Vacation (43 page)

Chapter 17

Chloe

"That was a blast!" Parker
yelled after we'd been on the slopes for more than two hours. We all met back
up at the bottom, the guys breathless from trying to outdo each other.

Something was bothering Finn, but instead
of talking to me about it, he slammed a door in my face. It hurt way more than
it should and I was at a loss as to what to do about us. The friendship thing
was a rouse and we both knew it. I wanted more and he did, too – or he used to.
After our afternoon avoiding each other, I wasn't so sure anymore.

"I have to get to the front of the
lodge." Parker glanced down at his watch. "My friend's dad is
supposed to pick me up here in twenty minutes."

"Well, go and I'll see you
tomorrow." I reached out and ruffled his hair.

He jerked back and glanced around.
"Sis...shit."

I laughed and Finn joined me.

"Be lucky you have a sister that
loves you." Finn turned to me and smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes.

"Speaking of..." Parker took my
attention for a minute more. "You going to be okay at home alone
tonight?"

"Yeah. I'm good." I crossed my
arms over my chest as he gave me a look. "Honestly. I'm a grown-ass
woman."

Finn laughed again. "I'll be at her
beck and call should something happen."

"Alright. Call if you need me."
Parker looked around before giving me a quick hug.

I watched him go. Finn had been a dick
most of the day, and after the night before, I was considering giving up my
life just to see where our love affair might go. There was no reason to dream
about it now, though. I was like every other girl... a one-night stand. Our
date just didn't include sex.

I slipped my hands in my back pockets.
"Thanks for the afternoon. Take care."

"Chloe." He reached for me, but
I didn’t let him touch me.

I turned and walked quickly toward the
car, losing my balance, but catching myself, thankfully. I piled my stuff in
the trunk and turned in time to see him running toward me.

"Wait. Wait." He moved up as I
closed the trunk and the first tear dripped onto my cheek.

"No. I don't want to wait. I want to
go home. Obviously whatever was happening between us was something I made up.
Call me an idiot and let's be done with this." More tears – fucking
embarrassing.

"Baby." He reached out and
grabbed my shoulder, not giving me much room to pull back. "Look, I just...I..."

"You nothing. That's what. We had our
one-night stand. Thanks for it. It was fun. I almost thought something was
happening, but I was wrong. Just the excitement of the chase. Once that's over,
there's really no point in anything else." I pulled away from him and
walked to my side of the car, getting in.

"Chloe."

I let out a slow breath and rolled the
window down. "What?"

"I'm sorry. It's not what you
think." He reached into the car and brushed his fingers over my arms.

"It's not you being a total jerk to
me?" I tilted my head and let my confusion bleed across my face.

"Come to dinner with me and I'll
explain. Please." His handsome face was filled with sadness and I couldn't
say no. As much as I hated it, I was falling in love with him.

"Fine, but drive your own car. I
don't want to be stranded somewhere with you when this conversation blows up.
I've done nothing to deserve your attitude, but I'm willing to hear you out
simply because of how great yesterday was." I looked back at the snowy
parking lot in front of me, not wanting to look at him anymore. "Where are
we going?"

"You know where Jerry's is?"

"Yep. See you there." I rolled
up the window and he jerked back, cursing at me for catching his arm. He had
some explaining to do – not that it would matter to much what his excuses were.
I could feel the protective wall already starting to come back up. It was icy
cold and I hated it, but since my mother died, it was the only thing that left
me able to cope.

I had thought maybe it was time to open
up, to share myself with someone. It seemed so natural with Finn, like fate put
us together as a gift for persevering through so many hardships.

Obviously, I was wrong.

* * * *

"I love this place. My dad and I used
to come here when I was little and Mom was out of town." Finn sat down
across from me, looking much more like the fun-loving guy that rolled around in
the snow with me yesterday.

"What's going on? I'm not in the mood
to bullshit around. I was excited about this afternoon and have been waiting
all day to see you and you show up and treat me like one of your has-beens.
Why?" Tears swam in my eyes again.

I pulled my arms off the table as he
reached across to touch me.

"Chloe. Please, don't cry. You're
killing me. Seriously."

"You have three minutes to tell me
what's up and then I'm out of here."

The waitress interrupted with a smile on
her face. "Can I get you kiddos a drink?"

"Coke," I mumbled and picked up
the menu and subsequently a napkin to wipe my eyes.

"I'll have the same. Can we get some
house chips, too?" Finn's voice was soft and left me wanting to look up
and watch him for a minute.

I wanted to crawl into his arms and make
the feeling that we were over before we started go away.

I glanced up. "What happened? Did you
find another
friend
that fits your
needs better than me? Was it because I didn't spend the night?"

His face grew red as he leaned in and
barked at me between clenched teeth. "I'm not the man you think I am. I'm
not looking for another girl to screw. Stop acting like I'm trash or I'll get
up and walk out of this place and whatever was happening between us can go to
hell."

I nodded and put my menu down. I was
leaving. Dad could keep his money and Finn could keep his heart. I didn't want
either.

"Finn Warner! Oh my goodness." A
bombshell blonde with huge breasts slid into the booth across from me and
wrapped Finn in a side hug, kissing his cheek several times before he could
push her off.

I should have gone, but the sadist in me
needed to see him push another woman off, a woman who he had no clue of who she
was or what her name was. It would remind me what a piece of trash he was when
I was lamenting in my bed later that night.

Wow.
How quickly had things gone from good to really bad?

"Kari..."

He knew her name. My eyebrow rose and I
turned to the girl, who completely ignored me as if I wasn't there.

"Finn. What are you doing here? I
thought you were traveling to see family." She finally glanced my way and
smiled. "Hey. I'm Kari."

"I'm Baby. Nice to meet you." I
extended my hand and shook hers as I pinned Finn with a stare.

"Kari is a friend from a long time
ago, Chloe." He let out a sigh and pushed at her a little. "Scoot
over."

"I'm his girlfriend from high school.
We keep in touch," she said. She wagged her eyebrows at me and I pursed my
lips as bile rose in my throat.

"That's awesome. Finn and I are just
skiing buddies."

"Is that what you're calling it now?
Skiing?" She laughed loudly.

"No, literally. Just friends. Like no
sex, nor the promise of it." I shrugged and lifted my eyebrows at her,
hoping to shock the hell out of her.

I pulled up my phone and laughed. "Oh,
damn.
Looky
there. Something has come up. I have to
go, but guess what, Kari, it's your lucky day, hun. You can have my seat. You
guys catch up and do what you do when you get together."

I got out of the booth and walked to the
door. I made it outside before he caught up with me and pulled me back.

"What the hell was that?" He was
pissed.

I slapped him, hard. "That was me
saying goodbye. Fuck off and find someone else to play with. I'm done."

"You mean you're not available."
He tightened his grip on me.

"Let me go, Finn. I have no clue what
you're talking about."

"Sure, you don't." He released
me. "Brian told me about your boyfriend back home, Chloe. I thought maybe
you'd lied to him, but then Parker told me it was true. When was I going to
find out? Or was I not going to? I mean, really, does that make me the whore?
Or you?"

His words were a harder slap than my hand
hitting his face would ever be.

"I broke up with Seth before leaving California
because there was nothing left between us. I prayed for a brown-haired boy with
warm eyes and a big heart." Tears spilled onto my cheeks. "Someone
that needed my love and would help me heal past becoming cold toward life. I
thought I found him, but I was wrong."

I turned and jogged to my car as the world
seemed to crash in around me. I had pinpointed exactly why Finn was so
important. Somewhere deep inside of me where the crazy idea of true love
existed, I thought maybe he was
my someone
.

I pulled out of the parking lot and drove
home crying over the fear of having to grow up and the anxiety of not being
enough for my father. My heart broke over Finn thinking that I was the type of
woman that would cheat on someone, and yet I realized how stupid I was being.
He didn't know me.

"It's been a few weeks. Pull it
together." I drove up to the house and turned the engine off before
letting my head drop back and closing my eyes.

It had been so long since I'd felt the
pain of loss that it was almost a welcomed reminder that I was alive. It didn't
take more than a few minutes to understand why people protected themselves. It
was necessary to survive in a world where people took and took and took and
rarely gave.

My phone buzzed, and I picked it up.

Jessie: You're on my mind. I miss you. You
okay?

Me: Just got my heart broken, but other
than that...I'm good.

Jessie: By Seth?

Me: No, a guy out here who's my dream guy.

The phone rang, which scared the hell out
of me. I answered it and sat back, knowing Jessie would want details.

"What the hell? I told you that you
were going to meet him. I'm psychic. I knew it!" Her voice was full of
excitement, which was a little odd after my confession.

"Yeah, you're right. He's out here,
and he's a total ass."

"Well, that part’s not good. I
thought maybe it was Seth."

"No. We broke up when I left. Besides,
I think he's already moved on. He's not texting at all anymore, which is good.
He can be someone else's problem."

"So, about that..." Jessie
stopped and realization rolled over me.

She was Seth's someone. That's why she
kept asking about him and nudging me toward finding someone else.

Right. When it rains it pours.

I hung up without another word and turned
my phone on silent. Surely, my dad had a liquor cabinet. If not, I could call a
cab and head back down to the club. The cute bartender would serve me beer and
peanuts all night, no doubt.

Numbness settled over the center of me and
I walked into the house and slammed the door behind me.

"Chloe?" My father's voice
scared me, and I jumped.

"Dad?" I pulled myself together
and walked into the kitchen to find him standing over a bottle of rum.

"Yeah. I canceled the trip. Sorry if
you'd planned for a wild party. Consider it ruined." He gave me a smile.

I sat down at the bar across from him and
nodded at the bottle. "Got an extra glass?"

"You've been crying...why?" He
got out the glass and sat it in front of me.

"Where do I start?" I sniffled
and wiped my nose with the back of my hand.

"From the beginning?" He poured
me a drink and filled his back up. "Tell me all about it."

"Let's see...my best friend back at
home is dating my ex-boyfriend. Mind you, we just broke up the day I came here.
I assume they were sleeping together before now. Things happened too fast for
something to not have been up." I took a drink as my father nodded.

"Yes. I've had that done to me, and
I've done it to a few friends. People are dicks. It's a common trait among most
of us." He took a drink, too.

"Right. I'm scared shitless that
after all the time and energy that I've put into my degree that I'll end up
with nothing, being nothing." I took another drink. "I don't want to
let you down, but I don't want to let me down, either."

"I don't see that future at all for
you, but I understand your fears. I've had them for my own life."

"When you were a kid?"

"No. When your mother died. I wasn't
sure where to go from there, but I figured it out. You will, too." He
reached over and touched my cheek. "You're going to be incredible at
anything you do because you’re brilliant and you’re passionate. It's a winning
combination."