Read Online Fierce: New Adult Sport Romance (The Boys of Winter Book 4) by Violet Vaughn - Free Book Online Page B

shoulder.
    The heavy door of the Land Rover slams shut, and I say, “You can put that bag in the garage for now, unless you need things from it.” He sets it against the wall and reaches to take his backpack from me.
    I sidestep him. “I think I can carry this through the door. I’m not completely helpless.”
    Christian snorts. “No, but you’re used to people doing things for you.”
    “What? I am not.” I step in front of him to open the door.
    “Of course you are, pretty girl.”
    I let his backpack drop to the floor with a heavy thud. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
    “It means that you like to be taken care of.” He leans in close, and in a low voice that runs through me, says, “Got a boyfriend to replace Derrick yet?”
    I push against his chest to move him away from me. What happened to the nice Christian that gets me flustered? “You think Derrick used to take care of me?” Damn it, he’s right. Derrick did take care of me.
    “Of course he did. I’ll bet you call him still when you have to make decisions.”
    I think about my phone call with Derrick last week about my dishwasher problem. Shit, I really am high maintenance.
    But then I think about Kelly, and my frown is replaced with a smile. Again I ignore Christian’s taunting and pick up one of his big suitcases. “Follow me.” The bag is heavy, but I refuse to let him know I’m straining and muscle my way through.
    I lead him to one of the guest rooms as a thin layer of sweat coats my body. We enter a pale yellow room decorated with accents of birch furniture and forest green. I drop the bag with a grunt. “Why don’t you go get settled in while I deal with the dogs? The instructor party starts early, and people are probably already there, so we can leave in an hour or so.”
    Christian’s eyes dance with laughter, but he just says, “Sure.”
    So tempted to strut away, I force myself to walk normally back to the stairs. I’ll show him helpless.
    After I’ve fed the dogs, I let them out and go to my bedroom to decide what to wear. I think tight jeans with a little bling on my butt to draw attention to the curves, cowboy boots, and something colorful to peek out from my fleece. The party will be outside as well as inside, and it’ll be cold.
    I pull out my usual ponytail and wet the crease down. Hot air from my blow-dryer blasts at me as I reshape my hair to hang down in soft waves. The idea that I need a man to help me make decisions stings. Without parents for the past decade, Derrick and I depended on each other at prep school and college instead of our aunt and uncle who gained custody.
    While I bought this house and worked with the contractors to finish it the way I wanted, Derrick was a big part of the decision-making process. But I built it to be a home for both of us. And it’s only natural that when we were teens my twin would want to look out for me, right? I line my eye carefully with a deep plum pencil to make the golden-brown color pop.
    I sigh. I make decisions. Christian is only seeing a part of me. I twist around to see how my butt looks and determine I’m ready. Time to go tell that irritating man what we’re doing tonight.
    When I get to the kitchen Christian is picking at the fruit tray I had in the refrigerator. “Hey, that’s for the party.”
    White light bounces off his belt buckle as he removes the tray from the fridge. He’s in jeans hung low with a western-looking belt and brand-new cowboy boots. The wrinkled button-down shirt gives him a sexy, casual look, but he’s still overdressed for the ski-instructor crowd. My evil side doesn’t want to tell him.
    “Christian, you look great, but you’re overdressed.”
    “Really?”
    I nod. “Lose the fancy belt and cowboy boots.” I save the rest of my commentary for myself. You could get away with the boots if they didn’t scream tourist in the fresh out-of-the-box way, and that belt isn’t working for a city boy. It needs some scuffing up.
    He