The Hazards of Mistletoe (Hazards #4)(7)
Author: Alyssa Rose Ivy

Exhausted, I made it to the gate just in time to hear them announce that the flight was delayed.

“Fabulous, flipping fabulous.” I let my bag slide off my arm onto the floor.

“Your dad was right, you do have an attitude.”

I glanced up to see a very amused guy with black hair walking over. He was cute in that boy next door kind of way. “Uh, hi. Are you Dalton?”

He held out his hand. “Pleasure to meet you, Savannah.”

I accepted the handshake. “Nice to meet you too.” I pushed my bag back onto my arm. “Sorry, I ran across half the airport for nothing.”

“I get that. I did the same thing only to find out my flight was cancelled.”

“Isn’t it great how they do that? They can’t tell you right when you get off your flight or anything?”

“That would make things too easy.” He smiled. “Can I take that bag for you?”

“Oh, no thanks. But I appreciate the offer.”

“Let me know if you change your mind. By the way, have you eaten? It sounds like we have some time to kill.”

My stomach growled, answering his question.

He laughed. “All right, let’s go grab some grub.”

We settled on a bar and grill. Dalton ordered me a beer, pretending he wanted two for himself. Possible future step-brother was already earning points. I needed something to help cut my nerves.

“My little sister is going to love you.” Dalton poured some ketchup onto his fries.

“Oh yeah?”

“You’re kind of her idol.”

“Uh, she doesn’t even know me.” The only thing I knew about her was that her name was Laney, and she was a year younger than me.

“She knows you’re a Delta Mu at Harrison. She’s kind of obsessed.”

“My dad mentioned she’d applied there.”

“She applied early decision. She finds out anytime now.”

“Oh wow.” I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. Hopefully the girl was cool. “But why does she care what sorority I’m in?” I didn’t know anything about Greek life before joining. I probably wouldn’t have at all if it hadn’t been an excuse to get to campus a week earlier.

“Our mom was Delta Mu at Eastern.”

“Oh, ok. That makes more sense.”

“I never really saw the appeal of the Greek thing, but to each their own.” He took a bite of his burger.

“I didn’t either, but it’s been fun. I’ve made some good friends.”

“Making friends is good.” He smiled.

“Is that your way of making fun of me? Of saying I couldn’t make friends another way?”

He set his burger down. “You’re the one who said it. I was just agreeing with you. Friends are important, especially in college.”

“Sorry to jump on you like that.” The thought of seeing Glen again had me in a bad mood. I needed to try to stop taking it out on other people.

“You’re really tense. What’s that about?”

“No comment.” I sipped my beer.

He shrugged. “Fair enough.”

I moved the conversation off of me. “You go to Ridgeview, right?”

“Yeah, but only for a few more months.”

“Nice. Excited to graduate?”

“Not really.” He sipped his beer. “It just means facing the real world.”

“I’m just starting, so the thought of being done seems light years away.”

“It goes fast, really fast.”

“That’s what everyone says.” I took another bite of my wrap. It wasn’t particularly good or satisfying, but at least I had beer to wash it down.

“So you’re the resident Vail expert. What exciting things do we have in store for us this week?” Dalton leaned back in his seat.

“Aside from skiing or snowboarding?”

“Which do you do?” he asked.

“I snowboard.”

“Nice, same here.”

“To answer your question, there’s everything snow related you could want. It’s a fun time usually.”

“Only usually?” He asked.

I shrugged. “Long story.”

“I don’t mind long stories. Plus we’ve got plenty of time.”

“Ok, then a long story I don’t want to share.”

“That’s honest. I’m guessing this has something to do with your bad mood.” Dalton finished off his burger.

“I’m not in a bad mood.”

He laughed. “Ok. Relax. I’ll figure it out eventually anyway.”

We finished up our food and Dalton insisted on paying the tab. I assumed my dad would pay him back for it later. “We should probably head back over to the gate. Let’s hope the flight doesn’t get further delayed.”

Before long our plane loaded. I was seated about five rows behind Dalton, and someone offered to switch seats so we could sit together. I didn’t mind sitting alone and told the man not to worry about it, but I appreciated the thoughtfulness of the passenger. It looked like some people still had the holiday spirit.

Chapter Three

Glen

“What the hell is going on with you?” Winston yelled from behind me.

“Nothing.” I continued gazing out at the interstate below. If I looked out the window in the kitchen I could get a tiny view of Vail Mountain across the way.

“Bullshit. You’ve been moping around all week. Is this about your parents?”

“No.” I wasn’t looking forward to seeing them, but I was dreading seeing someone else more. Dreading, yet counting down to it. Maybe miraculously she’d have forgotten what had happened—and that I never explained myself. A year later and I still couldn’t get that devastated look of Savy’s out of my head, neither of the devastated looks.

“Then it’s the girl.”

“What girl?” I whirled around to look at my roommate. Winston and I weren’t friends when I first moved in the year before, but he’d grown on me. We’d met through a mutual friend, and so far he’d been a decent roommate.

“The one who stops you from getting any real action.”

“There’s no girl.” There wasn’t. Not for me. I’d hurt Savy, but it had been the right thing to do. She deserved someone better. Her whole life was about people disappointing her, and I refused to be another one added to her list.

“There’s a girl. Savy is it?”