AVALANCHE

Chapter 8

"Alright, Ryann, moment of truth. Are you going to come skiing with Dan and me today?"

I snorted. "Absolutely not."

Ava gave me a disapproving glare. "You could try it once, you know."

"I don't think so." I took a massive bite of my chocolate chocolate chip muffin. They were officially my favorite thing about The Ski Lodge.

We were eating breakfast, and I'd expected my friends would abandon me today. Ava loved to ski, and Dan had been eyeing that mountain since we arrived.

"It'd be good for you to work on balancing muscles," Dan said between bites of his banana.

Ava met my eyes. Fitness tips were a good sign.

"I'll just have to accept that I'll never be a tightrope walker."

Dan nodded like he'd expected the answer.

We finished our breakfast, and the two of them headed off to rent ski equipment and spend the day on the slopes.

Back in our room, I looked around and frowned. It was too quiet. Too cramped. I grabbed two textbooks from my upcoming semester and headed for the lobby.

There were several places to sit in the lobby, but it was too busy for quality studying. I started to wander. I passed the dining room, but it was being cleaned up and prepped for lunch, so it was a no-go. There was a theater, but I couldn't very well study in the dark. I didn't even consider the bar, though I was surprised that it was open before ten am.

Finally, I found the perfect room. It was a library of sorts, with four shelves stacked with books and a couple of chess tables set up and ready for people to play. There were several couches and one particularly comfortable-looking chair I deemed my station for the day. The walls and carpet were the same as the rest of the building, and a chandelier hung at the center of the room, giving it a warm glow that was just right. It smelled like paper mixed with that familiar pine scent that ran throughout the lodge.

I kicked off my unlaced ankle boots and curled my feet under me before placing one of my books on the small table beside my chair. I opened the other book to the first chapter and started reading.

"Can I get you something, miss?"

I jumped and looked up to find a server looking down at me with a soft smile. He couldn't be much older than I was. He was black with the most stunning gray eyes I'd ever seen. I glanced at his name tag. Terrance.

"You serve in here?"

Terrance nodded. "I'm assigned to the library and theater."

"Huh."

"Would you like anything?" He shifted his weight from foot to foot.

"Oh, um, I guess a coffee couldn't hurt."

Terrance nodded and started to turn.

"Wait, are those chocolate chocolate chip muffins on the menu?"

Terrance turned back to me and smiled. "There's no menu, miss. You-"

"Ryann," I said. I didn't like the idea of being some faceless 'miss'.

"There's no menu, miss Ryann. You can have whatever you'd like." Terrance smirked but managed to keep it professional.

I grinned. "Then I'll take one of those, please."

"Have you had the chocolate white chocolate chip ones yet?"

My eyes widened. "They have those?"

He chuckled. "My aunt makes all the muffins and bread here. She's just finishing up a batch of the white chocolate chip ones. I'd be happy to bring you one fresh out of the oven."

"Can we be best friends?"

Terrance laughed. "I'll get your coffee. It'll be a few minutes on the muffin."

I waved that off. "For one of your aunt's muffins, I'll wait forever."

He grinned and headed off.

I smiled after him but quickly refocused and started reading again.

Terrance brought in my coffee a few minutes later but left without a word, conscientious of my studying. He was an angel.

However, my reading was paused when someone else took a spot on a couch not too far from me. I was sitting with my knees up and my book spread across them, so I had to peek over the top of my book to see who it was.

I stretched up until my eyes lifted above the top of my book, and when I saw who it was, I froze.

Chance sat two couches away, writing or drawing in a beat-up leather-bound book with one ankle crossed over and resting on the other knee. He looked damn near regal with his perfect posture. Even relaxing, he looked tense. He wasn't wearing a vest over his charcoal button-up, and his slacks were a lighter shade of gray, adding to the relaxedish vibe I thought he was aiming for.

Breathing heavier, I slowly lowered back down until I was hidden. Now what did I do? What if he noticed me? Was I stuck here forever? What if he tried to talk to me? I didn't want to be a jerk if he wasn't one first, but I didn't want to have a conversation with him, either. I let out a soft snort and started chewing my upper lip. I couldn't picture Chance actually having a conversation, so surely I was stressing for nothing. It would be fine. He wouldn't doodle or whatever for the whole day. Not everyone could sit and stare at a book for hours and hours like me. I was a pro.

Nodding to myself, I brushed off my worries but made a note to keep my face hidden. I tried to refocus on my reading, but it was an epic battle. My body was tense, and my butt started to ache. I wanted to change positions, but I couldn't. I felt like Chance was staring right at me, but there was no way for him to know I was me.

This sucked.

"Here you go, Ryann. Fresh from the oven."

I bit back my groan and reluctantly lowered my book to face Terrance. He grinned at me.

"Thank you," I croaked, but then the smell hit me as he placed the plate on the table beside me. I forgot all about Chance. "Dear god, that smells amazing."

Terrance chuckled. "She's won awards for that muffin."

"I believe it." I leaned closer to the muffin, breathing in all of its chocolaty goodness.

Terrance gave me a smile. "I'll come back to check on you later."

"Sounds good." I returned the smile.

Terrance turned and walked over to Chance. Crap. I froze. Chance's dark eyes were boring into me. I cleared my throat and took a big bite of muffin. Sweet Jesus, it tasted better than it smelled and melted in my mouth. My eyes closed as I chewed and savored.

"Can I get you anything, sir?"

"No, thank you," Chance answered in that soft rumble.

Shit. I'd forgotten about him again. Now what was I going to do? He knew I was me. I shook off the thought. He wasn't a talker. He wouldn't talk to me. I adjusted my position, my cover already blown, and tucked my legs under me.

Terrance left, and I tried to focus on my reading, but I could feel Chance staring at me. My eyes ached to check, but I fought with them to stay on the page.

I lost.

My eyes glanced in Chance's direction before shooting back down to the page in front of me. Yup, he was looking right at me. Those dark eyes undoubtedly noticed the blush heating my cheeks. My eyes felt tight and too wide. I tried to make them normal and took a drink of coffee before looking back down at my page and forcing them to read the passages.

Eventually, I was able to digest some of the information and got sucked into my studies once again.

Without thinking, I reached up and started eating some of that glorious muffin. My eyes drifted up of their own accord and were drawn to Chance. Stupid eyes.

He was watching me, too, while softly drumming his fingers on his thigh. I looked away quickly, stuffed my mouth full of muffin, then forced myself to start reading again. I was certain my cheeks were in a permanent state of tomato red. Damn that man.

I lost the battle with my eyes again, and they shot to Chance. But, this time, when our eyes met, instead of pulling mine away from his dark gaze, I narrowed my eyes.

Chance didn't react to my glare, but he held my eyes, utterly unashamed of staring. I wrinkled my nose before forcing myself to look back down at my book. This time, the words wouldn't come. I could feel Chance watching my every move and couldn't shake it.

Another person entered the room, and my eyes shot up on their own to see Paulo falling onto the couch next to Chance and not noticing me at all. Paulo was in a light blue Hawaiian shirt with jeans and combat boots again. "Are you sure you don't want to go skiing?"

"I'm sure."

I pressed my lips to restrain a smile. I tried to look away in time, but Paulo noticed me.

"Well, hello, Ryann."

"Hi," I squeaked.

I felt Chance's gaze and met his eyes with a glare.

Paulo looked between us and cleared his throat. "We should probably leave you to your... studying? Are you studying on vacation?"

I looked back at him and nodded. "Always."

Paulo smiled. "I guess that's expected." He stood and tugged on Chance's bicep.

Chance looked at him, and his lips twitched downward. I was momentarily impressed by how such minuscule shifts in his face could say so much.

"We should get going," Paulo said pointedly.

Chance stared at him for a beat before nodding and standing to his full, refined height. He nodded at Paulo before turning and striding off without so much as a glance my way.

Those stupid eyes of mine drifted down, and I couldn't help but appreciate the way his tight ass moved in those slacks.

"See you later, Ryann."

My eyes shot back to Paulo as my cheeks heated. Had he noticed? It didn't mean anything! "Bye, Paulo."

When I was finally alone again, my brain was swamped with thoughts of Chance. I couldn't wipe out the feeling of his eyes on me. I couldn't help but feel like he was still there, staring, assessing, learning.