“What did he mean about last night? I thought you went straight to bed?”
“I did! I didn’t know it washisroom. He surprised me when I got out of the shower and made it weird.” My shoulders sag as I let out a long sigh.
“Weird? Weird how?”
“Well, he saw me naked!” I blush.
Henry’s brown eyes widen with surprise. The muscles in his jaw tic away as he fights the urge to act as the overprotective big brother. “If he so much as laid a hand on you—”
“Relax. I got him to leave without much effort.” I raise my chin pridefully.
Curiosity trims Henry’s features, but eventually, he shrugs and smiles. “You really know how to get him going. Just be careful, Pen. You don’t know Baylor like I do.”
My lips stretch into a smile. “I found the kitchen knives earlier. I’ll be just fine.”
Henry slides a hand down his face as I leave him to finish making breakfast.
3
Oh, What Fun
Ialmost bite Henry’s arm off when he shakes me awake the next morning. The sun hasn’t even risen over the peaks of the mountains yet, but with the fresh snow we got last night, the boys want to make sure they get on the slopes before everyone else.
“Fresh powder makes for the best skiing,” Henry explains.
Yeah, okay. But a proper eight hours of sleep makes for the bestAspen.
Jesse has the audacity to ask for another pancake breakfast as I trudge my way down the stairs in yoga pants and a Columbia University sweatshirt. I answer him with a middle finger and a furrowed brow that only make him and the others laugh.
I made the mistake of telling everyone I had experience snowboarding during dinner last night. Not a total lie, but far from the truth. One of my sixth-grade field trips was to Ski Hill near my hometown—Minnesota isn’t exactly known for its mountains unless you count Duluth’s steep roads that feel like you’re driving vertically up a cliff—so I don’t know if that counts as experience in snowboarding, considering I spent more time on my butt than I did on my board. But that didn’t make me shy away from telling Henry and his friends I was practically an Olympic athlete. Now, I am trading that tiny hill in my hometown for an eleven-thousand-foot mountain without touching a board in over ten years.
All because of Baylor.
He made a huge deal, saying I was going to be a burden to everyone on the slopes because I had the least amount of experience. So … I might’ve embellished my skills a bit. I can’t help it. Baylor ignites something inside me I can’t control. When I’m around him, my mouth has a mind of its own.
My stomach twists at the thought of being strapped to a board at the top of a mountain. What if I accidentally go down the wrong side and just disappear forever?
Hey, that’s not a bad idea. That could solve all my problems at the moment.
Henry sips on the contents in his thermos. The smell of his coffee makes me want to snuggle up by the fire with a giant, fuzzy blanket and a cup of my own.
“You brought more than that poor excuse for a coat you wore here, right?” he asks.
I yawn and rub my eyes. “What’s wrong with my jacket?”
“That thing won’t block the wind or keep you warm if you get wet up there.”
Jesse, Luke, and Baylor hustle around me in variations of long underwear, gathering the rest of their winter gear.
“She doesn’t even have proper base layers, man. I told you she has no idea what she’s doing.” Baylor shakes his head at me, slipping his arms through a zip-up and then a thick jacket.
“I do too! I’m just not a pussy like you when it comes to the cold.” I cross my arms, already feeling goose bumps from Luke opening the garage door.
Henry chuckles and plops a hat over my head, shimmying it down so it’s covering my ears completely.
I do my best to hold a scowl, but one can only look so tough with a big, fluffy pom on the top of their head.
“You’ve got snow pants, right?”
