Laurie’s Wolves(6)

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It was one thirty before they reached the upper lodge, and Laurie lowered herself into a chair and sighed. “My entire body is going to ache tomorrow. I’m certain I used muscles I didn’t know I had.” She tugged off her gloves and goggles and set them on the table at her side. Her ponytail was a mess of tangled hair that fell across her face and down her shoulders. Her feet felt like they weighed two tons in the boots. She’d been walking with an odd gate in the ski boots that caused every step to create a double thump as first the heel and then the toe hit the ground hard.

When Zach leaned down to unlatch the buckles on her boots, she felt like a vise grip had been released from her ankles. He chuckled as he righted himself in the chair next to her. “I’ll go get us something to eat. You can rest.”

“Thank God. Because I’m not sure I could stand if there were a fire.”

He chuckled and stood. “Anything you’re craving? Anything you don’t like?”

“Nope. Surprise me.”

Zach wandered away through the crowded cafeteria while she watched his ass. His ski pants were more fitted than hers, outlining his firm butt perfectly. She’d watched it enough this morning to have his muscles memorized. And she wasn’t the least bit apologetic about it either.

The man was solid, sexy as hell, and gigantic. His dark hair, in need of a trim, hung in thick waves around his forehead. She loved the way he occasionally shook his head to one side to adjust the locks.

His eyes were a deep brown she could get lost in, and she already had several times. Every time she met his gaze and held it, she lost a few of his words as she melted into him.

As he disappeared from sight, she sighed again. It wasn’t as though this possibility hadn’t occurred to her. She’d considered the idea last night before she went to bed. After all, two of her siblings had mated with two of his. It wasn’t farfetched to think she might be destined to mate with either him or his younger brother, Logan.

Not farfetched, but shocking.

She glanced around for the millionth time. Who was their third? And did they need to wait for him to join them before they got too carried away?

There wasn’t exactly a manual on the topic of threesomes among the wolf population. It was rare. And rarer was meeting only one of them and knowing there was a third out there somewhere.

She couldn’t explain how she knew. It was more than just the knowledge that Zach was destined to mate with two others. She instinctively understood deep inside that they weren’t quite whole.

She tried to pretend to herself she wasn’t looking around for another man and instead concentrated on the décor. The upper lodge was similar to the lower one in style—same log cabin feel. It was much smaller, and the dining area was more of a focal point than the fireplace. It was still surrounded with couches for skiers to rest on and enjoy their stay, but not as many people would be hanging around this lodge farther up the mountain without a purpose. Eat. Ski.

“Whatcha thinkin’?” Zach asked as he slid back into the seat next to her. He set down a tray laden with far more food than they could possibly consume. Then again, Zach was a big guy who worked hard on the slopes every day. He could probably eat all of that food and then some.

She reached for a fry and chomped into it before she answered. “Probably the same thing you are.”

He nodded. “Yeah. It’s pretty hard to ignore. It should seem weird to me that you’re glancing around scoping out every man who passes. I should be jealous or something. But how can I be when I’m doing the same thing?” He chuckled and handed her a bottle of water. “I wasn’t sure what you liked to drink, but when you’ve been skiing all day, you need less caffeine and more water.”

“Thanks.” She took it from him and twisted off the cap. “Aren’t you a little freaked out by all this? I feel like I’m constantly looking around trying to find him.”

He opened a burger next and held it up with a questioning look. “My gut tells me he isn’t in this room. In fact, he isn’t on the slopes either.”

“Really? How do you know?”

He shrugged. “I don’t. Just my instinct.” He glanced past her and cringed.

“What?”

He gave a wry grin. “Just hoping it isn’t the guy heading our way. Don’t care for him.”

Laurie twisted in her seat and watched as a man in an orange vest with the resort logo on it made his way to their table. She hoped it wasn’t him either. He had a cocky look on his face.

And sure enough, fitting his expression, the first words out of his mouth weren’t particularly polite. “Slacking today, Masters?”