Chapter Twenty-six
D elilah stood at the top of the hill, staring down at the white expanse below and the tiny moving dots that represented people. The lump of fear that had been climbing up the back of her throat since she and Anthony had climbed onto the ski lift threatened to choke her and she leaned back slightly. The entire drive up, she’d been wavering between anticipation and apprehension, but now that she was standing there, all the excitement disappeared.
“I don’t think I can do this,” she said, swallowing hard but the lump didn’t go away.
Anthony chuckled, placing his hands on her shoulders and giving them a squeeze. “Yes, you can.”
Delilah took a breath, inching her board closer to the edge. “It’s so high.”
“This is the bunny hill, Lila.”
“I don’t care if it is the mouse hill, the ant hill, or a microbe hill! It looks huge, okay?” Delilah was aware of people around her stepping up and heading down the hill on skis and snowboards. When a little girl who couldn’t be more than five and her mom went down together, Delilah glanced up at Anthony and groaned. “You think I’m a wuss.”
“I didn’t say that,” he said, kissing her forehead. “We could catch a lift down and practice falling some more.”
Delilah shot him a dark look. “You’re so funny.”
“I’m serious, if you don’t think you’re ready, we can keep practicing until you feel comfortable.” He wrapped his arm around her and hugged her to him. “I’ve got all day.”
Delilah leaned into him for several moments, staring down the hill. Finally, she took a deep, shaky breath, and said, “No, I’m good. I can balance. I rode that horrid lift up here. I’m good.”
“Attagirl!” Anthony released her and came up alongside her, his dark goggles hiding his green eyes, but his comforting smile eased her tension slightly. “Just remember that if you feel like you’re going too fast, dip the front of your board into the snow and bend your heel slightly. If that doesn’t work and you’re scared, just sit down on your butt.”
Delilah nodded. “I can do that.”
“I know you can.” He took her hand and gave it a gentle press. “I’m going to stay right next to you. You got this.”
“I got this,” she said weakly, clearing her throat to try again. “I got this.”
“Yeah, you do,” he said.
“Here I go.” Delilah released his hand but she didn’t move.
“Do you want me to go down a few feet so you just have to get to me?” he asked, scooting forward.
“No,” she shrieked, wishing she didn’t wear her panic like a scarf, slowly choking her. The last thing she wanted was to be left up here all alone, where some rogue boarder might bump into her, sending her careening down the hill.
Delilah realized her rapid breathing was making her lightheaded. “This is … it’s a lot. Maybe snowboarding was too advanced for me and I should give something less adventurous a try. Like snowshoeing!”
“You want to go snowshoeing in the woods?” Anthony chuckled. “We can do that, but wolves are hungry this time of year. We might need to practice running in the shoes, in case we get in a hairy situation.”
Delilah glared at him. “It is not nice to terrorize the girl you are dating when she is standing on top of a mountain, balancing on a toothpick.”
“You aren’t giving the snowboard enough credit. It’s perfectly formed to keep you upright. The rest is up to you.”
“What about snowmobiling?” she asked.
“Avalanches. Lilah?” She looked away from the steep hill and focused on his face. “People snowboard all the time and survive. It’s the ones who do stupid shit like try a flip in the air or jump giant mounds that break their necks. You are simply going down the bunny hill and if you get scared, just drop right onto your butt for a full stop.”
“Makes sense. Most of my weight is in my butt,” she joked.
“No self-deprecating humor,” Anthony said, his hand coming up to squeeze her. “I like this butt.”
“I feel like any second now, you’re going to shove me down the hill by a tap on my cheeks!”
“I would never do that. Now, deep breath.” Delilah sucked in air with him and let it out slowly. “Are you ready?”
She nodded vigorously, although she still wasn’t sure. However, Delilah had asked for this lesson and it was unacceptable to back out now.
Shifting her weight forward, Delilah’s stomach dropped as her snowboard dipped and she took off, screaming, “Oh, shit!”
The snowcapped trees whizzed by and it wasn’t until Delilah was halfway down the hill that she realized she’d managed to stay on her feet. She heard Anthony call out from somewhere nearby, “Use your edge! Delilah! Look at you go! Yeah, baby!”
She turned slightly, slowing herself down and screamed with excitement, “Oh my gosh, I’m doing it. I’m doing it!”
Delilah turned to smile at Anthony, who was several feet over from her. Suddenly, Anthony looked up and yelled, “Look out!”
Delilah didn’t have a chance to react to his warning before she hit a mound of snow and tumbled over it, rolling several times down the remainder of the hill. When she finally stopped, Delilah lay on her back, staring up at the blue, cloudless sky and figured little cartoon birds were going to appear at any second.
She heard rushing movement and Anthony’s worried green eyes came into view, his hands all over her face. “Delilah? Baby, are you okay?”
“I think so, but someone should probably get the license and registration of that snowbank,” she joked.
“I’m such an idiot,” he said, smoothing a hand over her forehead; she noted he’d ditched his ski gloves, his warm skin gliding over hers. “We went too far left and I didn’t see the pile until it was too late.”
Delilah smiled at him, still a little dazed. “No self-deprecating, remember? Up until I went ass over tea kettle, I was doing pretty good, right?”
Anthony chuckled. “You were great.”
“Is she alright?” Pike asked, wearing a yellow vest and hovering over Anthony’s shoulder, peering down at her with a frown. “That was quite a tumble.”
“One out of ten, would not recommend,” she murmured.
“Think you can stand up?” Anthony asked, his eyes full of concern.
Delilah nodded and held her hands out, each man taking one and hauling her to her feet. She stumbled and Anthony caught her, his arm locked around her waist. “I think that’s enough snowboarding for one day.”
“Probably for the best,” Delilah groaned, rubbing her head. “Next time I might end up on the roof.”
“You should take her to infirmary and have her checked out for a concussion,” Pike said, studying her. “And keep her conscious until you know for sure.”
“Thanks, I will.”
“Oh my God, Delilah!” someone called out.
Delilah squinted as a woman glided over to them on a snowboard, stopping next to Pike. Delilah recognized Ryler, the travel blogger’s assistant she’d met the other night, and gave her a reassuring smile.
“I’m alright.” Delilah rapped her knuckles on the side of her helmet. “Anthony made sure I was wearing noggin protection.”
“Can you help me get her to that chair?” Anthony asked, pointing to some chairs in front of the hot cocoa hut. “I’m going to run back and get my equipment. I kind of threw it in a panic.”
“We’ve got her,” Pike said, taking her hands from Anthony’s and gliding her over the snow to the closest chair.
“First time snowboarding?” he asked as she plopped into the seat.
“How’d you guess?” she laughed.
He chuckled.
Ryler put a hand on her shoulder. “Do you want something to drink? Chocolate always makes me feel better.”
“A water, please?” Delilah said.
“You got it.”
“Not gonna ask me, kitten?” Pike called out as Ryler got in line.
“I already know what you want,” she shot back.
Pike chuckled again, only it was darker, like the two of them shared a secret.
A hot secret from the way she was looking at him.
Delilah quirked a brow when Pike met her gaze and she nearly gasped when she spotted the blush staining his cheeks. Pike kneeled down in the snow and unbuckled her board, clearing his throat. “Seemed like you were having fun up until your forward flip.”
“I was. How about you, Pike? Are you having fun?”
Pike glanced up at her and smirked. “You pumping me for information about my love life, Delilah?”
“Nope, I just noticed some sparkage, but if you don’t want to share … ”
Pike set her snowboard to the side of her chair with a sigh and stood, dropping into the chair next to her. “Not to sound cliché, but it’s complicated.”
“It always is.” Delilah caught sight of Anthony making his way back and sat forward, watching him maneuver with grace and precision.
“You like my guy a lot, huh?” Pike asked.
Delilah sat back. “I do.”
“Good. He deserves someone great.” He leaned closer to her and she turned his way as he added, “Not to sound melodramatic, but don’t hurt him, okay? This is the first time I’ve ever seen him in love and I don’t want him becoming Thanos and destroying the world if it doesn’t work out.”
Delilah almost choked when he said love. Did it look like love from other people’s perspectives? Was that what Anthony was feeling?
Furthermore, was that the warm, loopy feeling that settled in her stomach every time she thought about him love, too?
“Water for you,” Ryler said, handing her a clear cup with a bright pink straw. She sat on the edge of Pike’s chair with a white cup in her hand, sipping from the top of the black lid. “What did I miss?”
Laughter drew her attention and she saw Brodie and Trip approaching them from a few feet away with a group of men. Brodie was at the front and stopped a foot away from her. Delilah arched her neck to look up at him, noting the twisted sneer on his mouth and knew this was going to be as fun as a trip to the dentist.
“Guess you should have stuck with me, huh, Delilah? Not crashing at the bottom of the bunny hill is lesson number one.”
Before she could respond, Anthony snarled, “I’ve got a lesson for you, motherfucker.” He was rapidly approaching the group and Delilah’s eyes widened as he dropped his gear, looking like he was ready to swing.
“You better uncork my boy soon,” Pike said with a shake of his head. He flashed a small smile at her as he climbed to his feet. “I think everything being pent up is what’s making his fuse so short.”
“Anthony,” Delilah called softly, trying to climb to her feet but a sharp explosion of pain at the back of her head made her woozy.
“Pike’s got him,” Ryler said, patting her knee with her free hand.
Delilah took in the scene of Pike standing between Brodie and Anthony, who were calling each other every name in the book, when Pike finally hollered, “You two wanna keep slinging insults or settle this like men?”
“What are you going on about?” Brodie asked.
“You two stop this pissing contest until the winter games. No more making moves on his girl,” Pike said, poking Brodie in the chest before pressing Anthony back with both hands, “and you stop trying to get yourself thrown in jail for assault.”
Watching the much smaller man try to move an irate Anthony would almost have made Delilah giggle, if she wasn’t worried about an all-out brawl erupting.
“What happens after the games?” Trip asked.
“Same bet we made at Brews and Chews,” Pike said, keeping a hand on Anthony as he addressed the other men. “Either we have a new boat or you have new snowmobiles. Somebody’s going to be happy.”
“I want one more thing if I win,” Brodie said, smirking, and Delilah could see the evil hamster wheel turning in his head.
“No, we agreed,” Pike said.
Brodie pointed past Pike’s shoulder at Anthony. “That was before this prick humiliated me.”
“It’s really that easy?” Anthony scoffed, slapping Brodie’s hand from his face.
“Stop it,” Delilah said softly.
“What did you say?” Ryler asked Delilah.
Delilah opened her mouth to repeat herself but was cut off by the next words out of Brodie’s mouth.
“If I win, your girlfriend is going to give me a victory kiss,” Brodie said, puckering up at Delilah. Trip and the rest of his crowd laughed and jeered while Anthony tried to get over Pike.
“Over my dead body,” Anthony snarled.
Pike wrapped his arms around Anthony’s middle, hauling him back with a grunt, and Delilah wished she had enough strength to pick up the snowboard and bonk them all on the head.
“Hey, you heard him, Pike,” Trip laughed. “Your boy’s got a death wish. You should let him go!”
“Um, hello! This isn’t the eleven hundreds!” Ryler said loudly. “Consent is sexy and we don’t use women as bargaining chips.”
“Whatever, I don’t even need a prize,” Brodie said, cracking his knuckles like a bully from an eighties movie. “I’m going to enjoy kicking your ass on principle.”
“Stop it,” Delilah said, getting to her feet unsteadily. She hobbled over the group of men, her entire body starting to feel the full impact of her snowboarding gymnastics and she glared at them. “Whatever you guys have going on, grow up and leave me out of it.”
Brodie’s dark expression dissolved into one of malice. “Hey, no worries. I just wanted to see what it was like to fuck a fat girl.”
Delilah reeled back like he’d slapped her. “Sorry to disappoint.”
“As soon as Anthony’s done with you, he’ll share with the class if you were worth the effort.”
Anthony took her shoulders and moved her out of the way, telling Pike, “Take care of her for me, would ya?”
“Anthony, don’t—” Delilah told him, but it was too late. Pike wrapped his arms around her and hauled her backward seconds before Anthony threw the first punch. Brodie recoiled, blood spewing out the side of his mouth, and Trip caught Anthony with a swift uppercut to the stomach.
“Ah, hell, no!” Pike yelled, dropping her out of harm’s way and jumping into the fray. “No tag teams!”
Pike grabbed Trip and flipped him onto his back. Another of Brodie’s crew went after Pike, but Pike cracked him across the jaw, sending him spinning away. Pike grinned at the remaining men and made a come-on motion with both hands. “Step up, kiddies. I’ve got plenty to go around.”
Delilah groaned in disgust as Pike seemed to be having fun with the fight, meanwhile Anthony had Brodie in a headlock, kicking at another goon.
Ryler put her arms around Delilah’s shoulders. “How about we go to urgent care while they sort this out?”
Delilah nodded, letting Ryler lead her away.
“Why are men such idiots?” Delilah asked.
“If I had that kind of information, do you think I’d be an assistant? Girl, I’d be president, saving the idiots of the world from themselves.”