Silver Fox Grump

Silver Fox Grump Cami Calvin Copyright Copyright © 2022 by Cami Calvin All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher or author except as permitted by U.S. copyright law. Chapter One AnnaI always hated flying. Not the whole thing, just the takeoff and the landing. I suddenly turned into this master mathematician/scientist and began calculating whether I could survive the distance to the ground if the plane broke in half. I spent the whole time repeating over and over in my head, “It’s all right; you’re going to die now; you’ve had a good life.” Clearly, since I’m still here though, it has yet to end in disaster.“You look green,” my best friend Haley said as she looked over at me. “Are you thinking about flying or Caleb? You’re not doing that head thing again, are you?”“What head thing?” I replied, trying to sound casual but also not taking my eyes off the runway as we began our takeoff. Caleb was the guy I’d been seeing who spent the better part of 18 months avoiding “defining the relationship.” We’d broken up exactly twelve days ago, and I wasn’t nearly as sad as I thought I’d be. “I’m fine. Just enjoying the scenery.”Haley looked past me out the window and raised a suspicious eyebrow at me.“You’re enjoying the view of LAX and the industrial warehouses beyond?”“Yes,” I said a little too quickly. “It’s kind of artistic in a modern art-ish way.”Haley rolled her eyes and went back to flipping through the Sky Mall catalog. “If you say so.”“How long is this flight supposed to be, anyway?” I asked, hoping to take her attention away from my slight neurosis. “Two hours and nineteen minutes,” she said, pulling her Air Pods out of her pocket and putting them in one at a time. Apparently, the discussion was over and I needed to leave her to her overpriced merchandise.I couldn’t really blame her, though. This was her “moment.” Haley was a competitive skier and we were headed to a qualifier. If she did well in this event, she’d be on her way to the Paris Olympics. And maybe if I was lucky, she’d take me with her.I felt a jolt and the plane began to move, “taxiing” as they called it. More like countdown to doom I said. My fingers gripped the armrests so tight that my knuckles went white, and while she didn’t turn to look at me, Haley grabbed my hand to reassure me. This was exactly why we were best friends, a supernatural level of connection.I spent the next ten minutes breathing and telling myself this time it was going to go wrong, and when it didn’t (again), I relaxed into my barely comfortable seat and pulled out a book.It was one of those cheesy, overexaggerated Christmastime romances where the lovers act exactly the opposite of real people and that was what made them so great. Well, that and the copious bath sex scenes. I’d just gotten to the part where they accidentally kiss and then quietly have full blown intercourse amid the presents while her parents are in the next room, when Haley finally took out her Air Pods and turned to talk.“So, who is this guy that owns the resort again? Your uncle?”“He’s my dad’s best friend, so, kind of.”Haley gave me a look as if to ask if there was any funny business and I pinched her. “Not that kind of uncle. Honestly, I haven’t even seen him since I was a kid so who knows what this guy is like now. All you need to know is that he’s letting us stay for free as a favor to my dad. Like, all-inclusive.”“We do love a freebie,” Haley said gleefully. “Wonder if there will be any hot guys there.”I shook my head, laughing. “How very trashy romance novel of you. Two young, hot athletes meet on the slopes and it’s not just their cocoa that gets hot and steamy.”Haley shrugged. “I don’t think you have much room to talk, miss…” She looked at the cover of my book. “Becky’s Secret Santa? Is that really the title?”“Shut up,” I said, giggling bashfully. “It’s really good. Where else are you going to find perfect men besides fiction?”Haley thought for a moment, then nodded. “Fair.”“Are you nervous?” I asked, changing the subject to avoid telling her exactly what part of the book I was in the middle of. “This could make you an Olympian.”Haley shook her shoulders as if she were shivering. “The prospect is both thrilling and terrifying. Getting in is hard enough. Competing with other people who want this just as badly as I do is damn near paralyzing.”I offered her a little hug and kiss on the temple. “But you’re the best, Hales. You can kick all their butts. You have more talent in your hair than most people have in their whole body. Plus, I’m there and I will act as your personal good luck charm.”Haley laughed as the seatbelt sign dinged, and the captain came over the loudspeaker telling us to prepare for landing.“Ladies and gentlemen, as we make our final descent into Missoula, please stow laptop computers and similarly sized electronic devices. Small, portable electronic devices may continue to be used in airplane mode but must be secured for the remainder of the flight. Please ensure all carryon items are completely under the seat in front of you or in an overhead bin, leaving the area around your feet clear. Please raise your seatback and tray table to the full-upright and locked position, and fasten your seatbelt. We will come by one last time to pick up cups, cans, newspapers, and any other trash. Thank you.”Haley mimicked this speech word for word, getting me to giggle like a ten-year-old. That was another thing that was great about Haley. She never worried about looking stupid or being immature. She just had fun how she