Chapter Two

  The door to JC's bedroom slowly creaked open the next morning. Two pairs of eyes peered in. One pair was green, and the other brown. They watched JC sleeping soundly and let out a chuckle. "Aww, he looks so peaceful," Lance whispered.
  "Yeah, he sure does," he said. "Does what we're about to do make us evil?"
  "Yep," he said with a nod. "But that's just us I guess."
  Joey grinned on the count of three. "One...two..."
  "DON'T even think about it," JC muffled in his pillow.
  Joey and Lance looked at JC and then at each other. "THREE!" they both said and charged into the room.
  "Rise and shine, sleepyhead!" Joey yelled as he bounced up and down on his bed.
  "Come on, C," Lance said as he walked to the window and pulled back his curtain. JC winced at the brightness and pulled the covers over his head. "Isn't it a beautiful morning."
  "Yes, and it would be even more beautiful if I could sleep through it."
  "I don't think so," Lance said as he pulled back the covers and grinned when JC curled up in a ball when the cold air hit him. "May I remind you it was your idea to get up early."
  "That wasn't me," JC mumbled as he tiredly. "That was my evil twin. Don't listen to him, he's insane."
  "All right, come on," Joey said and then grabbed his foot and yanked him until he landed on the floor with a big thud.
  "Ya'll are so dead," JC said as he sat up and rubbed his eyes. "I hope you both get buried by an avalanche today."
  "Whatever, just get ready," Lance said as they walked out. "We gotta hit the slopes."
  He mumbled something a little unpleasant as he got up and slammed the bathhroom door behind him. Lance and Joey just laughed as they headed downstairs to see Lonnie sitting on the sofa sipping coffee. "What are you two Hula-guns laughing at?"
  "We just woke up, JC," Joey said with a laugh.
  Lonnie grinned. "Wish I could of participated in that."
  "So, are you ready to hit the slopes, Lon," Lance said as he patted his head on his way to the kitchen.
  "When hell freezes over," he said and then took another sip. "I'll leave the skiing to you boys, just keep checking in with me."
  "Sure thing," Joey said as he put on his ski cap. It was purple and it had purple and blue dreadlocks spouting from his head.
  "You're not really going to wear that are you?" Lonnie asked warily.
  Joey shook his head so the dreads would fly back and forth. "Sure, why not? Ain't it cool."
  Lonnie chuckled. "Oh, what am I worried about? No one is going to recognize you guys."
  A few minutes later, JC trotted down the steps freshly showered and ready to go. He had on a pair of black ski pants and a black turtleneck, with his coat tucked under his right arm and his boots dangling from his left hand.
  "Morning, Lonnie," he said as he plopped down next to him and began putting on his boots.
  "I heard you were awaken this morning?" he grinned.
  "Yeah, and I bet you just loved that, didn't you?"
  He shrugged. "The thought of it is rather amusing."
  "Uh-huh," he mumbled and then sat up when he finished tying his boots.
  "Why were you so tired, C?" Lance asked as he began to butter his toast.
  "Couldn't sleep?"
  JC immediately thought of Sydney. He cleared his throat. "I guess you could say something was on my mind."
  "Like wha?" Joey said while he munched on his cereal.
  "Nothing really," he said as he sat on the barstool next to the counter. "I went outside to get some fresh air and one of the girls came out."
  "Ohhh," Joey said in awe. "Very interesting. Would I like her?"
  JC gave him a warning look. "Joey, please. Anyway, she has a boyfriend."
  Lance's raised a brow. "You two must have gotten chummy if you knew that."
  JC jumped off the stool and opened one of the cupboards. "Not really. She was talking to him on the phone when she came out." He pulled out a nutri-grain bar and then ripped open the package. "Personally, he sounded like a jerk."
  "Why do you say that?" Joey asked.
  JC shrugged. "Well, you know when Dani and Chris talk on the phone, he's smiling constantly and...."
  "And calling her pet names and love noises, yes we know," Lance finished.
  JC smiled. "Well, I don't expect her to do the same, but hell she didn't even crack a smile. She looked worried almost, like she was afraid of him."
  Joey sighed. "I wouldn’t worry about it, C. You hardly know this girl."
  "I know," he said as he finished off his breakfast bar. "But I just think it's sad that she seemed so unhappy when she talked to him."
  "Not every relationship ends with happy ever after," Lance said.
  He shook his head. “I don’t know why I’m stressing over this, let’s get going.”
  “We got to go down to the main building and rent our skis and ski boots,” Joey said as he shrugged on his coat.
  “Do we just walk down there?” Lance asked as they walked outside...
  “Yeah, that’s what sucks about being so secluded,” Lonnie said. “We have a longer hike down to the main house.”
  JC grinned as he patted Joey’s belly. “That’s okay, Joey needs the exercise.”
  “Very funny,” he said as he shoved him and laughed when he almost fell on a slick spot.
  Once he got his footing, he eyed Joey. “You better watch your back when we get up there. Just think Joey, no security to keep you away from me.”
  “Gee, I’m shaking in my boots,” he said as he rolled his eyes. “I mean, do you...ahh shit!”
  JC and Lance both busted out laughing when they saw their friend slip on a patch of ice and fall on his butt. “Now THAT was classic!”

  “This place is crazy,” Georgia said as another person bumped into her.
  “The first day sucks,” Sydney said as she sat down and to put on her ski boots.
  “Where’s Michele?”
  “I think she’s still in line getting her skis,” Georgia said as her eyes roamed the crowd. “She was lagging behind us, they couldn’t find her ski boots right away.”
  “Let’s go ahead and wait for her outside,” Sydney said as she sat up. “She’ll figure it out. I’m burning up in here anyway.” Michele rolled her eyes as she impatiently waited in line for her skis. People were pissing her off big time this morning, and it wasn’t getting any better. A couple behind them wouldn’t stop clinging to each other and if she heard one more kissing noise she was gonna turn around and punch them.   She finally got her skis, and then tucked them under her arm and made her way through the crowd towards the door. She was almost there when she accidentally dropped her wallet. “Damn,” she said and then turned her body to pick it up.
  “Ahh!” a man grunted when the back of her skis rammed into his face.
  “Oh!” she exclaimed and then turned toward him only causing the front of the skis to hit him against his side.
  “Damn, girl,” he said as he flinched.
  “I’m so sorry!” she exclaimed. “I...”
  “Woah,” Lance said as he grabbed her skis before it could hit him again. “Maybe you should carry your skis vertically, it would be a lot more safe.”
  She laughed. “I’m sorry, I’ve only done this like once.” He smiled at her. She was cute, he thought. Her short blonde hair was pulled back in a ponytail and her blue eyes were wide with embarrassment.
  “It’s okay,” he said and then rubbed his nose. “No permanent damage.”
  Her eyes widened when she recognized him. “OH! You’re...”
  He muffled her words when he covered his hand over her mouth. His eyes were wide when he put a finger against his mouth. When she understood, she nodded and then he slowly pulled his hand away. “Sorry, I wasn’t thinking.”
  “That’s okay.”
  “You know I’m staying next to you with my friends.”
  He cocked a brow. “Really? JC told me that he had the pleasure of meeting one of you.”
  Her eyes widened. “Well, it wasn’t me! So it was either Sydney or Georgia.”
  “The one who has a boyfriend?”
  “That would be Sydney,” she sighed. “I can’t believe she didn’t tell us.”
  “Lance,” JC said as he found him. “Are you ready?”
  “JC, this is... I’m sorry I didn’t catch your name.”
  “Michele,” she said with a smile.
  “This is Michele, she’s a friend of Sydney..is it?”
  “You are?” JC said. “Is she around?”
  “I think her and Georgia are waiting outside for me now.”
  “Hey guys,” Joey said as he walked up to them. “Look at that couple over there. I guess they don’t mind a little P.D.A.”
  Michele laughed. “They were behind me, I was about to kill them.”
  Joey grinned. “And you are?”
  “One of your neighbors,” she said as she shook her hand.
  “This is Michele,” Lance said to him but didn’t’ keep his eyes off of her.
  “Is this the one you talked to last night, C?”
  “No, that was Sydney,” he said and then cursed when someone bumped into him.
  “Let’s get out of here, it’s too crowded for me. If someone recognizes us, we’re in deep shit.”
  “Well, I have to go meet my friends,” Michele said as they walked to the front.
  “We’re going your way, anyway,” Joey said as the four of them walked towards the door. “Besides, I’d like to meet the other neighbors.”

  "Where the hell is she?" Sydney said as she wrapped her arms around her. "It's cold as balls out here."
  Georgia sniffed. "I can't feel my hands."
  "I'm starting to appreciate the state of Florida right now," she said as she shivered.
  "Guys!"
  They turned toward Michele's voice and saw her walking up to them with three men following her. "Look who I ran into?"
  Lance slid his glasses down his nose to reveal his green eyes. "Literally," he said with a grin.
  Michele giggled. "I hit him with my skis."
  "Twice," he said as he held up two fingers.
  JC looked at Sydney and could tell she was trying to avoid eye contact with him. "Nice to see you again, Sydney," he said with a wink.
  Her eyes widened and then looked at her questioning friends. "Something you'd like to share with us, Syd?" Michele asked.
  She cleared her throat. "I...uh...."
  "We just met on the balcony last night," JC said for her.
  Her friends just nodded their heads, but Syd could tell they weren't happy with her that she kept it a secret. "Yeah..um...we just met for a second, it was nothing big."
  "Uh-huh," Georgia said as she crossed her arms.
  Joey cleared his throat to break the silence, and then turned to Georgia. "And what's you're name?"
  She gave him a dashing smile. "The name's Georgia," she said as she held out her hand.
  He gripped it and shook lightly. "Lovely name," he said with a wink.
  Georgia grinned. He really WAS a flirt. She had a feeling she was going to have fun flirting with Joey Fatone. He looked ridiculously cute in his silly ski cap and his chocolate brown eyes twinkled when he smiled. His goatee was very manly; and a nice, day old beard covered his cheeks.
  Sydney tried not to notice how nice JC looked, but was failing miserably. A simple red ski cap that matched his rosy cheeks from the cold covered his thick brown hair. He was bundled up in all black, except for the cap, and unfortunately those blue eyes of his were covered by his shades. What Sydney didn't know was, that JC was taking advantage of his hidden eyes and watched her every move.
  "There you guys are," Lonnie said as he ran up to them out of breath. "I told ya'll to meet me over by the buses when you got you're skis."
  "We were just on our way," Lance said as he patted his back. "We were saying hi to our neighbors."
  Lonnie eyed them and then smiled before he leaned down close to Lance. "They aren't bugging you are they?" he whispered.
  He grinned. "Not at all."
  "Just checking," he said and then smiled at the girls. "Nice to meet you, ladies, my name is Lonnie. Are ya'll going to take care of these hula guns on the mountain for me."
  "You don't ski?" Sydney asked with a smile.
  "I don't even know the meaning of the word, dear," he said and then motioned them to start heading towards the bus.
  "I bet you could do it," she said as she walked beside him. "Just start from the bunny slopes and work your way up."
  He threw his head back with a laugh. "ME? On a bunny slope, I don't think so."
  JC leaned towards Sydney. "If this big guy ever did try to ski, you wouldn't catch him on the bunny slope. He knows we'd give em hell, ain't that right big guy?"
  "As right as can be," he said as everyone got on the bus.
  Sydney shrugged as she got on the bus. "It was worth a try."
  JC and Sydney stepped on the bus and already found everyone else sitting down. Lance and Michele grabbed the two seats to the left and Joey and Georgia sat across from them. “Looks like we lucked out on seats,” Sydney said as she reached up to grab the handle that dangled in front of her.
  “Would you like to sit down?” Joey asked.
  “No, I’m fine, thanks,” she said.
  “You not gonna offer me, Joe?” JC asked as he stood close behind Sydney and grabbed a handle as well.
  “Don’t think so,” he said with a laugh.
  The bus slowly made it’s way through the icy street, towards the ski lifts. The bus was very crowded, so the guys covered their faces as much as possible. “So, do ya’ll ski a lot?” Joey asked them.
  Georgia laughed. “We’re from Florida, so no not a lot. Sydney has skied the most out of all of us.”
  “You girls are from Florida?” Lance asked. “Where?”
  “Tampa,” Michele answered. “So as you can see, we don’t get to ski very much.”
  “Oh, we know all about it. Last time we skied was at Snowed In last year.”
  “Oh, I saw that,” Georgia said. “You guys could use some practice.”
  “And you could do better?” Joey asked as she nudged him.
  “Sure I could,” she said with a challenge. “Any run you can ski, I can ski better.”
  “Okay, kids,” JC said. “Let’s stop this before you two start busting out a certain show tune from Annie Get Your Gun.”
  Sydney chuckled. “I was thinking the same thing,” she said as she turned around to face him.
  He smiled down at her. “Any run you can ski, I can ski better,” he sang in perfect pitch.
  She laughed. “I can ski any run better then you,” she sang back.
  He threw his head back with a laugh. “Okay, we’re dorks.”
  “Yeah, I think we are,” she laughed back.
  There laughter stopped when the bus came to a complete stop, causing Sydney to fall backwards. “Woah,” JC said as he grabbed an arm around her waist and pulled her back against him to keep her from falling. “You okay,” he laughed softly.
  Sydney was too shocked to speak, and then when he spoke, his mouth was so close to the side of her face that she could feel his warm breath brush against her temple. His body was rock hard against her and his musky scent lingered around her. She cleared her throat. “Um..yeah I’m fine,” she finally said as she slowly got her footing.
  “You sure?” he asked as he placed his hands on her hips to make sure she had her balance.
  Her body tensed at his touch. “Yes, I’m sure.”
  He just slid his hands away and then reached up and grabbed the handle with one hand and stuffed his other one in his coat pocket. Even though it was on accident, he couldn’t help but enjoy how she felt in his arms. He wanted to hold her tighter, but when she pulled away he felt almost empty. He tore his eyes away from her and looked out the window. Reality check, JC, he told himself. She’s already taken.
  When the bus finally made it to the ski lift, they piled out of the bus one by one. They were cute little gift shops, and tiny restaurants settled at the base of the mountain. People were bussing around everywhere, coming back from the slopes, or just arriving like they were.
  "Guys, come here," Lonnie said as he motioned them away from the crowds. "I'm going to be right in that coffee shop there with my walkie-talkie on. Do ya'll have yours?"
  "Yes," they all said as they held up theirs.
  He nodded. "Are the girls going to be joining you guys?"
  They're eyes widened when the guys looked at them. "What do you say?" Joey asked.
  Georgia smiled. "I don't have a problem with that."
  Lance smiled. "You know, it sure would help keep our cover."
  Lonnie nodded. "Very good point."
  JC cleared his throat. "Are you sure, girls? I mean, we'd love to hang out with ya'll, I just don't want you to think were using ya'll as a cover."
  "Hell, I didn't mean it like that," Lance said as he nudged him.
  "I know," he said as he pushed him back. "I'm just making sure that THEY know that."
  Sydney smiled at his thoughtfulness. "Of course we're sure," she assured him.
  JC looked away from Lance and his eyes fell on her. She was smiling brightly and her hazel eyes dazzling with life. That was the first time he truly saw that her smile was genuine, and he was going to make sure he'd see many more of her smiles on this trip. "Good," he said with a wink.
  Joey jumped up and down like an excited little boy waiting to go on a roller coaster ride. "Come on, guys! I'm ready to go!"
  "Ya'll be careful," Lonnie said before he walked off.
 "I am determined to get him on a pair of skis," Sydney said as he put her fists on her hips.
  JC chuckled. "Good luck."
  Sydney gave him another smile. "Thanks, I guess I'm going to need it."
  He just laughed as they headed to the snow. They plopped their skis down on the snow and tightened their boots, before putting the skis on. Sydney was the first to be ready and she watched as the rest of them pitifully tried to put on their skis. "This is going to be sad."
  "How the hell do you do this," Georgia said as she tried to click in her ski.
  "Problems?" Joey asked as he pushed up beside her on his skis.
  "I can't get my left boot in," she mumbled. "I've only skied once in my life but it was when I was little."
  "It can be kind of tricky," Joey said and then squatted down to help her. He grabbed his boot with his hand and helped her nudge her boot in. She almost lost her balance so she placed a hand on his shoulder so she wouldn't fall. She couldn't help but notice how strong he felt beneath her small hand. Even though her hand’s were being protected by her gloves; she could feel the heat radiated from him.
  "There," he said and got up a little too quickly, causing Georgia to flare her arms and stumble forward.
  "Careful," Joey laughed as he grabbed her shoulders to keep her from falling forward.
  She grabbed his arms for dear life. "Dear lord, this is hard," she said as she looked up at him.
  He grinned down at her and squeezed her shoulders. "You'll get the hang of it. I'm kind of bad at this so I'll stay close by you."
  She laughed. "Thanks, I appreciate it."
  "Do you think you can stand now," he asked as he let his hands linger on her elbows.
  "Yeah, I got it," she said and then stood still when he let go. Once she had her balance she grabbed her poles and stuck them in the snow, which made it easier to stand.
  "Are you guys ready?" Sydney yelled to them. "This lift takes us all the way to the top, I think we should go all the way and slowly work our way down."
  JC slid next to her. "Sounds like a plan. I'll race you to the line."
  Sydney looked up at his challenging smile. "You're on. On the count of three. One, two..."
  "Wait, my ski boot is loose," he said as he looked down at it, but as soon as he saw that Sydney was distracted he pushed on his skis. "Three!"
  "HEY!" she yelled and then pushed off as well.
  Lance rolled his eyes. "Something tells me they're gonna be doing this the whole trip," he said to Michele.
  "If JC is as competitive as Syd? They sure will."
  He chuckled. "Great," he said and then they both laughed as they made their way to the line.
  When they got there, both Sydney and JC were out of breath. "You SO cheated!" she said as she pushed him.
  He almost lost his balance but he grabbed a hold of Joey so he wouldn't fall. "Dude, don't you dare take me down with you. If I fall I'm gonna start a domino affect here."
  Sydney laughed as she grabbed JC's arms to pull him back up. "Sorry, guess I pushed you too hard."
  "Not too hard, but it's hard to stay on these things," he said and then let out a breath when he got his balance back.
  "I want a rematch," she said.
  "Sore loser," he said with a wink.
  "Cheater," she said and then stuck out her pink tongue.
  "Will you two stop it," Georgia said. "The line is moving, get going."
  JC and Sydney playfully nudged elbows as they moved up in the line. "Quit it," she said when he kept nudging.
  "You started it," he said and then nudged her again.
  "Okay, am I gonna have to separate you two," Lance said as he stuck his head between them. They both responded by nudging him away and caused him to fall backwards. "Woah, shit," he cursed as grabbed Michele for balance, but unfortunately she couldn't hold on and she went as well. On instinct she grabbed for Joey, causing him to go down and then he fell against Georgia, causing her to fall backwards and bringing him with her.
  JC and Sydney looked down at catastrophe they caused by just one simple nudge. Their skis were sprawled everywhere; Lance's back was against Michele's front, and Georgia was plastered in the snow, with Joey sprawled over her stomach with his butt in the air.
  "Oh, dear lord," Sydney laughed. "That's the funniest sight I've ever seen."
  "Quick!" JC said laughing. "Do you have a camera?"
  "Don't you dare!" Georgia said as she tried to get Joey off of her.
  "Everyone say cheese," Sydney said and then took the picture.
  "Hey we're up," JC said and tugged on Sydney. "We'll see you guys up there."
  "Have fun trying to get up," she laughed and then they both slid to the line and waited impatiently for the chair to swoop them up. By the time scooped them up, the four of them were still battling to stand up on their own two feet.
  "They are so dead," Joey said as he tried to get up.
  "Joey, watch it!" Lance yelled as his skis poked his sides.
  "Sorry, I can't really control them right now," he grunted as he pushed himself up. "This is so not good," he said as his skis were crisscrossed.
  "Well, I can't get up until you do," Georgia complained.
  "Are you ever going to get off of me?" Michele asked Lance as she pushed at his shoulders.
  "It's not as easy as it looks sweetheart," he said as he grabbed for his poles.
  "Just push yourself up," she said as she helped him by pushing him up.
  After a lot of effort, Lance finally was up on his own two feet. "Okay, guys let's hurry up and go. About ten people cut in front of us."
  "Help me up," Michele said as she held up her hand. He reached down and helped her shakily get up. He gripped her arms tightly and held her close. "You got it?"
  She let out a breath and then looked up at his green eyes. She smiled shakily and was fully aware of how close he was. Their mouths were so close that she could feel his warm breath against her lips as he breathed heavily. "Yeah, I got it."
  He smiled as he reached up and repositioned her ski cap. "It was a little crooked," he said and then brushed a strand of hair away from her cheek.
  "Thanks," she said as she patted her head to make sure it was okay.
  "Will you guys stop flirting and help us," Joey said as he tried to uncross his skis, but failed and fell on top of Georgia.
  "Okay, Joey, that was the third time you fell on top of me," she said getting a little annoyed. "We've got to try another system here."
  "You guys have fun, we'll see ya up there."
  "Oh, you got to be kidding," Joey said and then his eyes narrowed as he watched them ride the ski lift up. "Okay, now I'm gonna kill THEM."
  "Joey!" she said annoyed.
  "Yeah, what," he said as he looked down at her. When he noticed the position they were in, he grinned. "How YOU doin," he said in a sexy Itallian accent.
  She laughed as she pushed him off. "Not now, Joey. I want to ski and I can't do it with you on top of me."
  He shrugged. "Hey, there's a first for everything."
  "You better be off of me by the count of three," she warned, even though she was enjoying this situation a little too much.
  "Okay, okay," he said and then pushed himself up on his knees and then shifted his skis until they were parallel to the side of them. He pushed himself up until he was on his two feet. "Ta-da!"
  "Okay, stop celebrating and help me up," she said as she held up both hands. He laughed as he reached down and grabbed her arms and yanked her up on her feet. "Okay, you did that way too easily," she said as she brushed the snow off. "Something tells me you weren't trying so hard to get off of me at first."
  He shrugged innocently. "I don't know what you're talking about."
  "Uh-huh," she said as they started making their way to the front of the line.
  "Sure you don't."

  "I wonder if they've managed to get up yet," JC said with a laugh as they lift continued to carry them up the mountain.
  Sydney laughed. "That was the funniest sight I've ever seen."
  "You got it on your camera right?"
  She patted her pocket that held her camera. "I got it all right."
  He chuckled. "You gotta send me a copy of that sometime, I could definitely get a lot from them if I had that picture in my possession."
  She laughed. "I bet."
  They both laughed until they couldn't laugh anymore and then JC finally sighed warily as he reached around her to rest his arm against the back of her chair. When he felt Sydney's body tense at the gesture he sighed. "Relax, Syd, I'm not trying to put a move on you or anything."
  She sniffed and shifted in her seat. "I know," she said.
  "Besides, if I WAS gonna put a move on you, I sure wouldn't go for the classic yawn as I casually put my arm around you. I’ve got better tricks up my sleeves."
  She smiled a little and slowly began to relax. "Oh really? And what would you do IF you were putting a move on me."
  He smiled and chuckled softly. "Ya really want to know?"
  She shrugged. "Sure, I'd like to know how the famous JC makes his move."
  He chuckled again. "Okay," he said softly and then shifted towards her. "Well, first I would turn toward you like this, because I'd want you to know that I have my complete focus on you."
  She licked her lips nervously. "Uh-huh."
  "Then," he said as he put his glove in his mouth and tugged on it until his hand was free. "I'd probably touch the side of you're face lightly, like this."
  She swallowed hard as he felt the back of his knuckles brush the side of her cheek. "Um, I was hoping you'd just TELL me, JC."
  The corner of his mouth lifted. "Then you wouldn't get the full affect now would you," he said and then continued to stroke her soft cheek. "Then I'd tell you how beautiful you are and how your face lights up whenever you smile."
  Her heart started to race. "JC..." she said warily.
  "Then," he said was he reached back and cupped the back of her neck and pulled her close until their lips were inches away. "Then, I'd kiss you."
  Her breath quickened and her eyes closed, and waited for the kiss she wanted so bad. But instead he leaned toward her until his mouth was against her ear. "Now you know," he said and then moved away from her.
  Sydney opened her eyes when she felt him pull away. He was staring straight ahead as he casually put his glove back on his hand. Obviously, he had done that a lot, because it didn’t seem to phase him very much. However, she was sitting there still shaken from his touch, and wanting nothing more then to pull him down for that kiss. She let out a frustrating sigh as she turned away.
  JC looked at her. “What?”
  “Nothing,” she said as casual as possible.
  “Yeah, right,” he mumbled.
  She turned back to him. “What was that?”
  “I don’t know why you’re upset?” he said as he leaned back and put his arm back around her.
  “I’m not upset,” she shot back. “I’m just...just...”
  A brow lifted. “Just what?”
  “Never mind,” she said as she scooted up on the edge of the seat. “We’re about to get off.”
  “Fine,” he said and then they were both silent as they stood up and slid down the small slope. Once they went to a complete stop, JC broke the silence.
  “Look, Syd, I’m sorry if I embarrassed you, but...”
  “You didn’t embarrass me,” she said with a sigh.
  “Then why are you acting like this,” he said as he stabbed his poles in the snow. “You asked what I would do so I told you.”
  “No, no,” she laughed harshly. “You didn’t TELL me, you SHOWED me.”
  He shook his head. “If I had SHOWED you, I would have..."   “You would have what?” she asked when he stopped talking.
  He cleared his throat. He would have kissed her blindly, but when he remembered that she had a boyfriend, he pulled back. He was going to kiss her; he wanted to kiss her so badly. But she had a boyfriend and he wasn’t going to lead her on when he knew it wouldn’t go anywhere. “Just let’s forget about all of this okay?”
  She shrugged. “Fine by me. Besides it was just an act anyway.”
  “An act?”
  “Yeah, you didn’t mean what you said OR did; it was an act.”
  He chuckled as he shook his head. “If you want to believe that,” he mumbled.
  “What?”
  “Nothing,” he said quickly. “Look, there’s Lance and Michele.”

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