Playing His Game

Chapter Twenty | The Nearness of You

Twenty:

The mound of plush pillows and thick, white blankets were enough to put me in a coma...if it weren't for the damned sunlight streaming through the window.

I tossed and turned with my eyes squeezed shut, struggling to slip back into unconsciousness. When it became clear that I was wide awake and wouldn't be falling back asleep, I sat up in annoyance.

The large glass window took up half of the wall behind our beds and the sheer curtain, which covered it, offered no help in preventing the suns rays from shining directly on us.

Rubbing the sleep from my eyes and looking to my side I saw Lauren still fast asleep, lightly snoring. Peering at the other queen-sized bed I saw Carly was missing, no doubt already up for the day. Lily was snoring as well, her long white hair sprawled across the pillows as she slept.

I slowly rose to my feet, padding across the hardwood floor and peeking out the window. Our cabin sat on top of one of the large mountains, overlooking many others and giving me a perfect view of the fresh, sparkling snow. In the far away distance, I faintly made out the silhouettes of many people as they made their way down the slope.

I couldn't help the excitement that trickled through me as my eyes took in the expanse of white; I'd never gone skiing before. Hell, I'd never been sledding before. The closest thing I ever had for winter as a child was building a miniature snowman, only to see it turn into a pile of mush by noon.

"It's pretty, huh?"

I whipped around at the soft voice, startled to see Lily sitting up in her bed. She tossed her blanket aside and stretched her arms above her head, giving me a sleepy grin.

"Yeah, it is," I agreed, moving away from the window and sitting next to her on the bed.

"Ugh but it's freezing, tell me why on earth I brought shorts to sleep in!" She laughed, gesturing to her long legs, left exposed in stretchy, pink short-shorts.

"I'm pretty sure that's no where near as bad as me being forced into Lauren's bikini last night!" We both burst out laughing as we recalled our time in the hot tub. Almost everyone had been forced to do some crazy act, whether it be drinking, stripping, or making out. Luckily, besides kissing Jake, I had been left out of most of that.

"Ughh!" There was a loud groan as Lauren rolled over in the other bed and buried her face into a pillow. "Why are you two even up right now?"

I stifled a laugh as Lily and I both looked at her with matching grins. "You know it's actually eight forty right now, right?" I said after glancing at the digital clock on the nightstand.

"That means nothing, it's winter break," came her muffled response.

"Don't be a baby, you didn't even drink last night," Lily teased.

Lauren turned over once more with a huff as she stared at us, lying on her side. "Life is so hard when all your friends are morning people."

I scoffed. "I'm not, the stupid sun was just keeping me awake! Plus, I went to bed before most of you last night."

Lauren rolled her eyes, propping herself up by her elbow. "Yeah. I swear, you and Trent both were such party-poopers."

"Party-poopers? What are we, in third grade?" I asked, while my mind replayed the way Trent had stalked into the house, grabbing a bottle of alcohol on the way.

"Yes, party-poopers! You didn't even get to see Will puke in a bush before you left!" Lily chimed in with a laugh.

"Oh no, I can't believe I missed that." I said flatly.