Page 57 of Head Over Skis

‘Okay now I’m really confused. David, did you know about this or not?’

‘Half of it,’ he concedes. ‘I knew about the guy, but I didn’t know he was the same guy that’s been teaching these three to ski for the last four days.’

I hear the sofa squeak as Meghan readjusts herself, and then all eyes are on her. She’s trying to look innocent, but her foot is bouncing and she’s fiddling with her nails like she’s going to pull them off. She doesn’t say a word, but she doesn’t need to.

‘Meg? Seriously, you knew too?’ Lucas asks, both hands pushing through his hair.

She fidgets with the sleeve of her fleece, biting at her lip as she nods. ‘I found out at our first lesson when Lottie froze like she’d seen a ghost. I texted you about it, but she wanted to keep it on the down-low, so I deleted the message before you read it.’

I watch as something clicks on Lucas’s face, clearly remembering the mysterious deleted message that must’ve been on his phone.

‘You told me that you’d butt-messaged me on the chairlift,’ he says, betrayal in his eyes.

‘Yeah, that may have been a lie…’ she says, lips pressed together as she looks down at the rug.

‘That’s great, anyone else have any secrets they’ve kept that they’d like to get out in the open while we’re at it?’

I catch Tilly and David looking at each other for the briefest moment, so brief that Lucas and Meghan both fail to notice it. I’m taken back to this morning and the strange energy between them. Neither of them says anything before Tilly quickly changes the subject.

‘My legs feel like bricks and my fingers nearly froze clean off today, so I propose another spa evening. I’m in urgent need of Jean-Luc’s firm hands. Any takers?’

I picture the two of us in the hot tub and know going will give me the opportunity to get to the bottom of this once and for all. Plus, an evening rotating again between saunas, steam rooms and hot tubs sounds like exactly what I need to decompress.

‘I’m down,’ I say, and Meghan chimes in enthusiastically too.

‘I promised Adam a couple of games of pool down at Sommet de la Montagne later, so I’ll bow out,’ Lucas says, and we agree to split into two halves for the night.

I hate that we’re not all going to be hanging out together, but I’m also grateful not to have to spend the evening with Adam. I think it’s best for everyone if we have the rest of the day apart to cool off, and I promise myself that as much as I might not want to, I’ll finally get around to having a proper talk with him soon. Tilly claps her hands together before throwing her arms around my shoulders from behind.

‘Go get my skimpy bikini again, looks like we’re going to the spa!’

18

I tried to last longer than five minutes in the sauna, but it turns out I’m too weak. I wonder how long Rory and Kevin last in their Sauna Wars, but I’m certain it would put me to shame. Now, sitting with the hot tub water up above my shoulders, I tilt my head back and look at the open sky.

I didn’t notice the first time because it wasn’t dark then, but a trail of fairy lights criss-cross in front of my vision, the bulbs blending into the stars clearly visible above me.

I bet it’s magical at Rory’s treehouse right now, sitting cocooned in one of those fluffy throws, surrounded by the lights that twirl up the steps and staring out at the same star-speckled sky. I close my eyes and picture myself there. Rory would be sitting beside me, pointing out different constellations, maybe topping up my mug of cocoa, his fingers lingering on mine as he hands me the cup.

There’s a loud splash, and I’m snapped back to reality and the shifting water of the tub as my friend launches herself in.

Tilly’s head bobs back above the water, and she smooths her hair back with both hands.

‘I’m concerned Meghan’s a supernatural being with how at peace she is in that sweat-dungeon,’ she says, sinking down so she’s mirroring the position I’m in. Both of our knees tucked up to our chests.

Despite the interruption to my peaceful thoughts, I’m glad I’ve got her alone post-massage and sauna session so I can finally get some answers. Even if I’d been considering letting her odd behaviour over the whole aftershave incident go unquestioned, her suspicious glance with David has left me with no choice but to do some digging.

‘Hey, we never got to finish our conversation this morning about how everything went yesterday after I left.’

I start there, a simple question so I can gauge her reaction. With our eyelines level, she stares blankly back at me, and I can practically hear the cogs turning in her brain. Trying to find a way out of this again. I cross my arms, giving her a look that makes it clear I’m not taking another bullshit answer. No more made-up men, because I’m pretty certain at this point Jason doesn’t exist. No more secrecy.

Something in my eyes must show her that I’m serious. Getting her to open up right now is like drawing blood from a stone, but I don’t retract my stare and eventually she huffs, resigned.

‘Fine, so the truth is…’ Her words break off as she plunges herself down until her head is fully under the water.

‘No! Uh-uh, you’re so annoying. Get back up here!’

I reach my hands under the water, searching until I find her feet, which I furiously tickle. Her head bursts back up, squealing as she wiggles away from me.