Truly Indulgent, page 4
It was like all that time apart had built up this tension between us and when we finally collided it was an explosion of epic proportions.
I was on cloud nine for the rest of the trip and after promising Tyler that having sex wouldn’t change anything between us, he let his walls come down a little bit.
He was slowly letting me back into his life and the last day of the trip consisted of Tyler, Olivia and I skiing the black-diamond runs together just like old times.
Our paths didn’t cross that much during the summer that year but that didn’t bother me as we were communicating more than we had done in years.
When I arrived in Aspen last year, I was gob smacked when Tyler introduced me to his girlfriend as I had no idea that she was coming.
Olivia apologized for not warning me but figured that I already knew seeing as I had been talking to Tyler the week before.
When Tyler and I talked on the phone, which wasn’t often at all, we made a point of never mentioning who we were dating.
Mostly because I don’t really date and I have no interest hearing about who Tyler is sleeping with.
Becca was stunning and it annoyed me that he was still with the same girl as the year before. I didn’t want him to get serious with anyone.
I was still hoping that one day down the track he might decide it’s the right time for us to be together.
Just like his other girlfriends, Becca was blonde and similar in appearance to me except her breasts were ridiculously large.
They seemed to fight a lot that trip and after one particularly nasty fight, I went to check on Tyler only for us to end up having sex in the bathroom.
I found out a few weeks later that they had broken up but like always, Tyler didn’t stay single for long and just like last year, he is bringing his girlfriend on this year’s ski trip.
This one’s name is Laura and I may have stalked her online already so that I could be prepared this time.
Not surprisingly she’s blonde and drop dead gorgeous.
Even though Tyler’s girlfriend has put a bit of a downer on my mood, I’m still hoping for the best.
It’s wrong of me to hope that he cheats on this girlfriend with me but honestly, I don’t care about their feelings, I only care about Tyler and he was mine first.
Okay, he has never actually been mine but I feel like I have had dibs on him since the day I was born.
Since I’m an organized person and I don’t want anything to go wrong tomorrow, I’ve spent my afternoon packing for the trip and when Olivia walks in the door well after her last class finished, I can’t help but groan.
She won’t have organized anything and it will all be left up to me.
Walking into my bedroom she sits down on my bed, “Hey, should we go out tonight?”
“Go out?” Is she kidding?
She sighs deeply, “Yeah, you know, go out. Have fun. Celebrate the end of another semester.”
“You do realize we are flying to Colorado first thing tomorrow, right?” The itinerary for our trip has been stuck on the fridge for like a month and we go every year.
Surely she hasn’t forgotten.
She rolls her eyes, “Yes, I’m aware Miss. Organized but that doesn’t mean we can’t go out. Don’t you want to see Grayson before you leave?”
Grayson is a guy I have been on a few dates with recently, he’s a nice guy and we have shared a few kisses but I haven’t let things progress beyond that point yet and I’m not sure if I’m going to.
I’ve dated a bunch of different guys but Tyler is still the only person I’ve slept with and for the time being, I’d like to keep it that way.
Besides, I’m so distracted by seeing Tyler again that I won’t be able to pay attention to him. “I met him for lunch today and I’ll see him when we get back but you need to spend tonight packing.”
Olivia collapses back onto my bed, “Ugh, but packing’s boring.”
“It may be boring but you still need to pack, have you even done all of your laundry yet?” I swear I don’t know how she would get on in life without me, I have to remind her about most things.
Including when her period is due.
We synced up basically straight away and now I buy two lots of tampons as I know she will always forget and ask to borrow mine.
She grins, “Yes actually I have, why do you think I’m home so late?”
“Really?” I ask surprised, last year we were at the laundromat until about ten o’clock doing Olivia’s laundry.
“Yes really, so once I pack you have no excuse. Let’s go out,” she whines.
“Why don’t we go out now for dinner and one drink, then spend the rest of the night packing your bag.” We should really pack her bag before we go out for dinner but I’m actually starving and it takes way longer than it should to pack Olivia’s things for a week-long vacation.
She groans and gets up off the bed, “Fine, you win, we get to be boring adults tonight but you have to promise me that you will let loose in Aspen.”
Oh, I plan on letting loose alright, with Tyler. “Deal, I promise I’ll bring my A game every night.”
She shakes her finger at me, “You better because I don’t want to be rocking out on that dance floor by myself every night.”
“You won’t be, if you promise to come home early tonight and pack your bags then I promise to go wild in Aspen.” My kind of wild though, not Olivia’s kind of wild.
Her kind of wild is bound to get me into trouble.
She claps her hands together and skips out of my room, “Yay, I’m excited!”
She’s not the only one but we happen to be excited for two very different reasons.
CHAPTER 4
MADDY
True to her word, Olivia agreed to come home last night after dinner and one drink and we were able to make it to the airport without incident this morning.
The flight went smoothly and we make it to the resort around lunchtime and get settled in our room. Olivia and I have shared a room pretty much every year but I don’t mind as it’s a hell of a lot better than sharing with my little brothers.
After we have unpacked, we walk out to the main restaurant area to meet up with everyone else. There are a total of five families that come here every year which makes for a very hectic week, especially since we have to go around and hug basically every single person.
It’s been different these last few years with all the younger kids being teenagers now, with the exception of Uncle Alex and Aunty Ryleigh’s kids of course.
Aunty Ryleigh can’t have kids of her own due to having cancer when she was younger so they are forever fostering different children.
They don’t seem to mind what age children they help raise and often take on teenagers as they are harder to find foster homes for. I really admire what they do and I feel bad that I haven’t kept track if they have anyone new this year.
Mom normally keeps me updated on what’s going on but she hasn’t mentioned them lately.
Out of the corner of my eye I spot Tyler standing with Laura and it looks like they are talking to his parents.
I pretend not to notice them and have to wait another ten minutes before he brings her over to introduce her to us.
He hugs Olivia first before hugging me and I don’t miss the way he gives my body a tight squeeze before he lets go.
“This is my sister Olivia,” he gestures to Olivia and to my surprise, Laura reaches in for a hug. “And this is Matty,” when he gestures to me, Laura makes a move like she might hug me too but then pauses.
“Wait, she’s Matty?” she asks with a rather comical frown on her face.
Tyler will never learn but it’s always entertaining watching the show that his girlfriend’s put on when they find out I am in fact a girl.
“Yeah, why?” Tyler asks, genuinely confused.
How has he not figured out by now that he needs to clarify that I’m a girl?
I thought he would have learnt his lesson with Becca. Fume was practically coming out of her ears when she found out but Laura is trying very hard to be polite.
Laura seems to hesitate, “But, you, I just thought…I’m sorry to be rude but I thought Matty was a guy.”
And there it is.
The realization that her boyfriend has been texting and talking to another girl.
Laura looks me up and down and I can almost read her internal thoughts.
Yes, I’m the same Matty that he texts and talks to on the phone. The same Matty who is in all of his childhood stories and no, I’m not ever going to go away.
“Oh fuck, that’s right, sorry I forget.” He shrugs like he’s not a complete idiot, “I’m the only one who calls her Matty, everyone else calls her Maddy, her real name is Maddison.”
“Oh,” Laura hesitates and then brings her arms up to give me a hug. It’s very brief and to be honest a little forced but I can’t say I blame her. “Well, it’s nice to meet you Maddy.”
“It’s nice to meet you too.” Except that it’s not and I wish Tyler hadn’t brought you here because I really want to have sex with him again and again while we are on this trip.
We all stand there for a few seconds and it seems that no one knows what to say.
Olivia ends up creating an out for everyone. “Well, why don’t we sit down otherwise these greetings will go on forever and no one will get to eat.”
Without waiting for a response, she turns around and walks straight to the table so I follow her.
Glancing behind me, I can see that Tyler and Laura are having words.
As we sit down at the huge table that has been reserved for us, Olivia notices the same thing. “Isn’t he the biggest moron ever? I swear every single time you get the, wait, Matty’s a girl? You think he would learn.”
We both chuckle at Tyler’s stupidity. “I think it would almost be disappointing now if it didn’t happen.”
Tyler and Laura end up sitting a bit further down the table from us and I figure it’s on purpose.
Uncle Kyle and Aunty Jessica’s twin girls, Ella and Mia end up sitting opposite us. They are three years younger than us and actually have a lot in common with Olivia.
They live directly across the street from her and their dads are best friends.
Uncle Kyle is just as protective over his three girls as Uncle Mason is over Olivia and Emily but seeing as the twins are older, they have to deal with the brunt of Uncle Kyle’s panic attacks just like Olivia does.
I was over at Olivia’s house one summer when Uncle Kyle burst through the front door announcing that his life was over because Ella had been asked on a date.
Aunty Eva had to give him a paper bag to breathe into and when the boy turned up to collect Ella, all hell broke loose.
Aunty Eva had to jump onto his back and cover his eyes so he couldn’t run across the street and threaten the poor boy.
After they had left, Uncle Mason calmy walked into the room with a shit eating grin on his face and asked Uncle Kyle if he thought Ella needed to be put on birth control yet.
That comment resulted in Uncle Kyle taking a swing at Uncle Mason and things only got worse once Mia was asked out on a date a few weeks later.
I’m lucky that my dad’s not like theirs, sure he is over protective at the best of times but he knows he has to let me grow up eventually and he trusts me to make good choices.
Plus he’s not as easy to wind up as Uncle Kyle and Uncle Mason, I swear those two live to torture each other.
Uncle Kyle is constantly cuddling up to Aunty Eva and pretending to hit on her just to get a rise out of Uncle Mason and it works.
Every. Single. Time.
It actually stopped being entertaining years ago.
Lunch ends up taking forever and I was hoping to hit the slopes quickly this afternoon but that’s becoming more and more unlikely.
When lunch starts to wrap up, Olivia asks the twins if they want to come and have drinks in our room later on but Uncle Kyle overhears and hits the roof which puts an end to those plans.
After hanging out for the rest of the afternoon, Olivia and I decide to grab an early dinner then head back to our room to get ready for tonight.
Olivia isn’t going to let my promise to let loose go and I’m sure she will drag me out to a bar every night that we are here.
I settle on a tight pair of jeans that I know Tyler likes, black boots and a cute little red sweater. Seeing as we are only checking out the bar at the resort tonight, I keep my hair down and decide to go with minimal makeup.
It would be nice to go to bed at a reasonable hour tonight, I’ve been dying to get out on the slopes for weeks now and it’s not as fun when you are tired and hungover.
Since Olivia and I both recently turned 21, we don’t need to worry about getting Tyler to buy our drinks anymore so we head to the bar without him.
We are there for about an hour before Tyler and Laura turn up and join us at our table. He buys us all a round and we settle into an easy conversation although I hate the way that Laura is curled up against his side.
It was rather satisfying last year watching Tyler and Becca bicker all the time but from the short glimpse I have gotten of Laura so far, she doesn’t seem like the type of girl that would get into huge arguments.
She actually seems quite nice.
Which makes me hate her even more.
Grayson has been texting me throughout the night and every time I pick up my phone, I see Tyler glance at me.
Curiosity finally seems to get the better of him. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you on your phone so much Matty.”
Olivia jumps in before I can respond, “That’s because she’s texting Grayson.”
Tyler’s eyes widen in surprise, “Grayson? Who’s Grayson?”
“This guy she’s been dating. He’s pre-med.” Olivia seems distracted as she responds and I see a few cute guys over at the bar who have caught her attention.
He frowns slightly at this news, “I didn’t know you were seeing anyone Matty. Is it serious?”
No, not at all, “I’m not sure yet.”
Laura smiles brightly at the thought of me dating someone but Tyler’s eyes darken slightly. “I didn’t think you were the casual type.”
“I’m not but I still date Tyler, how else do you get to know someone?” It’s an unwritten rule between us that we don’t talk about the people we are seeing.
Mostly because I’m hardly ever dating anyone and also because I don’t want to hear about Tyler’s endless string of girlfriends.
Tyler opens his mouth to respond but Olivia cuts him off, “Maddy, see those guys at the bar?” She points in their direction but I had already spotted them. “Let’s go over and see if they want to dance.”
“Yeah, alright.” Normally I’m quite shy but around Olivia, I generally don’t need to say much.
We stand and grab our drinks off the table but Tyler is quick to protest, “Are you seriously going to hit on dudes in front of me?”
Olivia turns around and glares at Tyler, “So? What’s it to you?”
He looks outraged, “I don’t feel like watching my sister hook up, we were having a good time. Why don’t you guys just stay here?”
She smiles darkly at her brother, “If you don’t want to watch then leave, or better yet, turn around.”
Tyler shifts his attention to me, “What about Greyson? I thought you were dating him.”
“I am.” It’s not like I’m the one planning on hooking up with anyone tonight. I’m just out to have a good time and dance the night away with my best friend.
Tyler seems horrified that I’m going to join Olivia but she grabs my wrist, sensing that I might change my mind and has one last dig at her brother. “It’s called dating for a reason Tyler. They aren’t in a relationship yet so Maddy is free to hook up with whoever she wants. You’re starting to sound like Dad and if you keep going down this road, it’s not going to end well,” she steps closer to him, “For you.”
His mouth opens in shock but then Olivia drags me away towards the guys she had spotted earlier.
After a brief introduction, we hit the dance floor and I’m left to dance with the guy that Olivia isn’t interested in which is fine by me because I’m not interested in either of them.
I keep an eye on Tyler while I dance and I can tell he is seething which brings a smile to my face.
He stands abruptly and finishes his drink before slamming it on the table and saying something to Laura. A few seconds later they leave the bar so I take a step back from my dance partner, not wanting to give him the wrong impression.
The last thing I want to deal with tonight is unwanted advances.
After a few hours on the dance floor, we end up calling it a night and Olivia comes back to our room with me.
She’s had a bit to drink and is in a good mood so she agrees to set her alarm early tomorrow so we can get up on the mountain before the crowds get there.
I can already picture her grumbling in the morning about how it was a stupid idea to get up before the sun rises but if I have to leave without her in the morning then I will.
CHAPTER 5
MADDY
Apart from Christmas morning, the last few days have been rather uneventful.
It turns out that Laura has never skied before so Tyler has spent practically his whole trip so far with her on the beginner slopes.
One positive is that I don’t have to witness them together each day but it also means that I don’t get to see Tyler that much and we hardly get to see each other all year as it is.
Christmas Day was a whirlwind of activities like it always is, our parents still try to keep our traditions alive even though we have mostly grown out of them.
A few years ago, someone suggested that rather than exchanging presents with everyone we just keep it within the families which has saved a great deal of luggage space and mess to clean up but regardless of the new rules, I always get Olivia and Tyler a gift.
Tyler didn’t hand me my present until the end of the day and he did it when no one was looking which I thought was odd.
I waited until I got back to my room to open it and I couldn’t believe it when I opened his perfectly wrapped present to find a sliver necklace with a single diamond pendant.
