“And I’m looking for the person who’s in charge.”
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t think I need to discuss that with you.”
I crack a grin. “I think you do.”
“Ah. Sure. Just because you’re Knox, the sought-after snowboarder, you think everything revolves around you. Got it. But let me tell you something.” She takes a step toward me. Her face is now much closer to mine. Only now do I notice her right eye is streaked with burst vessels. “I’m not like all those other girls who will kiss your feet. I don’t care what you want or what you don’t want. Your charm leaves me cold. So, if you want to help me, just tell me where I can find the person responsible for those kids.”
Holy cow. This girl’s got a temper. I like it.
“Feet are nasty,” I counter. “Why would I want someone…”
“Knox.”
I raise a corner of my mouth. “Well. He’s standing right in front of you.”
She screws up her eyes before looking to either side of me. Once she sees the kids on their boards and skis, she turns back to me. “Real funny, Knox.”
I grin. “Don’t you think it’s unfair that you know my name, but I don’t know yours?”
“No.”
I have to laugh. “Okay. Maybe you’ll tell me when I inform you that I’m the one who’s responsible for the up-and-comers.”
Surprise is written all over her face. “You can’t be for real.”
“As real as I’m standing right in front of you.”
She closes her eyes for a moment before turning her head to the side and looking into the distance. “That was obvious.”
“Come out with it. Do you know anyone who wants to train the little daredevils? But I’m warning you: there’s no commission for the middleman.”
She doesn’t laugh. Instead, she just looks at me, expressionless, and chews on the inside of her cheek while appearing to think. Eventually she says, “I want the job.”
At first, I think I’ve misheard her. But when she doesn’t say anything else, I slowly realize that she’s serious. I let out a big laugh. “No, you don’t want to do that.”
“Oh, wow. You’re really getting on my nerves, you know?”
“Then why are you still here?”
Her eyes flash. “Because I need the job. I’m serious. Why do you say ‘no’?”
A kid on a snowboard is coming right toward us. I carefully raise my hand and urge her to the side. She flinches again but doesn’t punch me a second time.
“Well…” My eyes sweep from her face to her feet and back. “You’re really delicate. The kids are primarily boys hitting puberty. Really stressful. They say a lot of dumb shit, are demanding, and you’ve got to act like an authoritarian. You look like they’d run over you at the first opportunity.”
Her nostrils flare. “That’s sexist. Just because I’m not a dude doesn’t mean I can’t assert myself.”
“Maybe so. All the same…” Unsure, I suck in my lower lip and run my teeth across it. “You know about training?”
She raises her chin. “I’m a figure skater at iSkate.”
That changes everything. From one second to the next.
A figure skater.
It’s like those words have taken my breath away. Here I am, stiff as a board, my feet stuck into the snow, but I feel totally unstable. As if the ground beneath me might disappear, casting me into the abyss, without any security at all, unconscious, or maybe not, which would be even worse, much, much worse. I’d feel everything, the pain welling back up, the heat, the cold, the heat, the cold rushing through my body and inflaming my nerves to the extreme.
