“Relax. My day job carries way more risk,” I say, jovially clapping him on the shoulder in an effort to pretend like yesterday’s little steam room run-in never happened and like my current state of arousal has nothing to do with him.
The muscles in his upper arm are so thick that instead of just slapping it, my greedy hand grabs onto his flesh. I’m about to cross a very well-defined line if I don’t stop touching himright the fuck now. Removing my hand, I thrust the iPad at him, not even knowing which course I selected from the list. “I’ll ride this one.”
His eyes go wide.
“I know this is just virtual reality, but you’re really sure you want your first ride on this thing to be a boarding path off the summit of Mount Everest?”
Oh…uh, no.That’s obviously not what I would’ve chosen had I been paying attention, but fuck it. Let’s do this.
“Why not?” I shrug, giving him a cocky grin.
“As your coach, I’m going to veto that choice and set you up on something a little friendlier.”
Thank God.
“Suit yourself,” I say instead of my actual thought.
As it turns out, the simulator is extremely realistic, and I fall on the crash pad in front of me a couple of times before I get the hang of it. Thankfully, the board unclips and comes with me, so I don’tactuallyfuck up my knees and ankles when I go down. There’s a hydraulic lift under the board that simulates the angle of the slope selected, so I fall forward instead of back, as if I were hurtling down an actual mountain, and it’s pretty fucking cool.
It’s a little time-consuming to set each run up, but I think it’s going to get a lot of use. Connor and I have our heads bowed over the iPad, scrolling through more challenging runs when Renner raps his knuckles on the door, causing Connor and me to turn and look toward the sound at the same time.
For a brief moment, we’re breathing the same air. My breath hitches loudly enough for him to hear, and I don’t miss the way his eyes drift down to my lips before widening as he steps back.
Renner laughs as he throws his bag on the floor.
“I know my text said one-on-one, but I didn’t know it was gonnabe likethat.” He makes his way over and fist bumps me before looking at Connor and winking. “I would’ve worn nicer boxers if that had been the case.”
I let out a genuine laugh for the first time in a few days. I think I’d be a little pissed, maybe even a little jealous, had that come from anyone else. But Renner? He’s so chill and easy to be around; I’m not upset at all.
Besides, it’s not like I have dibs on our coach.
No one does…because no onecan.
“You want a ride?” I ask, pointing to the board.
“Yeah, but you guys finish up. I want to see this thing in action before I clip in.”
My competitive nature takes over as I turn back to Connor.
“Set up Everest,” I demand.
Each ride is scored based on the complexity of the course, perceived speed, and tricks, which are only accounted for by board rotations since it stays mounted to the hydraulics. By doing Everest, I’ll automatically have a score so high that no one else will come close to me on the leaderboard. And much to my delight, the leaderboard stays in the top right-hand corner, displaying the highest five scores.
I want at least three of those five.
Conner gives me a look that clearly saysdon’t show off; you’re on the same team.
But I just shrug. “What? Ren says he wants to see how this thing works.”
“Don’t think for a single second that I don’t know what you’re doing, Hotshot,” Connor whispers, leaning into my personal space. The nickname is new. I don’t hate it. I’d think he was angry about my desire to show off, but he taps on the Everest trail.
I can taste my victory already.
Clipping back into the board, I secure the headset. It givesme a countdown, and even though I know it’s not real, it still makes my heart race.I fucking love this feeling.My screen is attached to a giant TV so Connor and Renner can see what I see; it just doesn’t look nearly as real to them.
In reality, this run took the man who achieved it four hours and forty minutes without removing his skis. I’ll board for thirty minutes and then give it over to Renner.
Except six minutes in, I fall into a crevasse and die.
