Chapter 1
Vox
Fucking disgusting.
Don’t get me wrong, I support safe sex, but if you couldnotlob your used condom off the ski lift, I’d really appreciate it.
How does one even get laid on a ski lift in the first place?
I groan as my gloved hands squeeze the handles on the trash-grabber and put the fourth condom of the day into the bag as if it’s a prize.
It’s not glamorous, but working ground maintenance at Ricochet Ridge Ski Resort helps pay my bills between snowboarding events and during the off-season. I live here, work here, eat here, sleep here, and train here, so I take it personally when stupid fucking assholes mess it up. Located in northern Montana, this place has been my life since my dad first strapped me onto a toddler-sized snowboard, and I’ve loved every minute of it—even if neither of my parents stuck around long enough to watch it happen.
Now, at twenty-five, with nothing but a high school diploma and an obsession with a sport that can onlybe done six months out of the year, my options for making money are limited, but I try not to complain too much, since I’m living my dream…minus the used condoms.
“Hey Voxy!” Stone calls from his snowmobile as he swings by on his way up the mountain. “You hit double digits yet?” The leader of the avalanche division of our ski patrol is kind of a dick. His name suits his personality, but for some reason, he took a liking to me early on.I mean, doesn’t everyone?I chuckle to myself. In reality, I think it’s just because we both eat, sleep, and breathe this mountain, counting on it for our sanity as much as our livelihood.
“I’m at four so far,” I tell him, knowing he wants an update about today’s condom count. “But give it time. I’ve only been out here for an hour.”
“One of them might be mine,” he says with a smirk.
“Doubtful. That means you would’ve had to have found someone willing to fuck you, and those chances are slim,” I tease back.
Taking the insult in stride, Stone laughs. “Not all of us can look like Ståle Sandbeck and ride like Shaun White.”
“So, what you’re saying is you think I’m hot?”
“You’re not really my type,” he responds in a tone more serious than this conversation warrants.
In an attempt to dispel the storm cloud now resting on his features, I hold my hands up in disbelief. “I’m everyone’s type!”
Itkind ofworks, and Stone throws me a smile as he shakes his head. “Oh, Grey’s looking for you. I think he’s at the lodge.”
A pit forms in my stomach. My newteamis arriving today and I’m sure Grey wants to make sure I’m on my best behavior.
“Okay, thanks.”
Stone waves as he speeds off.
I swear that guy is only happy going a hundred miles an hour,dropping charges out of a helicopter, or doing something where the risk of death is insanely high. It’s not like my career choice is super safe, and I chase my own kind of thrill, but Stone tends to take things to a different level. Plus, I have Grey Patterson and a bunch of his employees constantly hounding me about safety in an effort to make sure I don’t die doing what I love.
Without Grey and the Patterson Performance guys, I’d have nothing, including a parental figure in my life, someone to teach me how to file taxes, change the headlight in my Jeep, and keep up with going to the dentist.
I won’t go so far as to say I was a snowboarding prodigy, but I was gaining local attention by the time I was eight, and I became the youngest sponsored rider at eleven.
I was living with my paternal grandmother when Grey Patterson showed up on our doorstep. He and Grandma talked numbers and terms while I ate cereal in the living room, and by the time he left, I had a sponsorship, new gear, and Grandma said we could celebrate by having steak for dinner—so I was a happy camper.
Despite being outgoing, I’ve always been a loner, but when Grandma died shortly after my eighteenth birthday, it was the first time I was evertrulyon my own.
Grey was the one who helped with the funeral arrangements, selling her house, and getting me set up with permanent lodging and a job on this mountain. He’s really been my only family since then.
Just like Stone said, Grey’s waiting for me when I pull my snowmobile back into the lodge’s parking lot a few minutes later.
“Hey, Grey.” I greet my sponsor-slash-boss-slash-friend, holding up my bag of trash. “I’d shake your hand, but I’m pretty sure you don’t want me to do that right now.”
Grey chuckles. “It’s all good, Vox. I just wanted to check in before everyone arrives.”
He must easily read the look I don’t try to hide because he pats my shoulder and says, “I know it’s not your first choice, V, but you’ll still be entered in the individual events, we just need to make sure we’re represented across the board, and that means doing some team stuff as well.”
