by Piper Rayne
Mia's staring back at me. Her mouth hanging open in surprise and her eyes holding softness I haven’t seen directed my way in over four years.
Maybe it would’ve been better if I acted like I didn't remember.
Chapter Ten
“Hats for everyone.” I pass out the hats with my name and sponsor’s logos on them to each kid as some grab the towrope to head for the top of the bunny hill. It’s about half and half, skis to snowboard ratio.
“Grady, Gasoline is expecting you.” Candice approaches me, her teeth chattering since she’s missing her ski jacket.
“Tell them I’ll be there shortly. Have them start with Mia.” I glance back and forth between my agent and the kids, enjoying the smiles on their faces as they take their hats from me.
“I think the girls need their own apparel,” Mia says, joining us. She grabs the towrope, taking off my hat from one of the girl’s heads and replacing it with one of her own.
“What? Did you go to the shop and buy all your stuff?”
She looks over her shoulder at me, a conniving smile crosses her lips. “I can’t let them all look up to you.”
“Great. My two biggest clients right now and they’re both playing babysitter instead of making the people who pay them happy.” Candice stomps off.
Cries echo out from behind me and I turn to find Mia squatting down in front of Barbie girl (who I now know is Katie). The two are in deep conversation, Mia’s hands on the little girl’s shoulders, and from how many times Katie’s mittened hand has run under her eyes, I’m guessing tears are involved.
“Katie is a scaredy cat,” the kid who thinks so highly of Matt Peterson yells out and grabs the towrope.
I grab it right after him, my board sliding up the hill as we start up the incline.
“Where are the others?” he asks me over his shoulder. His arm tucked around the rope.
“Hey buddy, you need to hold the rope with your hand.”
Ignoring my advice, he says, “I get why they give us you because they’re probably giving you a bunch of money to talk to us, but where’s Matt or the other snowboarders?”
I reach forward lifting his arm off the rope and placing his hand on it the right way. “Grip it tight and hold on, otherwise it will tear your jacket apart.”
He grabs a hold with both hands, but he’s struggling and since he’s a tad on the bigger side, it’s probably making it harder.
“You have to be worried about Matt. My brother told me that if he would’ve nailed his landing last week he would have been number one.”
I inwardly roll my eyes then notice the stuffing from his jacket spilling out because he’s trying everything in his power to keep a hold of the towrope.
“I told you it’d ruin your jacket.” Moving up behind him, I change the placement of his hands again. “I’ve got you in case you can’t hold on. We’re almost there.”
“My mom is going to kill me!” He inspects his ripped jacket. “It’s lasted my two older brothers.”
“It’s okay, I’m sure she’ll understand.”
“She won’t.” His shit-talking persona is long gone as his voice cracks.
Finally, we reach the end of the towrope and an instructor helps the kid away from the area, so there isn’t a pile of kids at the top of the hill.
Miss Georgie slides over on her skis sticking her poles in the snow. “What’s the matter, Ryan?...Oh.” Her hand reaches to the torn underarm of his jacket. “It’s okay. You know what? We have some jackets back at the community building. Your mom will understand, these things happen.”
He hiccups a breath, and I glance over to the towrope to find another kid about to hyperventilate. Katie holds Mia’s hand looking unsure of herself as they start to tip their boards down the hill.
Katie’s eyes are closed and Mia’s smiling down at her directing her with her voice about what to do. It’s a touching scene and shows how patient and encouraging she can be. Two qualities not immediately associated with snowboarding’s leading lady.
“Grady.” A hand touches my arm, pulling me away from admiring the scene with Mia.
I blink. “Yeah?”
Georgie is putting her mittens on. “Will you take Ryan?”
I strap in my other foot. “Sure.” I hold up my hands and the two of us ride, inch by painful inch down the hill. Ryan is smiling again, the problem with his coat forgotten as he finds himself living in the moment while the powder and wind rush past his face. Now that I think of it, he reminds me a little of me when I was young.
* * *
“That was so much fun.” Mia bounces in step next to me as we head to the Gasoline campaign. “That’s so much better than boring interviews and promo photography.”
“Yeah, it’s pretty cool. Hey, I’ll meet you up there.”
“Are you bribing those kids with more stuff?” she asks with a smirk, walking backward away from me.
With my hand on the door of the store, I laugh. “Nope.”
The heater vent rushes down on me when I step through the door and I unzip my jacket.
“Can I help you?” A woman follows me as I head right to the boy’s jackets.
“I’m going to take this.” I hand the woman the first black jacket I could find that looked about the right size.
Her eyes widen, recognizing me I assume, but she smiles, happy to help. Following her to the register, I pay for the jacket and head back outside.
As long as Mia is with Gasoline, I have time to deliver it before Miss Georgie heads back, but when I step out of the store, a smiling brunette is waiting for me, arms crossed over her chest.
“I knew it. Grady Kale has a heart.” All her straight white teeth are on display, so I know she’s not being snarky.
“Keep that between us, okay?” I wink and then jog down to the bunny hill, sliding through small openings of skiers and snowboarders on their way to the slopes. A couple of minutes later, I reach the group.
Miss Georgie is counting heads and Ryan is still wearing his ruined jacket as he laughs with a circle of boys.
“Hey, Ryan,” I say and all the kids turn around. I toss the jacket in his direction, it flies through the air, and he catches it before it falls to the ground.
The little kid’s brown eyes inspect it and then he looks up at me. “Wh—”
“Bribery. Who’s your favorite now?” I smile, and Miss Georgie stops her counting to witness the exchange.
“Definitely you.” His voice low and unsure, wondering if he should accept it.
“Nah.” I wink over to him. “If I win gold though, I want a fan letter, okay?”
All the boy’s mouths are slightly ajar, their heads shifting from me to Ryan and back.
“Thanks,” he mumbles.
“That was very kind of you,” Miss Georgie says, her hand on my shoulder.
I point to Ryan. “Keep your hands on that towline and your armpits away from it, okay?” He nods and I look around at the rest of the kids. “See you guys next time.” After a few fist bumps and high fives, I walk away.
I’m only a few steps back on the path toward the room Gasoline rented, when Mia pushes off the side of the building, walking in line with me. She knocks my shoulder and I get we called a truce, but I never expected her to be this friendly with me.
“That was a very nice thing to do.” She sing-songs, glancing my way.
“Was I supposed to let the kid freeze?”
“I don’t think he would have frozen.”
“He’s not used to it out here.” I continue to make excuses, so she doesn’t get the wrong idea. I’m not deserving of her thinking I’m a nice guy. I’m her enemy and she should remember that and stay far away. Except, I like that she’s warming up to me.
What the hell is wrong with me?
“Oh good,” Candice stops in front of us on the path, heaving for a breath.
“You need boots, Candice. And not leather ones.” Mia shakes her head at the knee-high fashion boots Candace is wearin
g.
“I’ll remember that for when we’re in Korea.” She sucks in another breath. “Listen, Gasoline is ready so let’s talk while we walk.” She swivels around and leads the way, Mia and I following behind.
“What’s up?” I ask.
“Tomorrow I need the two of you to head to Colorado. I have to get back to L.A. because my little sister is getting married. Can you believe it? I told her the timing wasn’t good, but no, her selfish side is being indignant, so why not put everyone’s life on hold so she can marry the world’s biggest douche—”
“Why Colorado?” Mia interrupts her rant, inching forward.
“The entire team is going to be there for a big shoot, but they want you two there a day early since you have more to get done.” She opens the door to the resort and I grab the handle holding it open for both of them.
“Don’t they realize we have to train?” Mia asks. “I was just working on—”
Candice raises her hand in the air. “Relax. They’re blocking off the halfpipe at night for team use. So, your day will be filled, but you guys can train at night.”
“I love night riding,” I remark and Mia shoots me a dirty look. “What?” I shrug.
“We have Grady’s pipe here, it’s easier—”
“Please don’t become all high and mighty on me. This comes with the territory. Go be some snow bunny if you don’t want to be bothered with their demands. Do I need to remind you—”
“No, I get it.” Mia rolls her eyes, unzipping her coat and walking through the doors to the room Gasoline has set-up in.
Candice stops me before I go in. “One more thing.”
“Why is there always one more thing with you?” I raise a questioning brow.
Candice smirks. “You’re both flying there together and staying in a lodge. Break the news to princess, okay?”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” I raise my hand in the air. “Why?”
“The entire team will be staying at the lodge, but the first night it’s just you two. Some team building nonsense.”
She walks away and my eyes wander over the room when I enter. There are cameras placed all around, a white cloth draped up with lights shining on it, a table full of junk food, and a coffee station. My eyes land on Mia, already in the makeup chair.
A whole night under one roof—just the two of us. One of us might not survive.
Chapter Eleven
I thought Mia and I were on our way to a semi-cordial relationship, but other than a grumpy good morning, she’s had her earbuds in the entire flight. She demanded to wheel her own bag from the baggage carousel outside to the driver the resort sent. I understand why she’s mad about this team building, and we have a lot of training to do, but we have no control.
I eye her next to me on the bench of the pickup truck that’s taking us up to the lodge. She’s a control freak. I should have pegged her for one—the way she’s religious about her schedule, the way she always has one of those green shakes in her hand.
It takes a few minutes before she realizes I’m staring at her. She plucks an earbud out of her ear and shoots me the dirty look she’s perfected over the last couple weeks.
“What?”
“You’re pissed because you’re not in control.”
Her eyes narrow. “I’m mad because I need to train and we’re going to be fighting for a chance to do that here.”
“Maybe we can work something out.”
I lean forward, tapping our driver on the shoulder. The lady, who looks like she could kick my ass any day of the week, looks at me in the rearview mirror. “Do you know if they’d let us rent the halfpipe for an hour or two, so it would only be us?”
“Can’t say for sure, but probably not.”
“Figures,” Mia sneers as she returns her attention to the scenery outside the window.
“Really? I could make it worth their while.” I don’t usually throw my name or my money around, but I was just making headway on my own trick, so I get where Mia is coming from.
“You’re throwing your clout around?” Mia asks.
The woman’s attention darts to her in the rearview mirror. “It’s not about the money,” she says. “The halfpipe will likely be closed in a little more than an hour.”
“What?” Mia sits up, both earbuds hanging down now. “It’s beautiful out there.”
We each look out the truck windows to see the sun shining down. It couldn’t be better boarding conditions.
“The wind. It’s supposed to come up this afternoon. It’s the first round for the weekend. Didn’t anyone in your group look at the weather?” She shakes her head in disbelief.
We probably take for granted that it’s skiing weather, but Mia and I both know the wind is a factor when it comes to flipping in the air.
“Can you take us back to the airport?” Mia asks and I swear she’s seconds away from leaning over the seat and grabbing the steering wheel to take control.
“I could take you to Denver, but then I’d have a lot of people mad at me.” She laughs like she’s the headliner at some comedy gig. “Because you’ll never get out of the local airport now.”
Mia’s hand lands on her leg and she balls it into a fist. “You can’t be serious. All of this in the span of a couple hours?” She looks at me with her mouth ajar like ‘aren’t you going to take care of this.’
“The airport was running smoothly when we left.” I offer my bit of advice and if the driver’s bored eyes in the mirror are my response, I clearly don’t know shit about their airport or the minute-by-minute weather changes.
“That was then. Weather can change fast, Mr. Kale. Just like life. This wasn’t forecasted a couple days ago, otherwise I’m sure they wouldn’t allow the two top prospects for gold to be stranded somewhere.”
The truck slides on the road and Mia’s hand reaches out, grabbing hold of my thigh. My dick jumps in my pants despite the circumstances, but she lets go as soon as she realizes what she’s done.
“Stranded?” Mia reacts like she just told us a meteor is about to land on Earth.
I understand her reaction, the two of us having to survive in a log cabin by ourselves for however long we’re stuck here is not exactly going to let us sail into the Winter Classics on good terms. The girl has finally spoken more than two words to me. This much togetherness and she’ll probably murder me in my sleep.
“Probably by morning would be my guess.”
Mia’s gaze zeros in on me, her eyes widening as though we know each other well enough to have an unspoken language. “Then take us to Denver,” she demands.
The truck wheels slide again. “Should have put on the chains,” the driver mumbles.
I glance out the window the sun still shining down, but white snow is whipping across the ground now, visibility dwindling the further we head up the road.
I shift my gaze back to Mia and then out the windshield again. This time we do share a common look that says fuck, we’re stuck together.
She closes her eyes and leans her head back on the seat, inhaling a deep breath, her lips now a tight line.
A few minutes later, the driver parks the truck outside the lodge. A lodge way too big for the two of us, which might be good because maybe we can stay on separate levels and not have to speak a word to one another.
Mia’s out of the truck immediately, grabbing her suitcase from the back and a little like a toddler, stomping her way up to the lodge.
“Normally I’d show you around, but I better get back before you have a third guest for the night.” The driver laughs, handing me the keys to the place.
“Thanks.”
“The fridge is stocked with what was requested. There’s firewood on the south end of the cabin. I wouldn’t be trying to work the outside hot tub in the coming days.”
“No worries on that front,” I mumble, pushing the thought of Mia’s curves in a bikini as far from my mind as possible.
“If you need anything, call the main number, but from the looks of
it, we might not be able to get to you. You’re a big strong guy and that girl of yours seems like she can hold her own, so I’m not worried.” She nods, heading back to the driver’s side of the truck.
The vehicle circles around and heads down the hill. I look up to the cabin where Mia’s arms are wrapped around herself, her angry expression directed at me.
Jogging up the snow-covered pathway with my suitcase in hand, I step under the overhang of the porch. “Sorry.”
She says nothing as I unlock and open the door. “Would you like me to carry you over the threshold?”
There’s zero amusement from her, not even an upturn of the corner of her lips. Grabbing hold of her suitcase, she walks into the house.
Great, this is gonna be a blast.
Chapter Twelve
I’m sprawled out on the sectional, the television remote in my hand, the signal going in and out. My eyelids are fading and for the first time in years, I might actually grab a nap. That is until my phone rings with the blaring music of Dax’s ringtone.
His name flashes across the screen and my thumb hovers. A nap sounds better than whatever Dax has to say. Then again, it’d be nice to talk to someone who actually wants to speak to me.
“What’s up?” I answer.
“I heard you and Little Salty are tucked away in a cabin all cozy. You tap that yet?” He laughs, certain that would never happen.
“Let me warp back to two thousand and five and I’ll let you know.” I click off the remote. Senseless.
“That should show you how much of a gentleman I am, I don’t even know the current slang for banging.”
I press speaker, sit up on the couch and grab a magazine from the coffee table and start flipping through it. “Gentleman, you are not.”
“Hey, I’ve been dry so far this year. Saving myself for the village in Korea.” He laughs.
“You grab that economy size box of domes from Costco?”
I stop on an article about Matt Peterson. A picture of him so far in the air I can only hope it’s Photoshop’s doing.