“You better!” Jake said and shot him a middle finger.
We went down a few more times, the guys switching off with me so I didn’t have to ride alone, which hit me right in the heart. They were really amazing, and I was happy I knew them. It had been a long while since anyone took any consideration for what made me comfortable in a situation. Declan looked like he could jog up the hill without a break for weeks, but somewhere around our tenth trip, Jake and I were red-faced, sweaty, and seriously dragging ass.
“Let’s take a break and power up!” Declan said, far too cheerfully, as he carried both snowtubes over to the table he’d claimed.
“He’s handy,” I grumbled.
Jake elbowed me. “Every relationship needs a packhorse.”
“I heard that!” Declan said.
“You resemble that,” I shot back and almost tripped. My tongue was paralyzed. I shouldn’t have said something to provoke him, but Jake laughed, and Declan spun around to shake his head at me in amusement, walking backward for a second before he went back to leading the way again.
At the table, Jake passed around a new mug of hot cocoa.
“Go ahead,” Jake said and held it out. Steam rose and curled into the air in ribbons. I took off my gloves and cradled my hands around the heat of the mug.
“You don’t mind my germs?”
Declan snorted. “There’s booze in it. Kills ’em.”
Jake only laughed.
I took a much deeper sip this time than I had before and ended up draining half the mug. “I can’t taste the alcohol. You’re liars.”
“Careful,” Jake said and chuckled.
Declan unloaded food out of the picnic basket, and Jake topped the mug again. “Pick,” Declan said and pointed at three wrapped sandwiches.
“What are they?”
He shrugged. “Don’t remember. They all looked good when I stopped to buy them.”
Shaking my head, I took the one in the middle and ended up with a roast beef sandwich. He and Jake unwrapped turkey, and I had a moment of guilt as they sat close together on their side of the table.
“I took you away from each other on your anniversary. You should go down with each other for the rest of the day.”
“You’ve given us enough fun,” Jake said. Heat slunk around in my stomach with the smirk he sent my way. “I don’t mind.”
I shivered.
“Besides,” Declan said, “today’s not the day. It’s tomorrow.”
“I’ll man up and go alone so you can have each other.”
Jake laughed. “Okay! If you’re sure.”
We finished eating, and not long later we were back at the top of the hill again. I watched them go down on the double-seater, smiling as they yelled just like the kids, holding hands. Maybe… now that I was single, I should consider exploring something other than the straight-passing side of myself. I glanced around. No one had looked twice at them… except for me. Maybe a boyfriend would make me happy? I’d slept with a guy but never dated one. They were really good together. It was scary to think about exploring that side of myself I’d never delved into, but they made it seem worth it.
I took a deep breath and sat down on the single snowtube. I had trouble figuring out how to get started and ended up feeling foolish as I sat near the edge of the hill. It was more difficult than it looked. I rocked the tube forward, trying to catch the snow with the tips of my borrowed boots.
“I gotcha!” the little redheaded girl from earlier yelled and came barreling toward me.
“No, wait, wait.” I flailed.
Her parents held out their hands toward me as soon as they noticed my predicament, but it was too late because she shoved me with all her little might, and that was just enough to tip me over the edge. My stomach lurched. I laughed nervously as I started racing downward by myself and my life flashed before my eyes. It was a short, sad show.
“Good luck!” she yelled after me.
