Breathe With Me (The Breathe Series Book 3) (26 page)

Walking towards the door, I join up with Judd and Alyssa.

“We might be just a bit late. We have something we are going to go pick up in town and then we’ll be over,” Judd says holding the screen door open for Alyssa.

She spins around with an all-too-in-love smile across her face and adds, “That is, if we can find what we are looking for. Is there anything you need while we are out?”

I shake my head, confident that we have everything. “Sounds good. I’ll see you there.”

Turning around to say goodbye to Evan and Jake, I find Jake gathering up a few things and heading in my direction while Evan still sits on the edge of his bed like a little boy that is sulking.

“I’m headed down to take a shower.”

Evan’s face shifts and perks up at Jake’s words and he quickly darts towards the back room before reappearing.

“Here…make sure you take a towel.” He tosses the wadded up piece of fabric directly into Jake’s grasp with a smile.

“Yeah, thanks.” Jake looks down and snickers. “I think I’d rather towel dry than the method you had going on.” He glances at me with a heartfelt grin, then flies out the door.

Evan walks toward me as I catch the screen door so it doesn’t knock against the frame. Shivering, he places his arms around himself and I have to laugh to myself.

“So are you coming?”

I step out to the porch, fully expecting him to stay inside where it is warmer, but he follows after me, in sock feet and all.

“Of course, I will,” he says sweetly before his face falls. “Right after you admit the truth.”

Shaking my head, my hair flies over my shoulders and the icy chill in the air nips at my cheeks.

“I guess you’ll never know.” I spin around and let my foot fall to the first stair before he grips my wrist to stop me. Turning my head to look back at him, I shiver from way more than the winter weather.

My heart thumps to a familiar beat as I look back at him. He doesn’t say a word. Only silence stands between us, because the multitude of what might be happening between us is heard loud and clear and I cannot believe it.

Is this really happening? I must be dreaming.

AFTER RACING DOWN FOR A
quick shower and grabbing the only gift I cared to throw together for Christmas, I head toward Piper’s cabin with an air of confidence in my bones, relief that all the ice cold looks I got from her may be behind me and fully ready to screw with Judd when he opens my gag gift. Passing my camper, the wind picks up, sending a whistle through the trees and a swish over the frostbitten ground that looks like a frosty winter wonderland. The few blades of grass that have stuck it out and stayed put along with clusters of dead leaves here and there are now all tipped in an icy frosting that sparkles as the sun touches down on them.

Grabbing the strings hanging from the hood of my coat, I pull them tight so all that peeks out of my coat is just my eyes and nose. I could care less whether I look like a pansy, an eskimo, or a burglar at this moment; it is cold as a gold diggers ass out here and I am not dealing.

A sudden cough comes from the porch of Grandpa’s cabin and I look up to find him cozied up in grandma’s old rocker with a blanket over his lap. His nose is as red as a cherry, his thin gray hair is tousled about from the wind and the way he has his hands dug into his pockets makes me want to run him back inside.
What the hell is he doing out here?

“Grandpa, what are you doing on the porch in this cold weather?”

His face glazes over with annoyance and it makes me want to chuckle.

“Same as you, I figure.” He glances out to the lake, straightening his burley white-gray brows into a bland expression before swinging his eyes back to me. “What are you doing gallivanting around in the cold? Don’t you hibernate this time of year?”

That does make me laugh.

“Yeah, right…I try to.” I point over towards the far cabin. “I’m actually headed to the Christmas ordeal going on.” I step onto the porch, sitting my gift bag down on the small wicker table and then take a seat in the other chair near Grandpa.
Lunch can wait.

“Ahhh, yeah. It’s Christmas, huh?”

I bounce up on another laugh, joining Grandpa’s gaze out at the lake. The deep dark water is choppy as hell, but still looks enticing, nonetheless.

Sighing, I stare back at him, noticing a different appearance than before; a loneliness.

“Yeah, it is. What do you have going on today?”

After Grandma died, we really stopped celebrating most holidays given that she was the organizer for it all. We all still came out to the lake to visit and get together for the holidays, but the big Christmas turkey and potatoes were replaced with TV dinners or left overs smuggled to us by Dad from the annual military ball. The only trees that were enjoyed this time of year were the leafless ones outside and presents consisted of extra money earned if Grandpa found some odd jobs he needed me to tend to while I was out here. Now that I take a good look, I see that maybe he misses all the hassle of it; the family part of it.

He lets out a big sigh, leaning back into the rocker and stretching his body out of the cramped-up, hunched-over, freezing-his-ass-off position he was sitting in.

“Mmmmm, I think maybe I’ll go down and check out that job you’ve done on those heaters.”

This piques my attention. “What? You don’t trust that I got it done or you think those old suckers already gave out?” I grin, looking down to the shower house which I just came out of not even thirty minutes ago. To my surprise, those heaters are cranking out the heat like I would have never expected.

Grandpa lets out a cough sort of chuckle that has me a bit alarmed. Granted, he is the toughest seventy-one-year-old I know, I still feel he pushes himself way too much for his age; someday his body is going to rebel.

He gives me a sneaky smirk, looking at me through the corner of his eyes. “I know you did good, boy. You always do.”

Pride blazes through me on that statement. No amount of bad news could shake the grin from my face today, and although, seriousness and sappy sentiments have never been my thing, I get seriously pumped when Grandpa gives me kudos.

“What? You go down there already and turn all the nobs, check the circuit and connections, just to be sure.”

He spits out a laugh, knowing good and well that I took his comment to heart.

“So Mitch and Dad take off?”

Grandpa nods, his lips seal together and his eyes squint as he focuses out at the water. My heart grips at him sitting here alone. Every year it seems that it ends up being the two of us milling about the cabins doing odd jobs and what not, all on Christmas day, Thanksgiving or any other holiday that takes place. The fact that I actually have plans today, even if it is just for a couple hours, has a bit of angst running through me and making me want to flip a coin; heads I hang with him, tails I go check out Piper all day long.

Opening my mouth, I have the notion to offer up looking at the piping on cabin seven which was a little leaky this summer, but I suddenly rethink before it slips out.

“Why don’t you come with me?” I glance over to the far cabin which should be smelling like heaven right about now, either that or a burnt bird, then back to Grandpa as I rise to my feet.
I’m not even going to take no for an answer.

He chuckles again, but remains seated.

“Come on old man. Let’s go party with the big dogs today.” Swiping my foot to the right, I kick at Grandpa’s feet, nudging him to get to up. “Better than sitting here and freezing your ass off, don’t you think?”

He sighs, pulling his hands out of his jacket and slapping them down to his lap with a thud, before I can even come up with some sort of bribery.

“Well…I suppose I’ll come if you’re going to keep pestering me about it, all damn day.” This makes my stomach quake in laughter; I hadn’t even begun the pestering.

Grandpa tosses his blanket into the rocker and joins me in my trek to the party. My entire body vibrates with hints of nervousness that I didn’t even know I was capable of feeling. My hands sweat, my heart kicks up to the level it was last night and I keep gulping down every lame ass thing I plan to say as soon as I see her. In my head, I keep running through my hello to her as if I’m rehearsing it in front of a mirror while brushing my teeth.
Why am I even thinking about this?

As soon as I step through the door, we are greeted with an array of fragrances that I utterly never imagined a couple twenty-year-old girls would be able to produce. A buttery, gamey aroma attacks my nostrils first followed by a sweet and starchy fragrance like sweet potatoes topped with roasted marshmallows. It reminds me of how Grandma used to make this kick-ass sweet potato casserole; I would fill three quarters of my plate with that along with a few slices of turkey on top. My stomach gurgles on that memory.

“Hey guys,” Skylar’s face lights up as she walks towards us, but I can’t help but look over her shoulder at Piper. She has a powdery white substance slung across her shirt, looks like grease all over her hands and her hair in a balled up mess on top of her head.

“Hey, Sky…” I mumble, glancing back at Skylar right as Piper bends to put something in the oven. I think I’ll forgo publicly checking out her ass…for now.

My eyes meet Skylar’s for a second before she looks back and takes in what caught my sights. She looks back at me with a simple smile as she holds out her hand. “Coats?”

Grandpa and I quickly relinquish the warmth of our coats into Skylar’s possession and make ourselves at home, saying our hellos to everyone and mingling about. Skylar escapes back into the kitchen with Abby, saying no more to me and making me feel awkward as hell.
I do need to talk to her.
I have no clue what is going on between Piper and I or if last night meant anything in terms of today and tomorrow, but I still need to shoot straight with Skylar. We’ve always kept our friendship stress-free, not putting any labels on it or ever having any expectations of each other. Hell, I’ve never even told her about Piper and I, that we had been an item. I assume she knows as close of friends as they are, but Piper has always been pretty tight lipped, so who knows.

“Ok, everyone…Let’s dig in.” Abby’s voice booms over the chatter in the small cabin. She slaps her hands together as if she’s ready to dig in herself, then waves us all to the long fold up table they have set up in the living room. “We have plenty so don’t be shy.”

A roar of laughter breaks out over us all.

“Honey, you know this isn’t a shy group,” Hayden hollers out, standing next to the dude I’d like to punch in the mouth for scaring Piper the other night. I never did ask her what was up between them.

“Jake, you hear that. Don’t hold back,” Judd laughs, leaning around Alyssa as she hands a plate to them both.

“You don’t have to tell me twice. I’m here to eat,” Jake smiles.

I glance around, tuning out everyone’s wisecracks and good cheer, but coming up empty in my search for Piper’s face.

“Mom,” Alyssa and Abby screech in unison as the front door swings open. They all but tackle her into a group hug as Judd slides to my side.

I look over, checking on Grandpa to see where he took off to. As soon as I find him, my hunt for Piper halts. This time, I say screw the not-checking-her-out rule I fed myself earlier as my breath catches. Normally a girl’s appearance wouldn’t trip me up, dressed or undressed it is what it is, but after last night, and now with the way she looks, it has my testosterone level belting out a chorus of approval.

Sometime between her shoving a pie into the oven and all of us making a mad dash for the row of casseroles and platters, she must have slipped away and did a five-minute stage change that makes me wonder if there is an assembly of makeup artists and hair dressers in the back room. Flicking my gaze from her eyes, slowly down her body, I begin to respond to how amazing she looks. Her hair now flows over her shoulders in sleek strands of raven curls. Her lips glisten as if she has been licking them over and over as she carries on a conversation with Grandpa. She traded in her messy shirt and sweat pants for a deep purple sweater that hangs down past her hips over tight black pants and boots that stretch up to her knees. Way too many clothes on, if you ask me.