Everywhere I look, people are laughing, smiling, and wandering in and out of shops on Banff Ave with gift bags in hand. The street is decorated with evergreen boughs and large red bows on all the streetlamps. Snowflakes drift down in flurries and swirls.
The holidays are in full swing in the village, and everyone is enjoying its charm. I should be, too. I should be doing body shots off a snow bunny in a bikini top at my après party.
But as we drive through town, all I feel is a lump of dread sitting heavy in my gut.
CHAPTER 4
JETT
The dread worsenswhen I see the other cars parked on the street outside my house.
As we approach the front door, Brooke gives me a stiff smile, rubbing her hands together from the cold. She’s my PR specialist, slash the babysitter Nuclear assigned me. Jason, the sponsor liaison, shakes hands with Dan.
I let everyone inside, our footsteps echoing through the expansive entry as we enter the large foyer. My place is modern, all straight lines and wooden beams, and a lot more house than I need. But I had the money when it came up for sale, so I bought it on a whim. It’s close enough to the village, but far enough away that I can maintain my privacy.
I kick off my snow crusted boots and toss my fur-lined parka on the bench beside the door, before striding into the kitchen to grab a beer from the fridge. As if I don’t have enough beer on me already.
Luckily, it’s mostly dried now, but I can still smell myself, and how badly I could use a shower. I have a feeling that Brooke and Jason won’t be willing to wait.
“Anyone else want one?” I offer, holding up my bottle and popping off the cap using the fridge magnet bottle opener I bought at one of the tourist shops in town. It’s shaped like a moose head, the antlers forming a hook that opens the lid.
None of them utter a word as they convene in my living room. Brooke sits stiffly on the chair by the fireplace, her brown hair slicked back into a low bun that means business. Jason stands with his hands in the pockets of his black dress pants.
“No? More for me I guess.”
I cross the living room to join them, flopping down on my large, low rectangular sectional.
“Listen, Jett…” Dan starts, and I can tell by the expression on his face that he’s in lecturing mode.
“Dan, if this is about Bella, she overreacted,” I argue. “I slept with her last night. She thought she could stand at the end of the run today, but security removed her, and I didn’t stop them. It was a casual hookup.”
“What?” He stammers, rubbing his fingers between his furrowed brows. “No, I’m not talking about whatever petty fight you got into at a bar, Jett. I’m not sure that’s why she threw her drink in your face, anyway.”
“We’re here because of the scandal you’ve been caught up in. It’s breaking the internet,” Brooke cuts in.
My pulse quickens. “Scandal?”
My team has had many choice words when it comes to my actions over the years but never has theSword been thrown around. I glance between them, searching their faces to gauge how much hot water I’m in.
“Jett, your picture is all over social media,” she explains ina slow and measured tone, looking down to fact check herself on her phone before giving me more context.
It’s the start of the ski season, of course my picture is on the internet. But my stomach drops when Brooke turns her phone to show me the photo she’s talking about.
My hand is grazing a woman’s back, she’s turned away from the camera, going into a hotel room accompanied by three other women. Anyone would know her from her side profile. She’s a well-known influencer, and the girlfriend of another Nuclear skier.
“You’re fucking kidding me.” I catch myself before I start shouting. “That’s what we’re talking about?”
“The internet is calling you out for your behaviour. It’s bad, Jett,” Brooke says.
Anger sizzles under my skin, because this is not what it looks like, and I’m not that guy. Am I cocky and arrogant when it comes to skiing? Yeah. Do I tend to sleep around? Sure. But I’m not an asshole about it like people assume. Like the media portrays.
I’m careful.
I’m careful with protection, I’m careful with feelings, and I’m careful to ensure that whoever I’m sleeping with is available.Always.
I stand up from the couch, beer coming close to sloshing out the top of the bottle. I pace by the wall of windows, considering how I’m going to explain this in a way that will convince everyone that this wasn’t what it looked like.
“Somehow you managed to stick it the one place you shouldn’t.” Dan scrubs a hand down his face. “Multiple places, by the looks of it.”
