"Are you afraid of heights?" Oliver asks, readjusting his grip on his poles.

I swallow hard as I take a long look at the ground below us. "No, why?"

Oliver laughs, shaking the already precarious lift. "Because you have a death grip on the handrail, and you look like you're going to puke." He pulls a flask out of his puffy coat and hands it to me. "Here, this might take the edge off."

Although falling to my death still feels like a real possibility, I take it from him. The scarier part of this outing is what's on the lift in front of us. Somehow Oliver got us raked into a fun evening hitting the slopes with their dad Mason, and the principal Mr. Bellamy. He actually insists I call him Trevor, which is weird all things considered.

I take a large swig and the liquor burns its way down my throat. My chest is on fire and I let out a cough, handing it back. "Geez, what the fuck is in there?"

Oliver winks at me. "Some shine I confiscated from a kid in my fourth period class. Dumbass kept it in his locker."

I pat him on the shoulder. "I'm glad your students have someone they can look up to."

He smiles. "Thanks, man." Oliver's deluded sense of self never ceases to amaze me.

My anxiety decreases minimally as we begin to ascend the top of the slope. I manage to make it off the lift without falling, which is a victory in itself. My eyes widen as I take in the sign next to the peak. I punch Oliver in the arm. "Hey, dick. This is a black diamond slope. I'm going to seriously die." I risk a glance over the crest of the hill. "It's like straight fucking down."

"Relax. Just do what I do, and you'll be fine." He pulls his hat down further and gives me a thumbs up.

"Ollie, that is not how skiing works," I say through my teeth.

He smirks. "Just avoid the trees."

I'm about to argue his logic when Mason comes up behind me and clasps his hand on my shoulder. "Let's take one last run and head into the lodge for a drink."

Oliver's grin widens. "Dad, you read my mind."

Mason just shakes his head as he and Trevor make their way to the edge of the slope. I grab Oliver by his jacket to hold him back for a minute. He laughs. "You're not going to die, Hunter."

"No, that's not it." I lower my voice even though the slopes are fairly crowded today. "What if they start asking a lot of questions? Like, ask us if we know anything?"

He shrugs, planting his poles into the snow. "Be cool. My family is pretty tight with several members of the board so that's helpful." He makes a face. "It's also why Elliot is so concerned about you two getting ousted. I would try to avoid any mention of the dirty sex you two have been having all over the school."

"Good advice, genius," I remark dryly.

"I try," he says before shoving off down the slope. I take a deep breath and follow.

***

Someone above was definitely looking out for me as I glide not so gracefully to the bottom of the hill. Oliver gives me a nod. "See, easy."

I withhold my urge to punch him as I amble up the stairs to the patio that leads into the bar. Usually there isn't a sight that makes me happier than Elliot's face, but right now, I really wish she wasn't bartending.

She doesn't notice us walk in right away, and I can't help but stare at her. Her smile glows on her face as she greets customers and exchanges pleasantries. I also like the way she has her hair twisted intricately on top of her head. It'll give me something to grab onto later.

Oliver nudges me from behind. "Being cool would include not fucking staring at Elliot," he whispers.

Her curious eyes meet mine as we all take seats at a table off to the side of the bar. The connection is brief, but it's still enough to make my heart beat a little faster.

Mason circles his hand above his head and Elliot immediately begins filling pitchers of beer. He looks to us. "You guys hungry?"

Oliver cocks his head. "Seriously?"

"Elle, bring menus too," Mason calls to her.

Elliot is already on her way over with a tray of frosted mugs and a pitcher in her hand. She sets it down and pulls the menus out from under her arm, handing them to Oliver. "I already grabbed them before you asked." She nods to Oliver. "You think you'd have that thing memorized by now."

Oliver dramatically opens his menu. "I like to be spontaneous sometimes. Nobody likes to eat the same thing every day." He smirks at me, and I stifle a laugh.

"Elliot, I was sorry to see you were ill during the play last week. It wasn't the same without you," Trevor says to her as he takes a menu.

Elliot gives a small smile. "Yeah, it was unexpected."

"I noticed Judah Holloway was there as well. I'll bet he's tearing up the field at Cornell. He surely is missed."

"I'll pass that along," Elliot replies. She's using her polite voice, but I detect the tension in her tone.

Mason raises an eyebrow. "You two seeing each other again?"

Elliot nods. "Yep." She avoids his eyes and begins to turn away.

This makes her father smile. "Hopefully he keeps it together this time. I would hate for him to try and drown himself in our pool."

Oliver spits out a mouthful of beer. "Dad, you are so brutal."

He shrugs. "I'm just honest. People can't handle honesty." He directs his eyes at me with his last statement, and I take a drink. Something tells me he's not as unobservant as he seems.

Elliot manages to escape, and the conversation moves forward onto more desirable topics. That is until, Trevor speaks again. He turns to Oliver. "I've been meaning to ask you a favor."

"Sure."

Trevor laughs once. "I didn't tell you what it was yet." He crosses his hands in front of him. "The locker room is a good place for gossip. I need you to keep an ear out for any rumors about teachers acting inappropriately with students. I have an anonymous tip, but no names yet."

I realize I wasn't actually breathing the entire time he was speaking. The fact that no names were given is a good thing, but I'm wondering why Cameron didn't just come right out and say what happened? Unless it wasn't actually her that said anything?

Oliver leans back in his chair and crosses his arms casually. "Yeah, I could do that. You know how guys talk, I'm sure if there's something going on, I'll be able to find out."

Trevor shakes his head. "I was thinking more along the lines of a girl. The impression given to me is it's a male teacher involved."

This meeting doesn't feel so spontaneous anymore. Oliver and I are by far the youngest members of the faculty. There are a few in their early to late thirties, but no one you would really suspect of luring a young girl into their classroom.

Mason points his finger at Oliver. "This is your chance to set a good example." He nods to me as well. "You too. I'm sure between the two of you, you can prevent this nonsense from continuing further."

We nod both in unison. I decide to make it a permanent rule that Elliot is never allowed to wear a skirt to school again.

***

After the tense evening, I go straight to the guest house when we get back. What I don't expect is to see Elliot sprawled on my bed. I shrug off my coat and raise an eyebrow to her.

"Do you really think you should be here right now?"

Her eyes are mischievous as she leans back on her elbows. The outline of her black bra is brazenly showing through her tight white sweater. "That depends on what you want to do with me."

I bite my lip as I make my way over to her, positioning myself between her legs. I kiss her slowly. "All the things I want to do to you will get me in trouble."

She sucks my bottom lip with her teeth, and I instantly harden. "I promise I'll be good."

I release a chuckle as I roll myself to lay next to her. "I don't doubt that, baby. Tonight is probably not the best night for a sleepover, though."

Ignoring my words, she crawls on top of me and leans down to kiss my neck. "Who said anything about sleeping?"

The larger part of my brain lets her continue for a moment because it feels good, but the smaller, more rational part, pushes her back by her shoulders. "I'm serious. We can't tonight. I think your dad knows."

She leans back on her heels and brushes her hair out of her face with a huff. "How?"

"I have no fucking clue. But there was something about the way he was looking at me."

Elliot rolls her eyes. "He looks at everyone like that. He likes to intimidate people."

I shake my head. "No, he's smarter than you think. We haven't exactly been careful." I motion to the main house. "Any random night he could've been glancing out a window and saw you sneaking over here."

She shrugs. "So, we're friends."

I let out a humorless laugh. "That's cute, but nobody would believe that."

Elliot smiles and begins to crawl her way back up to my mouth again. "Fine. I'll sleep in my bed tonight," she says against my lips. Her mouth moves to my ear. "But first I want to leave you with something to think about while I'm gone."

Even though this girl may very well get me thrown in prison at some point, I couldn't think of a better way to go down.