All of Me (The Billionaire Next Door Book 7) (2 page)

~Chapter 3~

We were all in our bathing suits, sitting in
the hot tub, laughing as the bottles of alcohol kept flowing. The hot tub was a
large, round wooden tub that had more than enough room for six and the steam
provided a nice contrast to the fat flakes of snow coming down outside.

I sat next to Jason as his hand lingered on my
knee, out of sight, hidden by the bubbles. Every so often I would glance over
at him and smile slyly. Though I thought I was being subtle, I knew the alcohol
and the heat from the tub did nothing to mitigate the pink on my cheeks.

Ty and Jason discussed different business
ventures while Julia talked about all her upcoming projects. Ellie quizzed
Simon on the different celebrities he interviewed. It wasn’t long before we
were all beyond tipsy.

“So let’s play a game,” Julia said. Her eyes
grew wide. “What’s the craziest place you’ve ever done it?” There was a naughty
tone in her voice. “We’ll go first.” She looked at Simon and smirked wildly.

I shifted uncomfortably in the water. Sure, I
was drinking, but I didn’t think I was drunk enough to divulge such personal
information. I looked at Jason, but he was smiling, looking like he was having
the time of his life.

“I’d have to say it was in my boss’ office,
remember that one time?” Simon asked, taking a swig of beer.

“One time? I think we did it in there at least
three times!”

Simon nodded. “You’re right.” He took a moment
to pause and reflect back on it. “I guess it couldn’t have been that crazy if
we had that many chances to do it.”

“How about you guys?” Julia looked at Ellie
and Ty.

“Well.” Ellie’s eyes sparkled wickedly as she
held her blue cocktail up and out of the water. “The craziest place we ever did
it was in the middle of the ocean.” She was slurring her words by this point.
Ellie and the rest of them had been at the cabin all day, drinking and getting
a head start on the evening’s debaucheries. “We were on a yacht last month.
Wasn’t it delicious darling?” Ellie snaked her fingers into Ty’s jet black
hair. “Weren’t the stars beautiful? We were all alone out there - just us, the
stars, and the fishies.” She giggled and hiccupped.

Ty raised his brows and nodded. “I’m surprised
you remember that right now, to be honest.”

She giggled. “How could I forget that night?”
She touched Ty’s bare chest and leaned into him. “Plus, I remember lots of
things,” she whisper-shouted into his ear. She then stuck out her bright blue
tongue at him and we all laughed.

“How about you two?” Julia asked, her wild
eyes fixed on Jason. Something about the world’s most beautiful actress staring
down my boyfriend didn’t sit right with me.

“Yeah, what about you two, Sophia?” Ellie
asked loudly.

“Alright, that’s enough for you.” Ty grabbed
the blue drink and placed it at the side of the tub, holding her in an embrace
so that she wouldn’t push past him to get it again.

“Umm-” I looked at Jason. He and I had sex in
many places - public galas, airplanes, the room above his grandmother’s room, a
fancy Parisian hotel room - but none of this was something I wanted to share
with people I barely knew - besides Ellie, who already knew all of this.

“Well?” Julia asked, starting to look bored
with my modesty.

“I think I want to go lie down,” I said,
getting up and allowing the water to drip off me. Jason touched my leg and looked
up at me supportively.

“What, are you shy?” Julia giggled.

“Want me to come with you?” Jason asked.

I shook my head. “I just need to lie down for
a little bit.”

I feared Julia was going to pester me some
more but in that moment Ellie reached for and spilled her drink, causing blue
liquid to pour out into the hot tub.

“Oopsy-daisy!” She said loudly, followed by a
fit of giggles.

“Maybe Ellie should go lie down too, do you
mind bringing her up?” Ty asked.

I nodded and helped Ellie up and out of the
tub. She draped her arm around my shoulders and put all her weight onto me as I
struggled to make my way up the stairs, leaving a trail of water behind as we
walked.

“Ellie!”

“Sophia, you’re my bestest friend, ever,” she
breathed hot and nasty into my face.

“Thanks Ellie. You’re my best friend too, now
let’s get to your room without spraining anything, okay?”

We walked up the stairs, leaving the screaming
and laughter behind. I saw three rooms and went into the one with the bright
pink and purple bag, which I could only assume was Ellie’s. I laid her down
gently onto the bed, giving both of us the relief we needed. After helping her
into her pajamas, I looked out the window longingly at the fluffy white snow
piling up outside.

“Sophia?” Ellie asked, eyes closed and fingers
grasping for me.

I sat on the bed next to her.

“Yes?”

“Do you ever feel like you don’t fit in - you
know, with the people downstairs? With your boyfriend?”

I opened my mouth to speak but wasn’t sure
what to say. “Sometimes.”

“Me too. Me too.” She began drifting off to
sleep.

I’d talk to her in the morning about it, I
thought. I got up, thinking I’d make my way to the other vacant room, but
something held me back.

“Sophia?”
Ellie was half asleep.

“Yes?”

“Can you sleep with me, just for a little
bit.”

“Oh.” I thought about my lingerie, and how I
wanted to surprise Jason. “Well-”

“Please.”

Looking down at Ellie, I let out a sigh.
“Alright.” I got under the covers with Ellie and spooned her, keeping her warm.
We weren’t used to this cold weather. Without the small fireplace in the corner
of the room, I honestly wasn’t sure how we’d survive the next few nights.

“Sophia.”
Ellie was definitely drifting now.

“Yes?”

“You’re my best friend.” Before she even
finished the sentence she was snoring. I embraced her tighter and drifted off
to sleep, listening to the crackling of the fire and the distant laughing
downstairs.

***

That night I slept restlessly, tossing and
turning. The orange flames in the corner fireplace grew hotter and taller, catching
the surrounding wood and soon the flames were consuming the cabin with a vicious
snap and crackle. I tried to wake Ellie from her sleep, but she wouldn’t get
up. I tried to find a way out, but the stairs outside our room were already
burned to ash and the drop out the window wasn’t one we’d be able to walk away
from.

How would we escape?

I looked out the window, hoping to see help on
the way, but all I saw was Ty, Simon, Julia, and Jason boarding his private
jet.

“Jason!” I yelled. “JASON!”

I broke the window, trying to catch his
attention, but the only person who looked up was Julia.

“Julia!” I screamed, but she seemed
nonplussed.

“Continue on boys,” she said. “No one else is
valuable enough to ride this jet.”

I watched in horror as the jet took off. The
flames were getting higher and I turned this way and that, feeling the sweat
dripping down my back.

That was it.
Ellie and I were alone, left to die like rats.

But it couldn’t be.

“JASON!” I shouted even though the jet was a
dot in the horizon.

“Sophia.”

I could almost hear his voice.

“Jason. Help! HELP!”

“SOPHIA!”

Someone stirred me awake.

“Are you okay?” It was Jason, sitting on my
bed with his hands on my shoulders.

“Jason-”
I looked around. There was no fire and there was daylight outside, but
Ellie was nowhere to be seen. “Ellie!” I tried to get up, but Jason held me
down.

“She’s already awake.” He furrowed his brow.
“Are you okay?” His concerned eyes searched mine.

“I had a bad dream,” I said weakly, still not
sure if it was over.

“A nightmare is more like it. I could hear you
screaming my name from all the way down the hall!”

My heart was still pounding in my chest. I
looked around the room, dazed and confused.

“It’s okay,” Jason said, pulling me in for a
tight hug. “You’re with me. You’re okay.”

I put my arms around him and held him close.
Tears welled up in my eyes. The feeling of losing Jason was still all too real
in my mind.

“You’re soaked!” Jason touched my shirt. My
pajamas were drenched with sweat. Jason’s tongue made a “tsk” noise as he got
up and walked across the room to turn off the fireplace. “No wonder you’re so
hot.” He returned to the bed where he touched my forehead. “If you don’t want
to go skiing, you can stay back here with Julia, I know how much you like her-”

“No,”
I said
immediately. “I mean, I want to go skiing.”

“You do?”

“Yes.”

“Because I know you were frightened and-”

“No, it’s not that. I want to go skiing.”

Jason’s concerned expression eased and he
smiled. “Maybe you should take a cool shower and get ready. Breakfast is in
twenty minutes.” He kissed me on the forehead and headed downstairs. After
taking a moment to compose myself, I headed to the shower to wash away my wild
thoughts.

~Chapter 4~

During my shower, visions of the burning cabin
and Jason’s jet flying into the distance filled my mind. I shook the thoughts
away, choosing to instead think about the skiing adventure I was about to go
on. I lied to myself and told myself I wasn’t nervous.

After putting on my long underwear, the thick
socks Jason bought me, my jeans, and a pair of snow pants, I pulled on a sports
bra and a comfy sweater. As I pushed myself up to make my way towards the
stairs, I wobbled right back over and nearly fell flat on my face. Catching
myself, I realized I’d have to get used to these new, bulky clothes. Taking
slow, careful steps, I waddled out into the hallway and down the stairs.

Good god, I felt like a marshmallow!

The material of the snow pants was so thick I
could barely bend my leg to descend the stairwell.

So much for looking sexy for Jason.

Yesterday I thought I’d be greeting him for
breakfast wearing nothing but a see-through teddy, and here I was waddling down
the stairs, like someone wearing one of those fake Sumo-wrestler costumes.

Once I reached the bottom of the stairwell, I
let out a relieved sigh.

“Look who decided to join us,” Julia said from
the dining table. Though she wasn’t going skiing with us, she was dressed like
what I envisioned a true snow bunny to look like - tight yoga pants, leg
warmers, and a form-fitting long-sleeved sweater. Her hair was in a tight
ponytail and she had a workout headband on. She couldn’t look anymore perfect.

I held back a groan that formed in my throat.

“Someone looks ready for the slopes,” Jason
said, smiling and staring at me with captivating eyes. I couldn’t help but
smile back to him. Even in this over-sized diaper I felt sexy to him.

“I thought you didn’t want to ski,” Simon
pointed out.

“Nope! I’ve just never done it,” I said.

“Well come get a bite to eat then, we’re going
to be taking off soon.”

As I waddled to the table, I couldn’t help but
notice that I was the only one at the table wearing my snow pants already.

“You didn’t have to put those on right away,”
Ty whispered to me as I sat down. My cheeks burned.

“That information would have been useful
twenty minutes ago,” I whispered back.

To my left sat Ellie, who was cradling her
head in her hands.

“Feeling alright, Ellie?”

She looked at me and nodded. “Just a touch of
a hangover.”

“Are you going to stay behind with Julia?” My
eyes flashed up to Julia who sat at the head of the table. She was busy chatting
up Jason. Suddenly I didn’t feel very hungry.

Ellie shook her head. “And miss skiing with
you guys? Nuh-uh. Plus, I think the cold air will be good for me.”

I perked up, happy that Ellie would be joining
us. I didn’t want to be the only confused Florida girl falling flat on her face out
there.

After breakfast, the rest of the group suited
up and the five of us headed out, leaving Julia behind.

“Ellie,” I said, pulling her back so that we
were walking several feet behind the guys. “About last night - do you really
mean what you said?”

“What did I say?” Ellie asked, furrowing her
brow. Her loud snow suit was hot pink and neon green, and the goggles on her
forehead were just as bright.

“You don’t remember? Last night when we were
going to bed, you said you didn’t feel like you fit in.”

“What, with these guys?”

We both went silent and listened to the guys
for a moment. Ty was talking about his yacht while Jason mentioned his jet. By
a process of elimination, I could only assume the chalet belonged to Simon, but
I wouldn’t have been surprised if it belonged to any of them.

“Doesn’t that bug you?” I asked. “All this
talk about fancy, expensive stuff? We’re nobodies compared to Jason and Julia.”

Ellie stopped me. “Sophia, you know I live for
this stuff. Plus, I ain’t a nobody. When Julia walks down the red carpet at the
film festival next week, people will ask who she’s wearing, and she’s going to
say
my
name.” Her eyes grew wide with excitement.

I swallowed. “Oh. I guess that’s true,”

Ellie grabbed my hand. “If you’re feeling
insecure, we can talk about this.” We continued walking. “But right now, I
really want to ski. Don’t let these feelings bring down your whole day, you
hear?”

I nodded.

“And don’t listen to anything I say when I’m
drunk. There’s a reason I don’t normally drink that much. Now let’s go.”
Through her glove she managed to grab my hand and pull me along through the
snow. It was a beautiful day and there wasn’t a single cloud in the sky. The
sun shone off the snow, making it look like a million specks of sparkling
glitter.

It wasn’t until Ellie bent down and began
fastening the skis on the bottom of her boots did I realize that we were at the
top of the hill.

“Now if you excuse me.” Ellie picked up her ski
poles and looked at me. “I’ll see you at the bottom of the hill.”

“Wait!” I reached out for her. “Have you ever
done this before?”

Ellie smiled and shrugged. “No, but it can’t
be that hard, can it?” She pushed off the ground and propelled herself forward,
where she disappeared down the mountain.

“Ellie!” I yelled out but she was gone.
“Damn.”

Now I was even more confused. Was it Ellie who
was uncomfortable with all this? Or was it me?

Jason crept up next to me, already wearing his
skis.

“Are you ready for your lesson?”

“Jason - I don’t think this is such a good
idea.”

“What are you talking about? We’re already
here, aren’t we? Plus, you’re in my hands, so you know you’re safe.” He smiled
and leaned over to start fastening my boots to the skis. “There you go.”

I lost my balance as one ski began sliding
forward, but Jason caught me, his hands around my waist.

“Easy girl, you don’t want to go zooming down
the mountain, do you?”

“Definitely not.”

“Right, so there are two positions that you’ll
hold your skis in. We call them ‘pizza’ and ‘french fries’.”

I raised my eyebrows at him. “Pizza and french
fries? What are we, in the second grade?”

Jason smirked. “Trust me, you’ll be glad you
learned this. So when you’re gliding down the mountain, you’ll keep your skis
parallel with each other, so that they look like two french fries.”

“French fries are never always parallel, you
know.”

Jason gave me a playful but stern look.

“Am I going to have to punish you for being a
bad student?”

“Ooh, is that an option?” I smiled wickedly at
him.

Jason chuckled and went straight back to
lecturing me about skiing. My shoulders slumped and my smile disappeared.

“Pizza is when you bring your skis to a point,
like this.” He pushed my skis to a point in front of me. “You do this when you
want to go slow, go it?”

“Pizza, french fries,” I said, demonstrating
for him.

“Good. Now are you ready?”

My eyes grew wide. “Ready? That’s all you’re
going to teach me? No test hill or anything?”

“This
is
the test hill.” Jason looked
out at the slope in front of us. Even if it was a test hill, and probably the
equivalent of a walk in the park for Jason and his friends, the hill looked
terrifyingly steep to me. Trees and bushes lined the winding snowy path.

“But there are so many trees.”

“Focus on the path, not the trees. You ready?”

I gulped.

Jason pushed off and propelled himself over
the edge onto the slope where he slid down the mountain, moving further and
further away with each second. He stopped effortlessly and looked back at me.

“Sophia! Come!”

Knowing Jason couldn’t come back to help me, I
looked down at the hill.

Alright, here goes nothing.

Pulling my yellow goggles down over my eyes, I
looked out at the yellow-tinged scenery. I pushed myself off the ground and,
keeping my skis in a ‘pizza’ pattern, I slowly made my way down to meet Jason.

“Come on, grandma.” Jason smirked at me as I
moved slower than a slug in a desert.

I meant to stop next to him, but my skis kept
inching along in the snow. Jason put one arm around my waist and steered me as
he skied next to me. His grip was secure and tight. The fears about racing down
the mountain subsided and I knew I could trust Jason.

“This isn’t so bad, is it?”

I looked at him and shook my head.

A few children raced by next do us.

“How are they going so fast?” I asked.

Jason nodded at my skis. “Put your skis into
the french fry position.”

Angling my feet away from one another, I
straightened out my skis and almost immediately began sliding down the hill
faster.

“Keep the fronts of your skis up so that you don’t
pick up any snow!” Jason yelled out, as now the wind was whistling past our
ears.

I did as he said and my speed increased even
further. That secure embrace around my waist disappeared as Jason let go.

Jason let go.

Oh crap.

I was speeding down the hill, going faster and
faster. My eyes flashed to the right where I saw several trees and soon I was
veering towards them.

“Jason!” I screamed out. “JASON!”

Flashbacks of my nightmare, the tall flames,
and Jason leaving me filled my head.

I pointed my toes inward to create a pizza
position, but I moved too fast and too far. My skis touched each other and
before I knew it, my body lunged forward and my skis tangled themselves. My
teeth bit down hard onto nothing, sending a pain through my jaw. Soon the whole
world was upside down. My body tumbled one, two, three times before I rolled
into a large bush.

“Sophia! Are you okay?” Jason came sliding
down, stopping expertly next to me.

I blinked hard, still feeling the tingling
feeling in my jaw. I was completely tangled in my skis.

“Ow,”
I managed to say.

“I’m so sorry - I thought you were doing
alright - you had the hang of it! I shouldn’t have let go.”

Jason began untangling my skis and legs, which
wrapped themselves into what looked like a piece of modern art. He sat me up
and pulled my goggles off my head.

“Your lip is bleeding,” he said.

The metallic taste of blood lingered on my
tongue. Warm tears began streaking down my cold cheeks.

“Sophia.” He pulled off his goggles and I
could see now that his brow was furrowed. He pulled his gloves off to cradle my
cold face with his warm hands. “What’s wrong?”

Before I could stop myself, everything came
tumbling out.

“Everything! This trip, these stupid skis,
you
.”

“Me?”

I shook my head. “That came out wrong. I meant
- I thought this was going to be a romantic getaway for you and I, and it
turned out to be a disaster.”

“A disaster? But I thought we were having
fun.”

I shook my head.

“I’m sorry, Sophia - but we don’t see our
friends as often as I’d like to. Plus, I thought since Ellie would be here,
you’d be alright. She’s your best friend and all.”

Ellie’s name reminded me of our previous
conversation and my own, biting insecurities. I buried my face in my hands and
let out a deep sigh.

“I just wanted you to come see what I do for
fun. At least, what I used to do for fun.”

I looked up into Jason’s brown eyes. He looked
so innocent, so concerned, and for a moment I saw that teenage boy in him who
spent winters here with his friends.

“All I wanted to do was get you out on the
slopes and have some fun, but if I knew how strongly you felt about this, I never
would’ve organized this trip in the first place.” His voice was tinged with
sincerity.

“No.” I put out my hand and grabbed his. “I’m
glad you invited me, and I’m glad you invited all your friends. I just had a
vision of what this trip would be, and that was spending the entire weekend up
in that hot tub with you and a bottle of wine. I was just surprised when it
turned out to be something else, and I acted in the wrong way. I was
disappointed when I should have been thankful.”

Jason gave me a flat smile. I squeezed his
hand, keeping my eyes on his so that he wouldn’t look away.

“I’m so happy you love me, Jason Powers,
because I love you. And I loved that you surprised me.”

Jason mimicked my smile.

“You know, if you wanted to spend time alone
with me, you could have just asked.”

“Now I know for next time.” I smiled.