Sno Ho (8 page)

"You're doing fine, in case you didn't know."

"Excuse me?"
Did he know what was going on?

"From the little bit I've been able to get out of my sister, you're way ahead in the polls." Wade pulled his hand away and pushed the silverware to the side as he adjusted himself in the seat.

"You knew about this?" I whispered, still fake-smiling as I glanced around the room trying to see if I could catch anyone watching.

"Yeah, I'm sorry," Wade took a deep breath. "I figured it would freak you out, so I decided not to say anything. They all mean well. It was Curley wasn't it?"

"What's a curley?"

"The cab driver." Wade shook his head, disapprovingly.

"He's the biggest gossip—much worse than the Quad."

"The Quad?" I asked, only to have Wade sit up and smile as our waitress came up to the table.

"How are you Theresa?" Wade asked.

"I'm good Wade." She sat a bottle of water on the table, it was one of those fancy European kinds in the glass bottle.

"Who's your friend?"

Oh, this little girl's good—acting all innocent, like she
doesn't already know.
She looked adorable in her little blue old-time diner skirt with white polka dots and white button up shirt, like a younger version of Candy from the ski shack, same red hair, only long and bone straight as opposed to Candy's curls.

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"This is Boone, Theresa."

"Well it's very nice to meet
you
." She untwisted the bottle and poured some for each of us in the little water glasses that were already on the table, along with the silverware, coffee cup and saucer, and paper place mats that had the history of the diner inscribed upon it.

"Thank you, Theresa." I smiled too widely and spoke too loudly, as if I thought the rest of the room needed me to in order to keep up with what was going on.

"So, do you all know what you want, or should I come back?"

I snatched up a menu from between the napkin holder and the condiments and began looking over the menu. "Go ahead," I said to Wade, "it'll only take me a sec."

"I'll have..."

"The usual, I know," she said with a grin as she looked over my shoulder a bit.

My gaze froze when I saw the Wade Walker free-range chicken breast sandwich with Dijon mustard, fresh tomato and lettuce on a multi-grain bun. "Wow." I looked up at Wade accusingly.

"What?" he asked, like he couldn't imagine what I might possibly be referring to.

I rolled my eyes and looked back down at the menu. "I'll have a cheeseburger with cheddar and provolone and some chili cheese fries—hmmm—oh, definitely a cherry coke.

Yummsters."

I looked up with a smile to see Wade staring at me blankly and Theresa looking down, mouth open. She made a little 68

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squeaking noise and finally, proceeded to scribble down my order. She let out a slightly downer sigh and turned to leave.

"That was a very judgie sigh," I accused looking back at Wade.

"You're really going to eat all that junk?" Wade took a sip of his water and let me know by the expression on his face, he strongly disapproved.

"Oh my God," I whispered, holding my hand up to block my face afraid someone might be able to read lips. "She totally just wrote me off as a possible match for you because of what I ordered?"

Wade shrugged in a 'them's the breaks, kid' kinda way...as if he too, had just written me off.

I laughed a little, possibly from shock as I dropped my hand. "You're a pig,' I said.

Wade gasped, mocking the way I did it. "You'd better be careful, all eyes are watching."

I sat back in the seat, realizing he was loving this. He thought he had me over a barrel, as if I'd have to be super nice to him from here on out in order to land him. "You're not that great of a catch," I said loudly enough to be over heard.

"And I eat like a real man—not some prissy, granola crunching health food Nazi."

Wade busted out laughing as I sat there, fuming. I folded my arms, wishing he wasn't able to get under my skin the way he could and wondering what the hell was wrong with me. I was allowing myself to fall into this trap where I, too, was beginning to look at the two of us as if it could actually go anywhere other than to the end of the week—when I'd be 69

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leaving Kookytowne, Colorado and heading back to the real world where people minded their own damn business.

"What's the Quad?" I asked, chastising myself for continuing to give a shit despite all the common sense that had just filtered through my brain.

Wade crossed his arms and leaned over the table. "Don't turn and look, but the next chance you get, check out the table of four broads sitting over in the far corner next to the window."

Theresa came back by the table and set down my cherry coke, once again giving me that 'nice to know ya, buddy' sad look. Wade seemed to take pleasure from the scowl that formed over my face as I watched her leave.

"Damn it all, but you're sexy as hell," Wade said, still leaning across the table. He was smiling at me in that teasing way he used when he toyed with me.

I was very conscious that he was in my air space, and I suddenly felt myself wanting and willing to be his toy. I turned and nonchalantly surveyed the room, spotting the table of women he referred to. One of them smiled at me, so I smiled back, and waited as long as I could without seeming obvious before turning my attention back to Wade. He was still staring at me in that nasty-boy way.

I felt my chest swell once again. It was now becoming a familiar feeling. I got it when we flirted, when he came, when he left, when he was chastising me about food or for not paying attention. It was very annoying.

"Sit back in your seat, and stop looking at me like that."

Wade sat back and asked, innocently, "Like what?"

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"Like you're imagining me naked and bent over something."

"That, I'm afraid, isn't something I can seem to control."

"The Quad?" I asked, in attempt to squelch this conversation before getting too flustered by thoughts of Wade sex.

"They were my mother's best friends in high school." Wade said. "The one in the blue dress is my aunt. They sort of all raised me and my sister. Take my word on this—do not allow yourself to get cornered by them alone. If I'm with you I can protect you, but alone," Wade sighed in a way that led me to believe it'd be dire, "they'll interrogate you within an inch of your life."

I smiled a thank you for the warning, deciding it must be warranted for him to bring it up. "What about your parents?"

"Mom passed giving birth to my sister, and my dad passed from cancer."

"I'm sorry," I said, feeling bad for asking.

"Hey, it's fine, it was a long time ago. I guess to a certain extent my sister and I were pretty much raised by the whole town. Summit City takes care of their own. I owe these people...everything."

I let out a sigh, suppressing the urge to reach across the table and kiss him. Instead I grabbed a menu and pointed to the 'Wade Walker Free-Range Chicken Sandwich'. "I'd say you're pretty well liked."

Wade smirked at me and before long Theresa had dropped off our dinner. She seemed to reassess her opinion of my unsuitability as the dinner wore on, since Wade and I 71

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continued to stay seated at the same table. By the time I finished off the last of my chili cheese fries, she was downright giddy again. I assumed Wade must have dumped guys before who didn't eat healthy like he did? It was all very confusing, and while Wade did continue to berate me for the

'crap' I was shoving into my 'temple', he seemed to also enjoy the act of berating me. While I would never give up cheeseburgers for any man, I did secretly enjoy being chastised for eating them. It made me feel like he gave a shit in some weird and twisty way.

Wade told me all about the Quad: his aunt Deloris, whom everyone called Del; Sandy, who was the more shy and sweet one out of the bunch; Maggie who despite having been married four times still believed the right one was out there; and the queen bee herself, Rita—the Rizzo of the pink ladies so to speak, and the high school drama teacher. She was the wild one, or at least had been. She was the only one to move away, going to Hollywood first, and then giving Broadway a try before eventually making her way back to Summit City.

Del was the common sense girl, and Wade said his mom had always been just that—a warm motherly type of girl with a penchant for practical jokes and love of laughing.

Despite Wade being 'okay' talking about her passing, I could sense what felt to me like a genuine sadness that he missed out on getting to know her as an adult. He said the Quad always told him he was like her, while his sister was very much her daddy's girl.

I asked him if everyone was always okay with the fact he was gay. It was odd to me that the entire town seemed to be 72

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involved, at least in their own minds, with Wade's love life. He said he'd been busted making out with another boy by Rita back when he was in high school. The other boy had been visiting from France, training with Wade and his coach. Within days the entire town knew, and needless to say, while it did take some time, eventually everyone seemed to come around to it. It was another thing he gave the Quad credit for; somehow assuming they would in no way allow their friend's kid to suffer any humiliation.

This Quad, did sound all powerful and I was now somewhat scared by their power and influence. It was one thing to have to deal with one mother in law, but four? I shook my head, for once again allowing myself to go there. I looked out the window and caught a glimpse of Curley driving by in the taxi. I couldn't tell if there was anyone else in the car with him.

"Oh my God!" I said, suddenly remembering what Wade had said about him before—the town gossip.

"What?" Wade asked as I placed my hands over what had to be my bright red face.

"Curley picked me up from your house after that...um...first night."

"So wh...oh." A huge grin spread over his face, like he was patting himself on the back for being such a stud.

"Surely that's not the type of thing he'd..." I stopped, unable to make the words come out.

"Oh, he most certainly would indeed," Wade said with a chuckle as I felt myself die another little death of humiliation.

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"You can be sure the whole town knows we spent the night together."

I couldn't believe he was so blase about it. I was mortified realizing the entire town knew what a party whore I was. All I wanted at this precise moment was to go crawl in a hole somewhere and die.
The newly crowned Cum Queen of
Summit City—Momma would be so proud.

* * * *

Wade drove us back to the lodge after I'd decided to just-say-no to his idea of grabbing a cocktail at Staggs after dinner. I was finally beginning to calm down a bit, but I certainly didn't feel like being watched anymore. I was amazed that actually being alone with this man next to me, despite the icky chest squish, felt soothing somehow—maybe even familiar in some weird way.

"How do you stay so skinny putting away so much crap?"

Wade asked, rounding a street corner with his SUV.

"Just lucky I guess." So much for the warm and fuzzy, touchy-feely moment I was having in my head.

"So you actually eat that way all the time? It wasn't like, something you did just to irritate me?"

"Your ego is truly amazing."

"Stop!" Wade said as if I'd tossed a lovely compliment his way while he reached over and shoved me in a boyish way.

"Man your insides must be a mess."

How romantic. "Seriously? You're seriously going to start a conversation about my guts now?"

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Wade rumbled out one his stock-in-trade low laughs. "I guess I never thought about getting the skinny on your eating habits."

"How the hell would you..." I turned slowly as he slowed the car down a bit; obviously realizing he said more than he should have. "No way?"

"Cool, I like that, let's leave it there, you're right on the money, no way."

"I can't believe you would...they would! I could sue or something!!"

"Baby, it's no big deal," Wade soothed, "and I didn't, but the Quad did...possibly put out a few feelers to the staff at the lodge."

"Unbelievable!"

"All good things, baby—all
real
good things."

"This is insane—it's like Mayberry meets
Moonlighting
!"

"Apparently you treat all the employees really well, they all like you. That was a definite bonus, and the fact that you just got dumped really pulled at the ladies heart strings. I think that's what pushed you so far ahead in the Gallup polls."

"How in the name of holy gay hell does anyone know I just got dumped? Are my phone lines tapped?"

"No!" Wade said, as if it was the first
truly
ridiculous thing I'd said all evening. "Even I knew that. The guy who paid for everything, including your skiing lessons, let it slip to the overnight concierge that he was sending you up here to dump you."

I felt the car beginning to close in on me as I looked out over the road in front of me. I could spy the roof of the lodge 75

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poking out of the trees up ahead. "So the entire lodge—hell possibly even the whole town knew I was getting dumped before I even did?"

"Well I seriously doubt the whole town knew until after you slept with me." Wade pulled the SUV to a stop in front of the lodge.

"Well ain't I just the luckiest little boy in the world!"

"You're upset." He nodded, biting his lower lip.

"You think!" I was nearing hysterics, so I took a few deep breathes. "I can't believe you...that's why you came onto me in the bar, you knew I was fragile...easy pickings...the deer that strayed too far from the herd?"