And I don’t want something to happen.Right?
I dart around him before I can give myself an honest answer. I set my mug down on the nearest flat surface and hurry toward the mudroom.
“Aspen?” Baylor calls from behind me.
I ignore him as I grab Clara’s snow pants and jacket from the closet.
Baylor watches me with an equal measure of confusion and amusement as I hop into the pants and retrieve my snow boots from beneath the bench. As soon as I slip my feet inside them, I begin tying the strings into knots like there’s an emergency.
I mean, there kind of is.
“What the hell are you doing?”
I thread my arms through the jacket and pull out the gloves I tucked in the pockets when I went snowboarding.
“Aspen, what is this? It’s too cold out.”
I don’t answer him again.
“Hey!” His tone is deliciously demanding. “Where are you going?”
“I need some air,” I tell him.
Shoving a hat and goggles over my head, I snatch a set of keys off a hook with a tag that readsPolaris.
Baylor’s eyes widen before I throw the garage door open, and he follows after me. “You can’t go out there alone! It’ll be dark soon!”
I swing my leg over the neon-green sled, turn it over, and rev the engine.
“Seriously, Aspen, turn it off! Now!” he growls.
I make the engine sing again. “What? I can’t hear you!” I cover my smile with the neck guard on my jacket.
Baylor reaches for my wrist, but I launch myself forward before he can touch me.
As I speed away, I look behind me into the glow of the garage that’s slowly getting smaller and see Baylor bolting inside the cabin. I flick the lights on the front of my sled and race off into the mountain, feeling adrenaline coursing its way into my veins. I know this is stupid of me. Baylor is right; I shouldn’t be out here, alone, in the dark. The white snow brightens the forest floor enough for me to see in front of me, but there are still a lot of shadows and trees that make my depth perception a little iffy. Not to mention, if I get stuck or fly off somewhere, I won’t have anyone to help me.
I’ll just stick to the route Henry took me on. That terrain wasn’t too rough.
The cold air feels glorious, whipping through small pockets of my clothing. I didn’t get a chance to really button down everything properly before I left, but I’m grateful to cool off and get my head straight.
I’m probably two miles away when I hear a faint zipping in the distance. I slow down to try to hear where it’s coming from, and that’s when I see a pair of lights from Henry’s other sled coming over the hill. I recognize Baylor’s jacket, and I grip the throttle hard, whipping up snow behind me as I take off in the opposite direction.
I glance back, seeing Baylor’s sled quickly gaining on me. Damn it. That brief pause cost me.
Making a desperate decision, I give my sled some more gas as I veer down into the steep mountainside.
Baylor shouts something that sounds like a string of curse words, but my engine drowns him out. He hesitates at the top of the hill, and my thumb begins to ease off the throttle.
“Come on, Frost. Catch me,” I mutter under my breath, looking back once more.
I can barely see him shaking his head before he finally plummets down the mountain after me.
My heart thumps in my chest, and I start laughing. I’m way off the course, and I have no idea where I am, but I don’t care. I’d rather freeze to death or get trampled by a moose than let him catch me.
We weave back and forth for a few miles, creating fresh tracks in the snow. It’s darker now, so when I can make out the sudden snowbank in front of me, it’s too late to back out. My laughter stops when my snowmobile leaves the ground. I’m in the air for maybe two or three seconds before I hit the ground, but it feels like minutes. My body jerks forward, and I grunt as I take the impact of the landing. I hear Baylor’s sled go through the air right after me and look back just in time to see him landing sideways.
“Shit!” I quickly turn back to head toward him. “Are you okay?” I yell, cutting off my engine.
