Defying Gravity

by Kendra C. Highley

  Zoey…in the shower. Now that was an image he’d have stuck in his head all day. He leaned a little closer. “Good to hear it. You know, I worry about you.”

  “Why?” She slid under his arm to lean against his side. “I’m okay.”

  “You’re my…” Crap, how did he finish this sentence? Jesus, he needed to get a grip. “You’re the Jelly in this sandwich. Which makes you important. To me. I like you happy. And feisty. I like it when you’re feisty best of all.”

  She peered up at him from beneath long lashes, her blue eyes wide. “Who, me? I’m never feisty.”

  The way she was looking at him hit him square in the chest. He gave her one of those slow smiles that she seemed to like so much. “What if I told you I brought a fake eyeball with me and I’m going to pretend to crash and drop it on the snow in front of Luke?”

  Zoey covered her mouth with her hand, eyes alight. “You wouldn’t.”

  “I would…but I won’t today. I promise to behave.”

  She frowned suddenly. “What’s going on with you two, anyway? You’re acting like you can’t stand to be around each other. I get that you’re competitive, but this is worse than usual.”

  Now it was Parker’s turn to clench his jaw. “It’s not a big thing. Typical Luke.”

  The eyebrow raise told him she didn’t believe that. “Speaking of which, he’s miles ahead of us in line. How’d that happen?”

  Parker turned and found Luke chatting up one of the college girls, having skipped about ten spots in the lift line. “Making friends already, looks like, and talking his way to the front of the line.”

  Zoey stared at her boots, her ponytail falling into her face. He nudged her. “Finished your Christmas shopping yet?”

  She took a deep breath and looked up. “Yes. You?”

  “Uh…”

  Now she smiled. “Parker Madison. Why is it that every Christmas I have to buy your mom’s gift for you?”

  “You have better taste?” He gave her a sheepish grin. “Or maybe I’m hopeless?”

  “Probably both.”

  They shuffled forward. The college girl and her friends made it to the front of the line. Just before they settled onto the lift, the girl held up her phone and mouthed, “Call me.”

  Luke waved at them as they ascended, but didn’t hop onto the next lift. Instead, he walked back to Parker and Zoey, looking pleased with himself. Almost like he forgot he was supposedly pursuing Zoey…and then remembered.

  “We go to school together,” he said in excuse. “Met her and her friends at a party last fall.”

  “Oh.” Zoey’s face brightened. “So you aren’t going to ditch us after all.”

  “Ditch you?” Luke put a hand over his heart, wounded, and Parker glared at the ground. “Never, Z. I remembered we had a date.”

  “A date?” Zoey squeaked. “What did you have in mind?”

  She asked it with a little flutter of eyelashes and Parker’s fists clenched. She was flirting like all those girls who trailed behind Luke. This wasn’t like her at all—and watching her try so hard with him made Parker a little sad. And pissed at his brother for egging her on. Capital P, fireworks, Pissed.

  Luke shot Parker a cagey glance. “For you to watch me show little bro here how it’s done.”

  “Nice,” Parker muttered, scowling.

  The lift line shortened. When the next quad arrived, there were only two people in front of them. Winking at Parker, Luke grabbed Zoey’s hand. “Only two seats left. See you at the top!”

  And, just like that, Parker was left standing on the lift platform alone.

  Chapter Ten

  Zoey

  Zoey felt bad, watching Parker getting smaller and smaller behind them, but oh, my God, she was finally alone with Luke. Maybe she should’ve done more with her hair. Her hands fluttered of their own accord and she had to force them into her lap.

  The other two people, a pair of skiers, were engrossed in conversation—in French. Canadian, most likely, based on the Maple Leafs sticker on the man’s helmet. Good, then they wouldn’t try to make small talk.

  The Two Creeks lift was one of the longer ones at Snowmass, which gave her plenty of time to make her move. Except her tongue had twisted itself into a knot. Is this how guys back home felt when they tried to talk to her? If so, she could develop some sympathy for them.

  Luke, though, didn’t have any problem talking. “How’s your morning been, beautiful?”

  She flushed. He often called her that, usually teasing, but she felt it every single time. “Good. It’s cold up here today, though.”

  “Let me help with that.” He slipped an arm around her shoulders.

  How many times had he done that when they were kids? Hundreds, but she hadn’t been so keenly aware of his touch when she was twelve. She’d been more likely to shake his arm off, then. But now, she felt every millimeter of pressure of his arm against her shoulders. Her stomach fluttered. Did he mean for that to happen, or was he being friendly?

  “Thanks.” She let out a long breath, watching frozen mist escape her mouth to disappear on the air. “The girl in line seemed to want your number. Did you give it to her?”

  “She gave me hers.” He laughed. “Why? Jealous?”

  Hell, yes, I am. “I’m jealous of anyone stealing my time with you and Park.”

  “Ah, so it is both of us, then?”

  His voice was light, but a note of curiosity caught her ear. “Well, yeah. But I spend a ton of time with Parker. We’re best friends. I feel like I don’t spend enough time with you.”

  There. She’d practically shouted “spend time with me!” And from the faintly pleased look in his eye, he heard what she meant.

  “I’m here until New Year’s Eve. I’m heading back to Arizona for a party that night.” He smiled at her in a way that made her ski gear feel much too warm, despite the twenty-degree temperature. “I’m all yours until then.”

  Her stomach swooped, as if the lift was hurtling her to earth instead of sweeping her up the mountain. “Lucky me.”

  The heat turned up on his smile. “You have no idea.”

  Oh, but she did. And she wanted to find out if she was right. “I know we said we’d go dancing Wednesday, but what about tonight? I heard about a place that does sleigh rides.”

  He sat back. “Sleigh rides?”

  Her face flamed for a new reason—he sounded skeptical. Worse, he sounded a little amused with her. “It, um, could be stupid fun. But really, I’m up for anything.”

  “I think you should take Park on the sleigh ride—it sounds like something you two would enjoy. Maybe save something a little more…edgy for me.”

  The word edgy had promise, as did his flirtatious wink, but her stomach sank. She knew a brush off when she heard one. She forced a smile. “I’ll give it some thought.”

  “Do that.”

  The lift reached the crest of its run, and she prepared to exit the chair, feeling stupid. Why had she asked a college guy to go on a sleigh ride? Pathetic. Was she trying too hard? Maybe that was why he was pushing her buttons, interested one second, dismissive the next—because she was acting like a silly high school girl.

  Or maybe she needed to fight fire with fire. She’d ask Parker to go on that sleigh ride and they’d have a blast, and tell Luke he missed all the fun. Luke didn’t like being left out—and that might capture his attention. She chewed on her bottom lip. Playing hard to get might work, and even make Luke jealous. She knew he liked a challenge, and couldn’t stand being one-upped by anyone, especially when it came to girls or snowboarding.

  She’d do it—she’d ask Parker to go, and see how Luke reacted to that.

  They skated over to the trail’s gate and waited for Parker to join them. Luke kept glancing at her out of the corner of her eye. There was interest there, she just had to find a way to stoke the fire a little bit and let the rest take its course.

  Parker hopped off the lift, skating over to them as fast as he could. Behin
d him a group of Japanese tourists exited the lift with a lot less grace. Skiers, the lot of them. They spoke with animated hand gestures, pointing at Parker’s board.

  “We need to go,” he said in a rush, bending to strap his back foot into the bindings. “Now. I think they want to follow me around.”

  The corner of Luke’s mouth turned up. “Scared of a few tourists?”

  With a wink at Parker, Zoey gave Luke a little shove. He wobbled a bit—the first time she’d ever seen his balance fail—but recovered and tipped over the edge. She shooed Parker next, waggling her eyebrows as the tourists closed the distance between them. He moved with more grace, and more urgency, than his brother.

  Once they were gone, she paused to close her eyes and take a cleansing breath of pine-scented air. The cold seared her lungs and her brain settled. Up here, confusing boys could be forgotten. Slights could be forgiven. Up here, Zoey was free.

  She waved at the tourists, and they all smiled and waved back. One, a man about her dad’s age, she thought, said in passable English, “The young man. Your boyfriend?”

  She wasn’t sure which boy he meant, but that didn’t matter: neither Madison fit that label. “No. Just a friend.”

  “Ah. He’s a good boy. Showed us his board.” The man gave her a thumbs up. “He left us, though. Would you show us how they work?”

  Laughing, Zoey saluted the group and kicked over the edge. Applause followed. The tourists must not have seen a snowboarder in real life before. The guys were way ahead of her, but she could show off in Parker’s place. She shredded a neat line along the trail, swooping over to take a small mogul, and landing it cleanly. She didn’t like the bigger jumps, not after fracturing her arm in a nasty fall a few years back, but a little air never killed anyone…or sent them to the ER.

  The wind bit at her face and sent her ponytail streaming out behind her. The swoosh-whoosh of her board’s edge against the snow made its own music, drowning out the laughter of skiers as she flew by. She took another tiny jump, turning her body so she faced the other way, riding goofy-style. Her knees shook, but held. Her legs were relearning the feel of the board. She jumped and turned back to her dominant side, took a wide cut, and sprayed loose powder into the trees. Behind, she heard delighted yells, and knew she’d put on a good show for the tourists.

  Grinning, she zipped to the bottom of the trail, cutting hard to screech to a stop right next to Parker. So, maybe her board flung a little snow into his jacket. And maybe a little of that snow went down his collar. His shout of surprise made her laugh out loud with the kind of joy she only found at Snowmass with her best friend.

  Eyes narrowed, but twinkling with mischief, Parker bent down and gathered up a glove full of snow. Zoey shrieked and ducked. The snowball flew over her head…and hit something with a wet thunk.

  “Moffer-wucker!” Luke spluttered around a face full of snow. He swiped most of it away with a gloved hand. “What was that for?”

  Parker and Zoey were reduced to silent, shaking, can’t-breathe-oh-my-God laughter. She wheezed in some air. “That…was for…me.”

  “Guess that’s my good deed for the day, then,” he grumbled.

  “Sorry, bro. I didn’t mean to plow you in the face.” Parker turned away to bite back a grin, which set Zoey laughing again. “Nice look, though. Frosty eyebrows are totally your thing.”

  Luke heaved an annoyed sigh and scraped the snow from his eyebrows. “You two ready to go up top?”

  Zoey nodded timidly. He sounded a little angry. Was he mad at her? “I’m ready for my show.”

  Luke’s hundred-watt grin returned, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Good. Let’s do it.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Parker

  Luke took off for the lift, assuming they’d be right behind him, but Parker turned to Zoey. “What’s wrong?”

  She was staring at Luke’s back, her forehead wrinkled. She shook herself when he asked. “Oh, nothing.”

  Right. The same Nothing who was several strides ahead of them by now. “We better catch up with Luke.”

  They followed his trail, and Zoey, voice meek, asked, “Think he might be mad because I pushed him over the edge at the top of the trail?”

  “If he’s mad about that, he’s an idiot.” Parker nudged her shoulder with his. “You push me over the edge all the time, and I laugh it off.”

  She didn’t look convinced.

  Parker fumed as they hiked over to the Sheer Bliss lift, not bothering to hurry. Cirque was the highest point on Snowmass, so they’d have to take a second, smaller surface lift to reach the trails. His asshole brother could ride all the way to the top by himself as far as Parker was concerned.

  “Do you have plans tonight?” Zoey twisted a strand of hair around a finger, a sign she was still anxious over Luke.

  “Nope. You?” Please don’t say you’re going out with the asshat.

  “I do…did.” She frowned. “Do. There’s a place doing sleigh rides through the woods near town. It sounded…fun.”

  Her tone held a tentative note, like she was scared he’d laugh or tell her it was a stupid idea. How could she even think that? He’d go on an Artic mission with her—possibly naked—if she asked. He’d go anywhere she wanted him to go.

  She slowly turned red. “It’s okay. We don’t have—”

  “I’d love to go,” he said, touching her shoulder. “I’ve never been in a real sleigh before. It sounds fun.”

  Her blush faded and she gave him a grateful smile. “Good. Luke said it sounded stupid, so I wasn’t sure.”

  She asked Luke first? That stung. On the other hand, he’d hurt Zoey’s feelings, giving Parker an entire evening alone with her. On a sleigh…where it was cold. Cold encouraged snuggling. Snuggling might encourage other things. Second choice or not, he was going to use that time wisely.

  He patted her back. “Luke wouldn’t know fun if it punched him in the balls.”

  Zoey’s laugh pealed out, and it warmed him straight through. There was a good mission: make Zoey laugh as much as possible. Her entire body changed when she was happy, from the light in her eyes, to the relaxed swing of her arms. It was like seeing the real girl climb out of a Zoey Miller costume. This girl didn’t care that she waddled a little when she walked because of her bulky clothes, or that her hair was flying free from her ponytail, whipping around in the wind, where it could get caught in her lip gloss.

  Hell, this girl wasn’t even wearing lip gloss. She’d been wearing it this morning, but at some point she’d forgotten to put more on. Come to think of it, she wasn’t wearing as much makeup as she had the first couple of days. Hot as she’d looked in it, he definitely preferred how she looked without it.

  It’s nice to see you again, real Zoey. Stay with me, okay?

  That was going to be harder than he thought, though, because Luke stood outside the lift-line, waiting for them. “Where have you two been?”

  Zoey wilted under his stare…and started to climb back into her untouchable Class President self by smoothing the loose strands back into her ponytail. No fucking way Parker would let that happen again.

  He edged in front of her and, forcing a cheery smile, flipped Luke off. “We took our time. It’s a vacation—no need to rush. Now, would letting you pelt me with a snowball cheer you up? Because, buttface, you’re acting like a pissed off grizzly.” He spread his arms wide. “I know I deserve it, and I’ll stand right here.”

  Behind him, Zoey giggled and Luke gave him an annoyed wave off, not realizing—which he never did—that Parker refusing to get angry when Luke was having a tantrum diffused his mood in seconds. Huh, maybe that was his superpower.

  Crisis averted, they jumped in line, Parker making sure to keep Zoey behind him so she’d be forced to ride with him. It worked, too. Even though they were on the same chair, Parker ended up between Zoey and Luke. Right where he wanted to be.

  The surface lift pulled them to the Cirque gate, giving Parker a spectacular view of the tra
il. It had opened early, only two days ago, and the snow was smooth. Dark pines stuck out against the glistening white, as stark reminders that this was an extreme trail. Luke’s element. Parker studied perfection—practicing tricks at the terrain park over and over until he could do them on muscle memory alone. Luke, on the other hand, shredded like a demon with wings.

  When Parker made it to the gate, Zoey in tow, Luke was staring down the trail with a manic gleam in his eyes. “Look at it,” he breathed, like he was taking in a Picasso or a gorgeous motorcycle. “And it’s all mine.”

  “Not exactly.” Zoey’s mouth turned down. “We’re coming with, remember?”

  Parker took a step closer to her. “You know he’ll take off when he hits the steep stuff. Stick with me.”

  Luke rolled his eyes. “I won’t. But do keep up.”

  And with that, Luke flung himself over the edge. Parker shrugged at Zoey. “One…two…three!”

  They tipped over at the same time, Parker keeping a close eye on her. The Cirque looked so simple at first, until it took you into the trees, down steep grades, and over bumpy, knee-jarring moguls. Up here, the obstacles weren’t made of metal. They were made of ice, wood, and fear.

  Ahead, Luke was doing his best to show off. He took wide turns, intentionally grazing the edge of the run. He might like to ditch the trail whenever he could, but not even Luke was stupid enough to do it on The Cirque—the avalanche danger was too high. Still, he pushed the extremes, finding plenty of drops to catch air, and skimming the snow with a hand when he leaned hard into a turn.

  “What a hot dog,” Parker muttered. He could easily catch up, but he wasn’t going to leave Zoey alone up here.

  “He’s a knuckle-dragging hot dog!” Zoey yelled, flying past him with a giant smile on her face. She was radiant, shining like the diamond brightness of the snow.

  If that’s how she wanted to play it… Parker picked up speed and caught her, hitting a mogul and catching air on the backside. He grabbed his board mid-air, landed crisp, and shredded a curving line in the snow in front of Zoey. Seeing what he meant, she made her turns opposed to his, so they created a series of loops when she closed his curves with hers. A design that belonged to just the two of them, at the top of a mountain.