Series: Fever Falls Series by Riley Hart
Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 92704 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 464(@200wpm)___ 371(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92704 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 464(@200wpm)___ 371(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
Oh fuck. I was stuck there with Carter…and if they couldn’t get in…I couldn’t get out. What in the hell was I going to do?
CHAPTER THREE
Carter
Knock, knock.
The sound hammered against my eardrums. I instinctively called out, “I’m good.”
My silk eye mask still covered my eyes, keeping me in what I wished had been blissful darkness, but unfortunately, I’d had a fairly restless night.
The knocking resumed.
“I don’t need my room turned over today!” I called out again. “Thank you!”
“Where do you think you are?” As soon as I heard Sawyer’s voice, I realized how fucking out of it I really was.
I spent so much of my life bouncing around from hotel to hotel—sometimes struggling to remember what city I was even in when I first woke up in the morning or from a nap—that I was still in that mindset, though my time in Fever Falls had offered me more stability than I’d ever had before in my life.
I hopped to my feet and pushed my eye mask up against my forehead. Squinting as my eyes adjusted to the light, I hobbled across the bedroom, battling against my weary limbs. When I opened the door, a rush of energy jolted right through me as I saw Sawyer standing there in just a pair of pajama bottoms. His eyes widened, sizing me up. Fuck—I hadn’t put on any underwear.
He turned away, like a real gentleman. Sawyer had that Southern hospitality thing down to an art.
“Nothing you haven’t seen in a million Sean Cody videos already,” I assured him before finding my pants from the day before and wiggling into them.
“We have an issue,” he said.
“Oh my God. Seriously? The pants are already on.”
He turned back to me, his forehead wrinkling. “No, not that. We have an actual issue. That snowstorm last night.”
“Yeah. The fucking wind alone kept me tossing and turning. Feels like I hardly slept.”
“The guys are held up in town until the snowplows can clear the roads. I called the desk, and they think that will be tomorrow.”
“Could be worse.”
“We need to get over to the lodge. We don’t have any food or supplies, so we need to grab a few things.”
“You don’t want to be a pal and drive over to fetch me a latte and some eggs-over-easy with a bagel and cream cheese? Please.”
He opened his mouth like he was about to say something, then took a breath. “Follow me.” He guided me downstairs, to the window nearest the front door. The car was buried in a few feet of snow.
“Oh, wow. Guess you’re going to have your work cut out for you digging that out so you can go grab me that latte,” I teased, and he actually laughed. “Holy shit. Did I actually manage to pry a laugh from Sawyer Burke?”
“Maybe you’re just lucky my morning problems have become bigger than Carter James.”
Fair enough.
“So…” I dragged out, “I guess we’ll need to bundle up like that kid in A Christmas Story and trek over to the lodge. How far do you think it is from here?”
“Bert said it was about a fifteen-minute walk.”
“That’s a fucking long-ass walk for a skinny latte and a bagel.”
“Suddenly the eggs-over-easy aren’t a requirement?” I could read the amusement all over his expression.
“You develop a sense of humor once I get a shitty night’s sleep. This isn’t even fair. Where’s a delivery guy when you need him?”
We split up to prepare for the hike, gearing up, then found ourselves walking side by side down the empty road, the only sound the snow crunching beneath the snowshoes I’d discovered in the coat closet. And I totally gave Sawyer some shit since it was the first time he’d ever put some on. I mean, I was basically a pro from all the times I’d gone skiing with Dax and Elliott.
My cheeks were freezing, and as I wrapped my arms around myself for warmth, Sawyer asked, “You okay?”
“I could use some moisturizer right now, but that’s about it. Who knew we just had to survive a hellish car ride and a blizzard before you turned into Super-considerate Sawyer?”
“I’m always considerate.”
“I would be more tempted to agree with you if I had a bagel in one hand and a latte in the other right about now.”
When we reached the lodge, we went to find Bert to see what was up. Apparently, the resort would be shut down for the remainder of the day since the winds needed to settle so the lifts could run. To keep the guests entertained, the resort would be putting on a game day that Bert said we were more than welcome to participate in. Or head back to our chalet, but it was games with a bunch of horny gay guys, so I was definitely in. We joined the mass of lodgers crowding the main areas of the resort, enjoying the complimentary buffet breakfast the management offered on account of the inclement weather.