Something About You

by J. Nathan

  I sent off a quick response. Be there in 30.

  I leaned against the building and scanned my news feed, checking if Ousterman or any of my competitors had been posting any footage. I knew some of them were training overseas while I was stuck being a college student.

  My thoughts drifted back to the car ride to the boutique. I’d been honest when I told Shay that I’d never talked about the attention I received before. It sucked not knowing who I was without snowboarding. I’d made a lot of mistakes in my life, and I was by no means a saint. On the contrary, I’d certainly become the devil when it came to Shay. She may have started things when she acted like a little brat about the loud music that first night, but I hadn’t helped by holding the fake video over her head. And, now, I was using her to push Cora over the edge. Shay didn’t deserve it. I just didn’t know how to stop at this point.

  My phone pinged. I expected it to be Thayer or even Jesse again, but it was Giselle. Get in here.

  Oh, man.

  I pushed myself off the wall and moved inside, stopping short when I came face to face with Shay—at least I thought it was Shay. Yup, she was wearing combat boots. But that was the only sign it was her. She wore a sleeveless green dress that showed off the curves she hid beneath her normal T-shirt and jeans. My eyes jumped to Giselle. “Where’s Shay?”

  “Stop it,” Giselle chided me. “Doesn’t she look beautiful?”

  I took in Shay’s hair, no longer in braids, but pulled off her face and knotted into a stylish bun. I think my sister even put some blush on her face because her normally pale cheeks held a splash of pink. I wasn’t sure about her eyes because, as usual, they were hidden beneath her glasses. “You look nice, Shay.”

  She said nothing, just stared down at her damn boots.

  I looked at my sister. “Don’t you have some shoes she can wear?”

  “Nope. I think her boots look awesome.” She and Shay exchanged a strange look. I was missing something. I just didn’t know what it was, and neither of them was going to tell me. “Besides, you’re going to a charity event with a bunch of gnarly snowboarders. The boots are apropos.”

  “Gnarly?” I asked.

  “You don’t think I’ve been around you and your boys long enough to follow the language?” Giselle asked.

  I laughed, but she had a point about Shay’s boots. I wasn’t exactly dressed to the nines in my cargo pants and collared shirt for the event. I’d also yet to pull on my ugly pink Slopes beanie I’d need to wear into the event to represent.

  “You ready?” I asked Shay.

  She nodded.

  I motioned with my arm for her to lead the way out. Giselle nabbed the back of my shirt. “Be good to her,” she whispered. “She’s more fragile than she looks.”

  My brows hitched together. “Yeah, okay.”

  “Promise me, Kason.”

  There was something about the desperation in Giselle’s voice that haunted me as I drove the winding road up to Bear Mountain. Not to mention Shay sitting beside me not saying a damn thing.

  “Giselle and I are complete opposites,” I said, needing to fill the uncomfortable silence.

  “She’s the nice one,” Shay said.

  I laughed. She wasn’t lying. “I walked right into that, didn’t I?”

  She nodded.

  “Do you think we’re ever gonna be friends, Shay?”

  She took me by surprise and looked at me. “Not if you don’t erase that video.”

  I opened my mouth to respond—to tell her I didn’t have a video—but I knew that if I told her the truth, she would’ve called an Uber as soon as we reached the event. I needed to be seen with her. I needed tonight to happen, and then I’d tell her the truth. It was only fair. She’d done her part—actually, she’d gone above and beyond her part. And, I owed it to her to do mine.

  CHAPTER 12

  Shay

  I was so out of my element it hurt. I didn’t wear dresses. I didn’t wear my hair up in a pretty bun. I didn’t wear makeup. And, I certainly didn’t hang out with asshole snowboarders who blackmailed me.

  “It’s this way,” Kason said, leading me toward a banquet room inside the lodge. He tugged a bright pink beanie with Slopes in white lettering over his head. As usual when he was wearing a beanie, his hair curled over the back edges of the hat.

  “That’s certainly some pink you’ve got going on,” I said as I followed him, trying to keep up so I wasn’t left alone once we got inside.

  “It’s Slopes’ color. It’s awful.”

  We stepped into the event room. The walls were dark wood, the ceiling was high, and music reverberated throughout. Kason stopped short, and I nearly bumped into him. Some photographers approached and one of them asked, “Mind if we get some pictures?”

  I stepped to the side to let him get his picture taken. He wore a smile for the photographers that didn’t reach his eyes. I wondered if this was as dreadful for him as it was for me.

  “Thanks, guys,” he said to the photographers before moving to me.

  “So, you’re a model, too?” I said.

  “Right.” He placed his hand on the small of my back and guided me toward a rowdy group of guys milling by the bar.

  The brief contact had me very aware of the feeling of his hand on me.

  “Heeeeey,” Kason’s friends cheered when they spotted him.

  He laughed as he was pulled into bro hugs. Once he was released by the last guy, he stepped next to me. “Guys, this is Shay.”

  They all said hey or lifted their chins to acknowledge me.

  I smiled but said nothing.

  “You want a drink?” Kason asked me.

  “Yes,” I answered a little too quickly.

  He laughed and moved to the bar.

  I stood on the outskirts of the group of guys, not really knowing what to do with myself now that Kason had left my side.

  “You and Kason a thing?” one of the guys asked me.

  I nearly choked on my laughter. “God, no.”

  “Oh my God.” He laughed. “You’re funny. He definitely needs someone like you in his life. You know, to keep him grounded.”

  “Yeah, well, our friendship is temporary.”

  “Hey, Shay.” It was a guy I recognized from Kason’s party. His blond shaggy hair fell over his forehead and almost touched his green eyes. “I’m Kason’s roommate, Thayer.”

  “I remember you from the party. Thanks for the directions to the bathroom.”

  He smiled. “I’m all about helping damsels in distress.”

  “Oh, Shay is definitely not a damsel in distress,” Kason said as he stepped up beside me and handed me a red drink.

  I took it, lifting the straw to my lips and sipping down half the drink. It was sweet and strong. But, knowing how much trouble I’d gotten into the last time I drank, I slowed down.

  “What is she doing here?”

  Shit.

  I didn’t turn around, but all the guys around me did and amusement played across their faces.

  “Relax, Cora. Shay’s here with me,” Kason explained. “We’re friends.”

  “Friends?” her question mirrored my thoughts. “Is she the reason you…we…?” She huffed her frustration.

  I turned to find her fuming in a red strapless dress and high heels that showed off her killer calves.

  Kason sighed. “Let’s go outside and talk.” He slipped his hand behind Cora’s lower back and guided her toward the door.

  Unlike me when his hand guided our way, she moved away from it and walked ahead of him.

  “Someone’s in trouble,” Thayer said.

  The other guys laughed.

  “Isn’t that what he was going for?” One of them asked.

  Thayer’s nervous eyes jumped to me.

  I suddenly realized I was involved in something I wasn’t aware of. Dammit, Kason. What are you doing now? “Tell me what’s going on,” I said to Thayer.

  “If Kason didn’t mention it, maybe we shouldn’t,” th
e guy I didn’t know said.

  Thayer shoved him away from us. “You’re the one who opened your damn mouth, Jesse.” He looked back to me and lowered his voice. “Kason wants out of his deal with Slopes.”

  “Why?” I asked.

  “It’s a sucky deal.”

  “So, can’t he just get out of it then?”

  He cocked his head. “Cora’s father owns the company. This is his event.”

  “I’m not following.”

  “Kason knew showing up with someone else would make Cora force her father to drop his sponsorship.”

  Heat rushed to my cheeks and that feeling I had when he initially asked me to go to this event returned. What would make Cora angry enough to demand her father drop Kason’s sponsorship? Him showing up at her father’s event with someone she hated. Someone opposite of her in every way. I had to hand it to Kason, he went big with this one. And, while I felt foolish being a pawn in this game he was playing, I knew after tonight, I’d no longer have a video of me doing unthinkable things hanging over my head. And, I’d be rid of him. So, if he needed a date who’d get him out of his sponsorship, that’s exactly what he’d get.

  The finish line was near.

  I could almost taste it.

  “Don’t be mad at Kason,” Thayer said. “He does a lot of stupid stuff.”

  Tell me about it. “I’m not mad.”

  “You’re not?”

  “Nope.” A television screen over the bar played clips of Kason snowboarding. I found myself being drawn into the fluidity of his moves. The height of his jumps. The flawlessness of his flips.

  “Impressive, huh?” Kason asked as he stepped up beside me, the heat of his body so close to mine catching me off guard.

  “You take care of all that?” I asked.

  “I sure hope so.”

  “I know why you brought me here,” I said, my eyes breaking from the television and moving to his.

  His face contorted with regret. “I didn’t want you to find—”

  I held up my hand. “I don’t care. As long as you do what you agreed to do at the end of the night, we’re good.”

  “Really?”

  “Well, not good like we’re ever gonna be friends. But good in terms of why I’m here and what I get out of it.”

  His eyes clouded over, and I could’ve sworn I caught anger flitter across them.

  We spent the next hour hanging by the bar with his friends. When some men in suits whisked him away, I took the opportunity to use the restroom.

  As I washed my hands, I almost didn’t recognize myself in the mirror above the sink. Giselle had applied eye shadow and blush—against my will. But, even I had to admit, it transformed my face into someone who almost looked pretty.

  “You couldn’t even leave the ugly boots home for one night?” Cora glared at me as she stepped inside the restroom.

  “I think they add to the outfit,” I shot back.

  She balked. “As if.”

  I contemplated trying to get by her, but she leaned against the door.

  “Are you enjoying your night?” she asked.

  “Immensely.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “It’s comical really. Him bringing a charity case to a charity event.”

  Her cold words pierced something deep inside of me. And I hated that they did. I was tougher than that.

  “What? You didn’t realize that’s why you’re here?”

  I let her spew her venom. It was no worse than what I’d heard growing up.

  “Say something,” she urged.

  I said nothing, just stared at her with blank eyes that I knew she couldn’t read. I’d perfected that look a long time ago. And no mean girl was going to break through their impenetrable wall.

  “He doesn’t love you,” she taunted.

  I scoffed to myself. Of course, he didn’t.

  “Shay?” Kason called from outside the restroom.

  “You gonna run?” she asked. “It’s what all girls do when Kason calls.”

  “In here,” I called, not giving her the satisfaction of “running.”

  “You okay?” he called.

  “Yes. Just catching up with Cora,” I assured him from the other side of the door.

  “Oh,” he said, his voice drifting off at my odd response.

  “Now, if you’ll excuse me,” I said to Cora. “My date is waiting.” I walked to the door and waited for her to move. Of course, she didn’t.

  “A nice dress and some makeup won’t change what you are,” she gritted through clenched teeth.

  “Oh yeah? What’s that?” I asked, ready for whatever cruelty she intended to give.

  “Trash.”

  “Wow. I expected something a little more creative from you.” I reached around her and yanked open the door, causing her to jump as it hit her in the back. “Ah well, maybe next time,” I said as I walked right into Kason standing outside the door. Relief spread over me at the sight of him. Sure, I could deal with mean girls, but I wouldn’t lie and say their venom didn’t sting.

  “What’s going on?” he asked.

  “Just mean girl being a mean girl.”

  His eyes shot to the closed door. “What did she say?”

  “Nothing I haven’t heard before.”

  His eyes shifted back to me and regret plagued them. “Shay?”

  I shook my head. “It’s fine.”

  His hand unexpectedly slipped into mine. I tried to pull it free, but he linked our fingers, holding on so tightly I had no other option but to follow him back toward the banquet hall. His hand was warm and provided a sense of security I wasn’t used to. And, man, did I hate that.

  We stopped in the doorway of the busy room. Inside, people ate food at large round tables while others stood in line at the monstrous buffet tables. Music blared and rowdy snowboarders watched the giant screens around the room displaying jumps and flips and howling at the exciting displays. Kason didn’t lead me toward his friends. Instead, he turned and led me toward the exit.

  I looked over my shoulder. “Don’t we need to go back in there?”

  “No.”

  “You gonna tell me why not?”

  “No.”

  “Did I do something to make you upset?” I asked, unsure why he was suddenly being curt.

  “Don’t be ridiculous.”

  I said nothing. I only needed to make it through the rest of the night and then I’d be free.

  We stepped outside and the night air held a welcomed chill. The exchange with Cora had left my body heated. Kason didn’t release my hand as he moved me toward the foot of the mountain behind the lodge. Obviously, there was no snow, but he walked us over to the ski lift that sat still at the boarding station. The chair at the bottom dangled a couple of feet above the ground. Kason sat down on it and pulled me down beside him.

  We sat in silence for a long time with darkness surrounding us and the seat beneath us swaying slightly. The chill in the air and the eeriness of the looming mountains all around us sent a shiver rushing up my spine.

  “I know the deal was if you came with me tonight I’d erase the video,” he said, breaking the silence.

  I glanced to him.

  His eyes were fixed on the space in front of us. “But, I still really need you to tutor me.”

  “You know I’m only doing it because…well because I had to. I don’t have time to keep helping you while focusing on my own work.”

  “I need you, Shay.”

  My head hitched back. He wasn’t joking around. The pleading in his voice told me it was the truth. His eyes drifted over my dress all the way down to my boots then back up again. He stopped at my eyes, staring into them. He lifted his hands to my glasses. My heart foolishly sped as he pulled off my glasses and continued gazing into my eyes.

  I felt myself getting lost in the way his blue eyes resembled ice in the darkness. I’d always wanted to be on the receiving end of a look like that, but I needed to remember, not only was he blackmailing me, he’d br
ought me there to make Cora angry, not because he wanted me there. “Stop looking at me like that.”

  “Like what?”

  “Like we’re even going to speak after tonight.”

  His jaw ticked.

  I wondered why that had made him angry.

  “You don’t even realize how pretty you are, do you?” he asked.

  “You’re only saying that because of the dress you got me.”

  “I can’t even see a dress right now, Shay.”

  My traitorous stomach flipped over itself. Why was it him who was saying nice things to me? Why couldn’t it be some guy who was kind and considerate and who loved science as much as me? Why did it have to be someone who’d hurt me for his own gain? Someone who wanted what he wanted and to hell with anyone who stood in his way.

  “Why do you try to hide behind your glasses and boots?” he asked, his eyes unwavering.

  “I don’t need to try to be other people’s idea of pretty. I just need to be me. Someone will love me for me.”

  He closed his eyes as if pained by what I’d said.

  But I hadn’t been lying. Sure, I liked the way he was looking at me. Who wouldn’t? But it was because of makeup, a dress, and a stupid hairstyle that made him say I was pretty.

  He opened his eyes and slid my glasses back onto my face. “I need to tell you something.”

  “Okay.”

  “I know I’m a complete asshole for not telling you sooner, but it was done out of desperation.”

  “I already know you used me to piss off Cora.”

  “Not that.”

  “Then what?”

  “The video.”

  My stomach lurched and I was terrified to even ask. “What about the video?”

  “It doesn’t exist.”

  “What do you mean it doesn’t exist?”

  He winced. “Nothing actually happened between us.”

  I jumped to my feet, unsure what to do at that moment. “Nothing happened?” I asked, needing confirmation if I was going to be able to truly process it.

  He shook his head.

  “But…” my voice disappeared, a range of emotions flooding my body. There was no video. I hadn’t done anything with Kason. I hadn’t not remembered something. I could breathe. I could finally breathe.

  But, if there was no video and we hadn’t done anything, Kason had lied. And not just once. All this time he could have told me the truth, but he held the lie over me. He’d caused me unnecessary stress. Caused me to question everything I knew to be true about myself. “How could you do that?” I whispered.