“If you call getting up at five in the morning for bootcamp good times,” Pen mutters.
“What are you signing us up for, Liam?” Henri teases.
“My dad would take us up there for a week each year and put us through a bit of a training camp. There’s a solid run there and it’s private so we never had to worry about anyone else getting in the way,” I explain.
“You know, normal family bonding,” Pen adds.
“Who wants to be normal?” Henri asks. “Count me in, especially if that means I get a few days alone with you.”
“You best head into town to stock up on groceries,” Mom suggests. “And if you leave this evening, I can make sure to have my gingerbread ready so we can make the houses before you leave. How does that sound?”
“Great, Ally,” Henri says.
“Amazing, well I better get that started.” Mom leaves us, heading to store her skis.
“Can we keep her?” Pen asks, leaning into Henri so their shoulders smoosh together. “I know you guys aren’t really together, but please? I like her too much.”
Henri lets out a strangled laugh as an unreadable expression flashes across her face. “Could be fun.”
“Don’t be weird, she’s not a kitten you found in a box by the tavern,” I admonish.
Pen turns to Henri. “Even if you don’t like him, we can still talk and hang out. I’m objectively more fun, so honestly, it’s the better deal.”
A soft sad smile tugs at Henri’s lips. “Only if you promise to pretend to hate me when I break up with him. Like make me your worst enemy.”
“God, why?” Pen jerks back.
Henri reaches behind me and I feel her fingers against my back pocket and she works my notebook and pen free. I have to try particularly hard not to think about the lingering feel of her hand on my ass. She places them in my hand and nods. I flip to a blank page and only then does she start. “Because Liam is goingto tell everyone I broke his heart—I did the worst thing we can think of. I get to walk away as the villain and no one doubts that it was real. That way, there’s no going back.”
At her final words, her gaze snags against mine. I don’t know what to say to that.
“Well that’s shitty.” Pen shrugs. “But I can play along.”
The three of us head to our family’s storage area where we store our gear. It looks like a small locker room, and protein bars and electrolyte drinks are always available on one table, just in case we need the boost. Next to them is a typed-up training plan with Pen’s name on it. A hand darts out to swipe it before I can read more than the first few lines, but I’d know Dad’s style anywhere.
“You don’t need to listen to him, you know?” I say to Pen. “He’s not your coach anymore.”
“I do. But it’s easier to let him have his way, and it’s nice to get a different perspective. It’s only for two weeks.” I can’t tell if she means it or if she’s trying to brush me off. “And according to this, I have a massage right now, which sounds really nice. You two have fun preparing for your fuck fest,” she hollers the last bit as she runs for the door.
“Pen!”
“Who knows, anything could happen in the cabin! Oh, they moved the condoms to aisle three!” She ducks out as she makes herself laugh.
I shake my head. “I don’t even want to think about why she knows that.”
“I’m hoping she forgets about us, about me,” Henri says, still wearing that odd expression.
“You aren’t going to stay in touch?” I join her where she’s sitting on a bench along one wall.
She lays her head on my shoulder and grabs my hand, running the tips of her fingers over the creases in my knuckles. “I like her, but it’s a bad idea. It’s always the hardest when I like the family.”
“You like my family?”
She nods. “Yeah.”
“So, tell me, how will you break my heart?” I try to make it sound like a joke, but the ache in my chest gets in the way.
“I pick a fight with you.” She drops my hand, shifting away so she can look at me. Her eyes well with emotion. “I tell you it’s me or the lodge. You choose the lodge because it’s your family legacy and I’m being selfish, not even willing to try and figure out how we can have both.”
