As if Miles understood my dilemma, he turned back to Glenn and engaged him in conversation, forcing Glenn to focus on him. I breathed a bit easier and began pulling off my boots and unzipping my coat. I stripped down to the red-and-white-striped one-piece while Miles learned that Glenn’s job as an acquisition manager was really just a glorified assistant to the actual manager. He also learned that he was from my same hometown and that we went to college together at the University of New Hampshire. Glenn had finished his degree but had been working and still hanging out in the college scene when we reconnected. Typical Glenn to carry on talking about himself without asking Miles anything in return. It was hard to squeeze anybody else in when his favorite topic was himself.
I climbed up the rickety steps and eased into the hot tub, causing enough disturbance in the water that both men looked at me. Glenn’s eyes immediately inched down my body and back. And honestly…I sit a lot. I do try to get some light walking in three or four times a week, but I’m definitely not any sort of athlete or gym rat. My skin crawled at his approving gaze.
Miles held out a hand to me, and before I could think, I took it and allowed him to lead me into the water. His brown eyes held mine before I glanced away, fearful that the heat now setting my entire body to flames would show. I blamed it on the hot tub even though I was confused by the soft looks he was giving me. He settled me next to him and scooted in close, plopping his hand on my knee.
Oh. That’s right. We were onstage. The touching made sense.
I could breathe easier now.
“I’m excited I get to witness the famous polar plunge,” Glenn said, eyebrows raised.
“Yup.” Miles readjusted his position, and his arm moved to settle around my waist, his fingers brushing at the side of my stomach. I stiffened at the familiar touch. I didn’t know what to do with my hands, so I folded them awkwardly across my stomach.
“Relax,” Miles breathed in my ear.
Reluctantly, I moved both hands underneath the water. If he was a normal boyfriend, I probably would have let my hand rest on his knee–but he wasn’t a normal boyfriend. He was a guy I didn’t like, who I worked with, who was now playing the part of my fake boyfriend because he had so rudely and unexpectedly crashed my anti-Christmas vacation. It had been a complicated couple of days. I settled on resting my hands on the hot tub seat between our legs. Miles nudged my hand with his thigh, holding himself tight like he was trying not to laugh.
“It’s funny. I would have bet big money against Olive ever jumping in that lake with you,” Glenn baited.
We both turned back to Glenn who was peering at us with a knowing smile on his face.
“She’s not exactly the daredevil type, if you haven’t noticed,” he added, folding his arms.
Miles nudged me. “Olive? Care to rebut?”
I smiled sweetly at Glenn, though the motion pained me a bit. “Nope, he’s right. I’m not the daredevil type.”
“Told you, man. I always tried to get her to go skiing with me, but she flat-out refused. The craziest thing I could ever get her to do was a double feature of two movies on a school night.” He laughed and rolled his eyes. “Remember that, Olive Oil?”
I did remember he had always wanted me to go skiing with him. I also remembered that it wasn’t skiing he had been pressuring me for that night. Two action movies back to back along with a giant tub of popcorn sitting between us was the only way I could get his mind and his hands to focus on something else besides me.
I hated how Glenn seemed so sure about me. Fine, Ididn’twant to jump in a frozen lake. Crazy, I know. But it galled me, him sitting there on his high horse, smugly bringing up things from our past. And that’s all it was. The past. Even though he was correct. Sue me if flying down a mountainside on two toothpicks wasn’t my idea of a good time. I had plenty of books that gave me the same thrill. But regardless, who was he to assume he even knew what I was or was not interested in? We’d dated nearly four years ago. He didn’t know me anymore, and I resented the fact that he acted like he did.
I swallowed before moving my hand up stiffly to Miles’s knee, and with a raised chin and haughty expression, I said to Glenn, “Actually, we have plans to do lots of things this week.”
His expression looked amused. “What’s that? Stay inside and watch movies? Write poetry? Read a book together?”
Miles shrugged and looked at me, a gleam in his eye. “Well, probably some of that. I think Olive’s introduction toThe Terminatoris long overdue.”
I wrinkled my nose. “We’d have to watchJane Eyreto cleanse our palates after that.”
Miles smiled. “Great, I’ll be about ready to fall asleep by then.”
“You two are poster children for adventure,” Glenn said, amused.
This I could confidently contradict. “Miles is actually a certified Outward Bound instructor.”
Glenn failed to look overly impressed. “I’ve heard of that. Isn’t that where you take kids hiking? Or rafting?”
“Yeah,” Miles said, squeezing me closer to his side. “We do a lot of white-water rafting, and rock climbing as well. We teach a lot of safety basics.”
“My parents took me down the Colorado River in Arizona when I was a senior. You just can’t get any good whitewater this far northeast.”
Miles raised his eyebrows. “Have you ever done any out here?”
Glenn shrugged as though nothing mattered. “No. I wanted to go right for the big stuff.”
“Well, you’re missing out. There’s a few great runs around here.”