It feels like it’s slowly cutting off the blood flow to my heart. I don’t know how much longer I can take this.
I want to be with them for real. I want Mav and Oliver to know. I want everyone to know. I want to hold their hands outside of stolen moments here and there.
I want to sleep in the same bed as them without having to sneak out in the middle of the night. I want to wrap them in a hug as soon as I see any of them, regardless of where we are.
A whole day to be with them openly is a dream come true. But when they asked me if I wanted to go skiing on our day of freedom, I was surprised.
“What?” I ask, turning to look at Wyatt.
“Do you want to go skiing on Saturday?” he asks again.
I heard him the first time, but I’m still confused. I look between all three of them. “You guys ski?”
They all nod.
“I wouldn’t have pegged you guys as skiers,” I say, cocking my head to the side.
“Don’t judge a book by its cover,” Linc says, giving me a knowing look.
“We grew up in Steamboat Springs. There’s a ski resort right there, so it just kind of happens,” Kane says.
“Kane and I were ski instructors when we were in high school,” Wyatt adds.
This makes me smile. “Really?” They both nod in confirmation. I turn to Linc. “Not you?”
“No, I worked at a garage back then.”
“But you know how to ski.”
He smirks. “Snowboard, not ski…I mean, I can ski, but I’d rather be on my board. I needed something to get the adrenaline rush when I couldn’t ride my motorcycle.”
This I can wholeheartedly believe. I can just picture a teenage Linc being a little daredevil.
“I’ve seen the skis in your coat closet—I’m guessing you know how?” Kane asks.
I’ve loved to ski since I was a kid, and my parents taught me how. I don’t get out to do it nearly as much as I used to, but I try to go a handful of times each season.
Mav knows how, but it’s never been his thing. He’s always begging me to go back to the lodge so he can read whatever book he’s in the middle of at the time.
Kane bumps his shoulder against mine. “You ready?”
“Yup, let’s do this.”
“Show us what you got, hot stuff,” Wyatt says.
I’m not a professional by any stretch, but I’m more than comfortable on a pair of skis on the side of a snowy mountain.
Using my poles to push off from the top of the hill, I start zig-zagging my way down. I drag in a deep breath of mountain air that clears my mind and cleanses my soul.
I shake my head, laughing when Wyatt zooms past me, whooping and hollering the entire time. He might be acting like a buffoon, but he clearly knows what the hell he’s doing.
Linc slides around me on his board, facing the opposite direction he should be. “Don’t fall,” he tells me before whipping around and taking off toward where Wyatt is becoming a tiny dot in the distance.
I look over my shoulder, but I can’t find Kane. Maybe he detoured off on one of the other runs that connect at the top of the hill, but I kind of doubt he would do that, especially on the first run of the day.
Skis slide along either side of mine. A firm body presses against my back as we continue to move down the slope.
“Hey,” Kane whispers in my ear. His arms wrap around my chest, holding me close. I tilt my head to the side, grinning up at him.
