That evil voice wasn’t helping.

Pulling off my jeans, I left them on the floor and tugged the bulky sweater off, letting it join the messy heap. Standing on the tips of my toes, I held up a pair of dark skinny jeans. These could be cute with a turtleneck. Not that the evil, bitchy voice in my head was right or anything. There could be a hot ski instructor at the lodge for all I knew and maybe my bedroom would turn into a train station instead of a bus stop and I—

The bedroom door suddenly opened. “Tanner just called. He said…”

My heart stopped and the jeans fell from my suddenly boneless fingers. Oh, my God…I couldn’t even think. I just stared at Kyler. There I was, standing in my bra and panties. Couldn’t forget the knee-high snowman socks, because they provided oh-so much coverage.

Both of us were frozen, struck absolutely immobile by my nakedness. Time stopped, and kyler…he kept staring at me. I couldn’t remember the last time he saw me naked or at least half-naked. Not since I’d developed breasts, probably, and they weren’t much to stare at. Someone once said more than a mouthful was a waste, but I sincerely believed that saying was made up by girls with small breasts like me just to make ourselves feel—oh dear God, my brain needed to shut up.

Heat infused my cheeks and traveled down my neck and then even further south, to the edges of the white lace, because Jesus H. Christ, I couldn’t have been wearing something sexier than a white bra and striped boy shorts.

Fuck. Me.

And those were the worst two words to even think, because now I was thinking about that, and Kyler was still staring at me like he’d never seen a chick in bra and panties before, which I knew was so not the case. But he was staring at me in a way I had to be completely imagining after years of hopeless wishing, because there was a heat in his eyes, an intensity that felt like a caress against my flushed skin. My lips parted as my pulse sped up, pounding through every point in my body.

He stared like the way he’d said Paul stared at me.

Kyler had never looked at me like that.

The muscles in my tummy tightened and there was sharp sensation snaking down my spine. My knees felt wobbly.

“Jesus.”

His voice was a hard explosion that jarred common sense into me. I dove toward the bed, yanking an oversize sweater off it and holding it to my front. “Don’t you know how to knock?”

He thrust his fingers through his hair. “Shit.”