“I’m good.”

“It’s still weird, though, right?”

Jules tried to comprehend his meaning and came up empty. “What’s that?”

“Archer Tate. I mean, I can actually see us becoming friends, ’cause he’s, like, this normal, chilled guy, which is … weird, right?”

“He is super chilled … and normal. And he seems like a good match for Chloe.” She lowered her voice, “But, yeah, it’s weird for me too. I mean, oh, my god! He flew us here first class, like, total strangers.”

Matt chuckled softly. “Yeah, that was really nice of him, but it just adds to how bizarre this is.”

“Oh, for sure. I have never slept that well on a plane. I’m probably ruined for life.”

“And I’ve never come out of long-haul travel feeling this good. And it was, what, nearly forty hours door-to-door?” Jules could tell he was calculating their travel time from Melbourne to Doha to London, then on to Denver. They’d met up with Archer and Chloe at Heathrow when they changed flights for the Denver leg.

“That would have sucked flying coach,” said Jules.

“It’s the only reason I agreed to travel first class. I mean, I’ve never met the guy and he’s spending that kind of money on me?” Matt had mentioned this before they’d left Melbourne, and twice on the journey.

“I know, but Chloe assured me he didn’t bat an eye. And after everything that happened … he wanted to do it, to make it up to her.” Matt pressed his lips together. “We won’t make a habit of it, okay? We’ll pay our way from now on. It was just the best way to get us all here so quickly.”

“Yeah, yeah, you’re right. It’s all good.”

“And I’m guessing that hanging out here, we’ll get to know him, and it will stop being weird and we’ll be all cool with it, you know. Like, ‘Oh, Archer? Yeah, he’s, like, one of our best friends.’” She giggled. “We’re dorks.”

“Hey, speak for yourself.” She stuck her tongue out at him and his brows lifted. “That’s a bit rude.”

She bit her top lip, then released it. “Sorry.”

He grabbed her butt. “You will be.”

“Get a room, you two,” teased Chloe from the doorway. She was followed by the others, Will bringing up the rear bearing a tray.

Jules retaliated by sticking her tongue out at Chloe, and Chloe reprimanded her with, “Rude!”

“Told ya,” Matt said to her quietly, the timbre of his voice sending the now-familiar “Matt tingles” down her spine. She wondered how rude Chloe would think it was if she and Matt disappeared for an hour—or two.

“I’m gonna take you guys snowmobiling,” Will said to Matt as he handed over a Coke. “If you’re up for it?”

“Right now?”

“In a little while.”

“Yeah, sure, sounds good,” Matt replied with a smile.

“Do you know how to ride a snowmobile?” asked Jules, panicked. She eyed the pressure bandage around Matt’s left wrist. “And what about that?”