was the face of his company and one of the country's most desirable bachelors. He was wealthy beyond measure, handsome, a celebrity, and had never been pictured with a woman. Not that that last bit was surprising after our meeting last night. I doubted anyone would ever measure up to his perfect standards.

"And that would make Paulo..."

Ava nodded again. "The silent partner. He said he didn't want to be a face everyone knew, so Chance took the role."

"I'm sure he loves being the center of everyone's attention." Actually, I didn't think he was the type to like it. Chance seemed more comfortable when we were all talking around him rather than being included. That wasn't very celebrity of him.

I shoveled more food into my mouth, trying to sort out my thoughts. It made things a little clearer. It was no excuse for his behavior, but he probably had attached women hitting on him all the time, maybe even in front of their significant others. I could imagine that getting really old, really fast. Still, he didn't need to be such a d**k.

When we finished breakfast, we decided to throw on all our snow gear and go outside to tour the grounds.

Again, it was a bright, sunny day with a blue sky and idyllic clouds. It was also cold as balls. When we stepped outside, my exposed cheeks instantly protested, and my nose ran. But soon, that changed.

Warm and starting to sweat, I waddled along with Ava and Dan, not caring one bit that I was puffed out like an i***t. The two of them managed to look halfway normal in their snow gear, but I might have overdone it. Dan was done up in blues while Ava was in reds and purples. My clothes were all over the place. I looked like a neon rainbow threw up snow clothes on me. It was too much effort to match my hat to my scarf to my pants to my gloves to blah, blah, blah. I really didn't like being cold. It was a testament to their character that Ava and Dan didn't make one comment about how stupid I looked in my bazillion layers.