Laughing, he takes off for the magic carpet again.
“Tell you what, I’ll kiss you after every successful run,” Vox wagers.
This is a terrible idea. I’m supposed to be cutting this thing between us off. Shutting it down. Ending it for good.
“Deal,” I say, making my way over to the electronic walkway and preparing for my next kiss…I mean run.
The team looks good.They’re actually getting along like a team—including Vox—and he and I have found a rhythm. He’s still arrogant as fuck and only listens to half of what I say, but I’ve grown to like it. Plus, he does a pretty decent job of reading me, which means he knows when he can get away with a comment here or there and when he needs to pay attention.
We’ve managed to find time in his training schedule to hit a few of the easy trails together. Vox used his golden boy reputation to request closure on them just for me, and I can’t wait to tell Sam that I was finally able to get back on a board.
The gripping fear I once felt when strapping in has turned into excited anticipation. Of course, I have a long way to go yet before I’ll be able to ride with anyone other than Vox on terrain rated higher thaneasy, but it’s a start I’d never thought I’d achieve.
And it came just in the nick of time.
As practice becomes more involved, I’m not sure how much longer I can avoid getting on a board in front of the others. Both Fuller and Montoya have been instructing in the field since the start.
After practice today, Vox boards over to me, and based on the look on his face, I already don’t like what he’s going to say. Spraying me with snow, he leans forward to unclip and motions me toward him for aprivateword.
“Come down the mountain with me.”
“Vox,no.I can’t risk freaking out in front of everyone here.”
“You’ve already done this run like five times,” he points out.
“With no one else on it!” I remind him.
“Everyone on the team is wrapping up and going in. It’s a light day since most of them just got back from Utah. No one will even know we’re still out here.”
“Except the rest of the resort guests hauling ass down this slope,” I say, raising my hand and gesturing at the others on the mountain.
Grey must misinterpret our exchange as a heated argument because he steps over to where we’re standing.
“Everything okay over here?” he asks gruffly. “Vox, you aren’t giving Coach Lang a hard time, are you?”
Before Vox can answer, I do it for him.
“No, Grey, he’s fine. We’re just bickering over semantics,” I lie.
Grey looks back and forth between Vox and me, and I don’t love the look of curiosity on his features. Like he knows I’m lying and wants to know why.
“Well, ask me. Maybe I can help.”
Shit. My mind goes blank.
“I want to ride a different board, and Con—I meanCoach Lang—told me it’s too close to the event to switch it up now,” Vox interjects quickly.
Grey turns his attention to Vox.
“What do you want to ride? I’m sure we have it in stock and can get it here in time,” he says proudly.
Without batting an eye, Vox says, “I want to ride Vertigo.”
Grey cuts his eyes to me like he thinks this is my fault before sliding them back to Vox. “I thought we were past this. You had your turn with Vertigo. You ride Patterson now.”
“But what if I ridebetteron a Vertigo board?” Vox argues, not dropping it. “I’ve been begging your guys to take away that stupid hybrid camber forever, and they refuse.”
“It provides necessary control,” Grey says through gritted teeth, making me wish Vox wouldn’t push so hard.
