Sergio nods his head up and down and stares right at Holden, grinning like the devil. “Heli trip.”
Standing at the top of the world while snow and wind whip around them from the helicopter blades whirling back into the air, Sergio no longer feels defeated. He swings his arms over Adrien and Holden’s shoulders. “Isn’t this great?”
“It’s amazing,” Holden says.
“It’s a terrible idea,” Adrien says.
Holden reaches around Sergio with his long arms and jostles Adrien by the back of his neck. “Don’t worry so much, Adrien.”
“I’m not worrying,” Adrien says.
“Yes, you are,” Sergio and Holden say and laugh together.
“You’ve got this,” Holden says. “You’re a better skier than almost everyone else on the Adirondacks today.”
“My track record on these types of trips says different.”
Sergio looks around. “Are we still even in the Adirondacks?”
Holden shrugs. “This might be Canada.”
“Great,” Adrien says. “I’m sure the mounted police will be super stoked to see me get tomahawked down this ridge.”
“You’re not gonna tomahawk,” Holden says, then looks at Sergio. “But just in case, should we set up the drone to make sure we catch it on film this time.”
“Way ahead of you, my friend.” Sergio laughs, swinging his backpack forward off his back and pulling out his gear. He holds the camera out in front of them and clicks a picture, then turns it around to look at the captured moment. Despite his nerves, Adrien did manage to smile for the shot. “See? It’s not so bad. Now who’s going first?”
“Holden,” Adrien says. “Let the professional carve the first line.”
“You better be right after me,” Holden says. “The helicopter is waiting for us at the bottom.”
“I’ll push him if I have to,” Sergio says.
“Please don’t push me,” Adrien says. “That’s how I went ass over teakettle last time.”
“I didn’t push!”
“You didn’tnotpush him,” Holden says. “Now quit arguing. There’s a few more untouched runs I want to hit.”
“How about this?” Sergio puts his camera back into his backpack, then swings it over his shoulders. “No filming. No pushing. Let’s hit this first run together.” He pauses and holds his hand out to Adrien. “Deal?”
Adrien eyes him up and down, then grabs his hand and shakes it. “Deal.”
“Good,” Sergio says, then turns to face the edge of the slope and points down. “I’ll take center line.”
“Perfect,” Holden says. “There’s a cliff to the right I want to flip off of.”
“And I’ll be staying as far away from that as I can on the left.” Adrien uses his poles and pushes himself forward and away fromthe other two men. With a quick look over his shoulder, he says to Sergio, “And by the way, I quit!” Then, like he’s pulling off a Band-Aid, he takes off.
Sergio shrugs. He should have seen that coming. He chooses to ignore it and looks at Holden. “Race you to the bottom?”
“Last one down buys the first round of drinks,” Holden says with a clap to Sergio’s shoulder before he propels himself forward, leaving Sergio alone at the top.
He waits a moment before he follows and reserves this day as a memory, a snapshot in his mind only for him. Because after all, he is the only one out of the three who will remember it. He admires Adrien’s perfect switchbacks and catches the moment Holden does a double backflip off the dodgiest cliff.
“If I ever make it out of this loop,” he says to the glimmering snow. “I promise to pay for the three of us to do this together tomorrow.”
Chapter ten
