Snow Job by Tara Wyatt (best large ereader .txt) 📗

home, and he returned his attention to the computer. “Kayla wrecked my life, Lane. I was barely keeping it together, and yeah, that’s my shit, but at least I had a job. And then I didn’t. I had nothing. And now I’m here.”

“And is here such a bad place to be? I mean, it seems like you’re doing really well. You look healthier than when you first got here, and as far as I can tell, you’re sober. You’re on a good path.”

He stared down at the papers, his mind swimming, and he didn’t know what to say. Sometimes, he had this sense that he didn’t know who he was anymore, or what he wanted, or where he was going. That he didn’t know what he wanted his life to be. A long time ago, before the injury, it had been so simple. So straightforward. Train like hell and go to the Olympics, maybe more than once. Hell, maybe win a medal. When that had vanished, he’d picked a new path, getting his MBA, just like his brother Max, getting a good job, setting up a life for himself.

But it hadn’t been enough. There’d always been something missing. And so he’d chased different things, looking for that missing puzzle piece. But he’d never found it. He’d only spiraled deeper and deeper into something he couldn’t seem to pull himself out of. Drinking too much. Gambling. Fighting. Risk after risk, trying to feel something. Then feeling like shit when that risk didn’t pan out and chasing another just to try to fix it all.

“I’m sober,” he finally said. “And I’m in therapy.” It was the first time he’d admitted it to anyone, but he felt safe saying the words out loud to Lane. When she just stared at him, he forced himself to meet her eyes. “You have no idea what she did to me, Lane. She threw me under the bus when my world was crumbling, and now that she’s here, she’s trying to do it again. I can’t let her get away with it.”

“But dude, you know Patrick’s not gonna fire you because some random chick complains about you. That’s not how things work here. He’s got your back, and if he didn’t, you know that Bodhi and I would raise hell about it because we’ve got your back.”

He pushed a hand through his hair. “I know. I know. But I still can’t let her get away with it.”

“Why? What happens if you do nothing? What happens if she gets away with it?”

He opened and closed his mouth, waiting for the answer to that question to pop into his brain. Waiting for the perfect justification for the shit he was about to pull. When he couldn’t come up with anything, Lane smirked.

“I think this has a lot more do to with the woman herself than anything she’s done to you. Is this that blond chick? The one with the amazing ass and the…” She held her hands in front of her chest, squeezing the air.

“Yeah. The one in my group lesson yesterday. Kayla.” The two syllables of her name were bittersweet on his tongue.

Lane smiled as though she’d just figured out the meaning of life. “Sounds to me like she’s under your skin and that drives you insane. You love it and hate it at the same time, and you want more, so you’re going to fuck with her the way she fucked with you in your twisted little version of foreplay. Because really, deep down, you don’t want to get her fired. You just want to fuck her.”

He scoffed. “This is not foreplay. This is me giving her a taste of her own medicine.”

“This is you pulling pigtails on the playground because you want her to pay attention to you.”

He closed his eyes for a second, wondering if Lane was right. If all of this was driven by his need to have Kayla see him. To know what he’d felt when she’d humiliated him not once but twice. The way she’d sneered at him earlier replayed through his mind, her sexy voice telling him that she cared more about dust than she did about what he did with his life. Was that what this was really about?

He didn’t know. All he knew with any kind of clarity was that he needed to do this. He needed her to feel the way he’d felt. He needed to show her that he wasn’t someone she could toy with and survive unscathed.

“You don’t have to help me with this,” he finally said with a shrug, returning his attention to the computer screen. “I appreciate the advice, but I’m good.”

Lane rolled her eyes. “Okay, well. When this all blows up in your face, you know where to find me.”

She turned to go, but before she could leave, he called out. “Hey, wait.” Something on the original itinerary had caught his attention.

“Yeah?”

“Is there a sex shop in town?”

She stared at him with one eyebrow arched. “Is this for you or part of your plan? Not that I’m judging, I just…” She shook her head. “You know what? I don’t wanna know. And yeah, there’s one in town. Hanky Spanky.” Her cheeks turned pink and she shook her head. “And on that note, I’m out of here.”

She closed the door behind her with a quiet click, leaving Sebastian alone, surrounded by fresh itineraries. He skimmed through his handiwork, a satisfied grin on his face. He collected them all into a pile and slipped them into a large white envelope emblazoned with the Blizzard Ridge logo. Then he stole a Post-It from Patrick’s desk and stuck it to the front of the envelope, writing “New Silver Stream Itineraries – Distribute ASAP.”

He closed out of the file, not saving any of his changes, and then logged out of Patrick’s computer, his mind whirring. Once he’d dropped the itineraries off at the front desk to be distributed as everyone came in for lunch, he’d duck into town