Killian tugged me over to a massive black truck that I had seen in Cody's garage before. I eyed the distance between the ground and the door. Maybe I could jump?
"Did you just push your ex onto poor Cody?" I asked, making my voice sound nonchalant.
"She's not my ex," he said bluntly.
I tried to ignore the way my heart jumped at that. "Sounded like it..."
"Well, you heard wrong." Killian cracked a grin. "Don't listen to people full of bull, remember?"
My mouth opened and closed a few times while Killian watched me, his eyes shining with amusement. He'd heard that? How much of it?
"Um...why did you guys arrive in two cars?" I asked quickly, looking everywhere but him.
"I was at the train station. Someone from the bar called Cody. He arrived right after me." Killian opened the passenger door and produced his forest-green snow jacket which was promptly stuffed over my head.
Before I could regain my bearings he lifted me and put me onto the seat. "Oh," I managed to get out. I only now realized that he was clad in a dark gray thermal sweatshirt. He looked kind of nice to be honest.
"And on that note." All the humor drained from his face and he shifted forward, fixing me with a hard stare. "What were you thinking?"
So much for my diversion tactic.
My nails dug into my palms. "I mean... Fine. In hindsight, it might not have been the smart thing to do."
A muscle jerked along his jaw. Suddenly, he looked pissed. "Really? Arguing with an obviously drunk guy twice your size was not the smart option. I'm glad you know that."
I matched his glare without craning my neck for once. The truck was that high. "You didn't hear them, alright? But don't worry," I shot back. "Next time I won't bother."
The corners of his mouth quirked, betraying the smothering look on his face. I had a feeling my head half-sticking out of the tent of a jacket did not work in my favor to look menacing.
"Although I wish you wouldn't get into fights, it was nice of you to defend me. But don't risk your safety for a guy. Not even me."
My body warmed. "Don't misunderstand. I didn't do this for you or anything. I just don't like them and the way they talked was annoying. It was just a coincidence that they were also talking about you."
"Alright. I guess you can add that little lie to that diary about me."
My mouth dropped open.
His lips curled into a dark grin as he shut the door and walked around the front.
"Why did I even bother? I should have cheered them on," I said when he entered the driver's side.
He lifted his brows and started the car. "Why? I thought it wasn't about me?"
"It...wasn't." I would put this blunder on my dizzy head. Yep.
"Sure."
"I mean it," I said with more emphasis.
"Yeah, yeah."
"Stop!" I shouted.
Maybe his reflexes were that great or he just got used to my erratic behavior but Killian didn't even flinch.
"We have to get Suzy!" I fumbled for my seat belt. I couldn't believe I had forgotten about her.
Killian caught my hand in his larger much warmer one. "Don't you read your texts? Nick came to surprise her. He sort of lured her out and kidnapped her." He let go and I released the breath I didn't know I'd been holding. "That's why I was here. To act as her stand-in so to speak."
I briefly wondered what my reaction would have been if Killian would have shown up instead of Suzy on girls' night.
"You don't have to look so happy about it," he said in a wry tone.
"Well, I'm pretty sure you suck at playing girls' night. How did you even know where we went?"
"Easy. Suzy told Nick."
I sighed. Of course, she did. I pulled out my phone.
Suz: Tay! Nick is here and kidnapped me. I swear I wanted to come back! I'm so sorry about Girl's Night :(
Suz: Love?
Suz: Forgive me?
I typed a reply.
Me: We will talk about this later. You, missy, have a lot of explaining to do.
Killian pulled out of the parking and we rolled up back at the house in no time. I opened the door, looked down, took a deep breath, and jumped, my feet slipping on the frozen ground.
When I raised my head, Killian stood in front of me with an odd look on his face. His raised hands dropped back at his sides. "You're really small, aren't you?"
"What?" Why was this suddenly about my height?
He tilted his head, scanning me up and down. "Are you even over five and a half feet?"
I stood a little taller. "I'm nearly five foot four."
Killian snorted, turned, and strode up to the house. "You look ridiculous."
I stomped after him. My mind reeled for possible comebacks, but a look in the mirror at the entrance made me pause. The jacket swallowed me. I did look ridiculous.
Wait. My jacket. I owned a jacket. And...I had left it at the bar.
Great. This evening was just going great.
Plus, I felt like I was missing something important. My eyes slid over Killian's broad back. Earlier...didn't Alicia call him something weird? What was it again?
"Killy?" Suzy asked.
I grimaced. "Yeah. That's what she called him."
She glanced at the booth two tables over and let out a snort. "Out of all nicknames, this one really doesn't fit his personality at all."
"Agreed. But stop staring at them!" I nudged her leg.
After the fiasco, the other day, Suzy and I decided to stop at one of the huts along the slopes. Thankfully, she had picked up my jacket on the way back and bombarded me with endless apologies. I'd managed to pretend to be mad for about five minutes.
Half an hour ago, Alicia had entered with a friend and now they were chatting happily away on the other side of the hut.
"Okay, okay." Suz rolled her eyes and grumbled, "I still can't believe that I missed all the action because of Nick."
"You mean, because of your future husband?"
She poked at her cup and lifted her shoulders. "I don't know about that. He wanted to take it slow and then he just shows up? He should have made up his mind earlier, don't you think?"
"Um..."
Her eyes narrowed on me.
I coughed. "Sure. Definitely."
"I know, right?" She sighed and glared at her drink. "I think I need something stronger than tea."
I chuckled and glanced outside. Twilight had set in, the white slopes the only visible lines among the darkening shadows. "We still have to get down. Plus, tomorrow is New Year's Eve. You better keep it down today or you'll be dead for the real party."
"Fine. We should probably head back anyways."
We paid up and went outside. Above our heads, the night sky was sprinkled with stars. I had never seen this many before. The day had been surprisingly warm and sunny, but now the cold air whipped against my skin and I quickly pulled up my scarf.
We headed for our ski when Suz stopped so abruptly that I nearly ran into her. "Oh? Are you here to pick us up?"
Huh?
I followed her line of sight and paused. Killian had just hopped off one of the snowmobiles you could rent at the foot of the mountain. He did a double take at the sight of us but his face was unreadable as ever. "Nope."
Suz crossed her arms. "What are you doing here then?"
Leave it to her to interrogate him for a change.
Before he could reply, a shy voice interrupted us from behind. "Hey, Killy, thank you for coming."
I turned to see Alicia coming out of the restaurant closely followed by her friend. For some reason, she was still clad in her tight-fitted pink shirt. No more than two seconds later, her body started trembling in the icy wind. Was she crazy?
Her friend shot Killian a look. "She can't go back like this."
"No...it's fine I forgot to bring..."
"I don't understand," Suz said loudly. "Why are you here without a jacket? And since when are you"—she gestured at Killian—"a pick-up service?"
"Alicia is new to skiing," Alicia's friend explained.
Suz ignored her and continued in a lecturing tone, "Why is she here if she can't ski? There's a beginner's hill for a reason."
The friend put her hands on her hips, outright glaring now. "How about you stay out of our business?"
"I don't feel like it though?" Suz countered.
I had to turn away to hide a grin. My gaze met Killian's and the corners of his mouth hitched.
"So, you two will take the snowmobile back?" Suz asked. "How's Killian going to come back down then?"
Alicia bit her lip, her head downcast but her friend said quickly, "You should take the snowmobile. Shit, you're freezing." She started rubbing down Alicia's arms, but not before sending another pointed look in Killian's direction.
His sigh was quiet but I still heard it.
Suz turned to me. Her face seemed to urge me to say something.
But what? Any comment from my side would not only be utterly ridiculous but also embarrassing considering I had been stuffed into his jacket just yesterday.
Wait. My eyes snapped back to him. His jacket was red. Wasn't that Cody's? For some reason, my chest felt lighter all of a sudden.
Killian glanced at the stars briefly as if he was searching for patience then he send them a flat stare. "Take my jacket then and let's go."
I twisted my hands. The way back down was actually longer on a snowmobile than on ski since you could only take the winding trails down.
"N-n-no. I-It's f-i-ine." Alicia's teeth chattered so badly she could barely talk.
Suddenly a horrible thought dawned on me. Was this what Killian saw? Whenever I'd been in a bind? I wanted to hide somewhere. Or return to the past and throw clothes at me.
Killian shut her up by tossing his jacket into her arms. Then he climbed onto the snowmobile and started the engine.
I tried to study his face but the darkness made it hard to make out his expression. Was he annoyed? Had I missed it before and he'd been annoyed with me as well?
"Did I get this right then?" Suz asked her head moving between them while Alicia put on the jacket. "You called Killian here to pick you up?"
"Yeah? So what?" Her friend asked, clearly irritated.
"Why didn't you ask him to bring an extra jacket?"
They both went stiff like a board.
"Let's just get this over with," Killian said over the sound of the engine. He sounded a little annoyed.
An icy numbness seeped into my limbs. We'd been standing around for too long. I glanced at Killian, biting my lip. He would freeze for sure.
Alicia walked up to him but I was faster. I took off my scarf and wrapped it around his throat before he could protest.
He stared at me and blinked. I stuck my tongue out at him and turned back to Suz. "Let's go."
The friend glared at me but I ignored her.
"Tay." My toes curled and I halted as Killian's deep, soothing voice washed over me.
"Take care on the way down. No racing tonight, got it? I better not get the call that you are still somewhere cruising in the mountain by the time I get back."
My neck warmed despite the frigid air slapping against my skin. I faced him again. "You try not to become a human popsicle for a change."
He tightened my shawl and grinned.
"Let's go?" Alicia looked between us.
My stomach sank a little. She had more height than me and the large jacket engulfed her in a way that was...cute. Definitely not ridiculous.
Killian nodded and the motor roared.
Seeing her climb up and wrap her arms around his waist, I spun around. My teeth sank into the soft flesh of the inside of my cheeks. I wasn't bothered. Why would I be? I was peachy. Yesterday, he ran away from her and, today, he picked her up. Not weird at all. Perfectly normal. And definitely not something to worry about.
Then why did my chest feel so stuffy?