Chapter 16 #2
He swings his legs, causing the chairlift to rock, and he hums a very familiar tune about falling in love at the wrong time with the wrong person. Except it’s no longer the wrong time, and Jeremy has never been the wrong person.
“You’re oddly chipper right now,” Adrien says, eyeing him out of the corner of his eye.
“Am I?”
“Yes.” Adrien laughs. “You’re kicking your feet like Henry and humming along to some tune in your head.”
“I am? Huh, I hadn’t noticed.”
“Yeah, you are. And if I didn’t know better, I’d think you had a crush on someone like some junior high school kid.”
“Would that be so hard to believe?”
“Yes!” Adrien laughs harder this time.
Feeling happy and with Jeremy now firmly living in his brain, Sergio shrugs. “I’ll prove you wrong one of these days.”
“I seriously doubt that,” Adrien says with a roll of his eyes that lands them to look off into the trees. Once looking away, his features shift to his usual look for this moment of deep contemplation.
Sergio pulls out his camera and snaps a picture of his brother’s forlorn yet handsome profile. “For Daphne,” he says as he shows it to him.
Adrien’s smile is sad as he looks at the screen. “Thanks. That’s a good one.”
“You miss her, don’t you?” Sergio asks, wondering how Adrien does it.
Maintaining a long-distance relationship can’t be easy.
Hell, Sergio has days when he struggles with longing for Jeremy when he’s only a quick jog across the property.
But then again, the situation isn’t quite the same.
At least Daphne and Adrien have well-established and reciprocated feelings that are ever-present, no matter how many times Sergio screws up his own day.
Adrien shrugs. “I don’t know,” he says with a sigh. “We spend so much time apart that I think I’m always missing her. It’s kind of our standard.”
“It doesn’t have to be.”
Adrien looks at him, his expression blank and tired. “Don’t tell me you have a solution.”
“I think I might,” Sergio says, knowing exactly what he needs to do. He’s been doing it for months at this point ,when he makes it to the slopes without some disaster before breakfast.
He braces himself for the end of the lift coming and dismounts effortlessly.
Together they ski to the start of the slope.
Then, high above the world with the perfect view of the Adirondacks and the lakes below, Sergio turns to look at his brother.
“Adrien. You know I love you, but I think it’s time for you to stop working for me. ”
“Are you firing me?” Adrien’s face lights up with a genuine smile.
“Afraid so,” Sergio says and gives his brother a firm, long hug. “It’s time for you to finish your book and live your own dream. Thank you for helping me achieve mine.”
“It was nothing.” Adrien scoffs.
“No. It was really something,” Sergio says. He thumps Adrien’s back three times, then pulls away. “I couldn’t have done it without you.”
Adrien gives a half-smile. “You could have. But I’ll take your compliment anyway. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” Sergio says, then turns to look down the mountain. “Race you to the bottom?”
“You’re on, brother.”
“Did you guys have fun?” Holden asks them as Adrien narrowly beats Sergio to the bunny hills.
“We sure did,” Sergio says, skiing past Holden. He then calls over his shoulder, “I fired my brother,” right as Henry is calling out to him.
“Uncle Sergio! Look!” He zooms down the hill and comes to a stop by way of his adorable forward flip onto his rump. “Did you see?”
“I saw, Henry,” Sergio says, already waiting at the bottom of the little hill to pick Henry up and place him back on his feet. “That was very impressive. You’re gonna be an Olympian just like your dad someday.”
“Do you think I can be?” Henry asks, looking up at Sergio with wide, hopeful eyes.
“Definitely. It’s in your blood. It’s what you’re destined to be! If that’s what you want, of course.”
“It is!”
“Then you will,” Sergio assures and ruffles his hair before he kneels down and starts to unclip Henry’s boots from his skis.
Once finished, he grabs the skis in one hand and then picks Henry up with his other arm, holding him close to his body as he heads toward the lodge. “Can I ask you something, buddy?”
“Yes,” Henry says and rests his head on Sergio’s shoulder.
“How would you feel if I moved here?”
Henry’s head whips away from Sergio’s shoulder so quickly that he almost throws Sergio off balance. “Like live with me and Mommy and Daddy and Gus?”
“Don’t you think that would be a bit cramped?”
“No.”
“Don’t you think Gus would hate that?”
Henry throws his hands up, shrugging. His lips press together in thought, and then his eyes go wide again. “Maybe you could live with Jeremy? You could stay in the barn, too.”
Now that does sound enticing. Sergio tips his head.
Perhaps still a bit cramped, though. That living space above the rink is little more than a studio apartment.
But he can picture himself purchasing a home here.
Maybe even on the same street, in the same set of woods.
He could make it perfect for Jeremy. Equip it with anything and everything Jeremy might ever need.
A house they could turn into a home together.
Assuming he can make it out of this day with Jeremy at least on board with rekindling their old flame.
He takes a breath. He’s getting ahead of himself. He still needs to actually wake up on New Year’s Day. And furthermore, he needs to wake up on New Year’s Day with Jeremy in his arms for any of that to be a possibility.
“I’m not sure Jeremy would want to live with me.”
“He might,” Henry says, then his face turns serious as he stares intently at Sergio. “If you tell him you’re sorry.”
“I plan to do that,” Sergio promises right as he spots Jeremy carefully walking up the icy steps leading to the lodge with Rose and Allison. He places Henry back down on the ground and points to where they are.
“Careful!” he yells out to Henry the moment he takes off running.
“I know!” Henry yells back, making it to Jeremy in record time, only to be stopped by Rose’s outstretched hands, preventing a collision.
“You hungry?” Holden claps him on the shoulder. “This place has a great turkey burger.”
“Starved. A turkey burger sounds perfect right now.”
Holden beams as if he works in the kitchen and cooks it himself. “You’re going to love it.”
“I’m sure I will,” Sergio says, following Holden to the lodge entrance. Once there, he opens the door for Holden, then gestures with his hand for everyone else to follow.
“Thanks, Sergio,” Rose says as she strides past him with Allison by her side. They’re followed by Jeremy, who’s holding Henry’s hand. Jeremy acknowledges Sergio with a curt nod, then keeps walking.
Sergio watches him walk away, admiring the view. It has to be said, figure skating does do wonders for one's backside.
“Shut your mouth, you’re drooling,” Adrien teases with a thump to the back of Sergio’s head as he comes to stand beside him. He follows Sergio’s gaze. “It all makes sense now. You are a schoolboy with a crush, aren’t you?”
Sergio lifts one shoulder as if to say, ‘So what?’ then closes the door and starts walking towards the table. “I told you I’d prove you wrong one of these days, didn’t I?”
“Yeah.” Adrien laughs. “But I didn’t expect it to be today.”
“Well, jokes on you, little brother. I am full of surprises,” he says and pulls Adrien’s usual chair out for him.
“Oh no,” Adrien says in his ear. “I think you should take that seat.”
“Hmmm …” Sergio happily hums. “Don’t mind if I do.”
“Oh, I don’t know if I like the look of this?” Rose says, gesturing at Sergio as he takes his seat on the other side of Jeremy.
Sergio holds up his hands. “I promise to be on my best behavior.”
“And I thought we decided last night that your best behavior wasn’t good enough.” She points at him with emphasis.
“Then I’ll be on Adrien’s best behavior,” Sergio says back to her, staring right into her eyes.
“You can trust him,” Adrien says from his other side as he sits. Sergio turns to look at him, and Adrien gives him a wink that speaks volumes in a language that only Sergio and Adrien can understand. A wink that says, ‘Hey, I’m rooting for you.’
Rose narrows her eyes at the two of them, then raises her eyebrow, bringing it to a sharp point. “I don’t know what you two are playing at. But I do know I don’t like it.”
Together, they hold up their hands in a show of innocence.
“Eh, you can trust them,” Holden says. “Look at their sweet faces.”
Sergio and Adrien simultaneously tilt their heads slightly down, bringing their chins towards their chests and letting their eyes go wide. They look up at Rose across the table from underneath their lashes and give her matching pouts.
“You two are worse than Henry.” She laughs, shaking her head as the server comes over to take their orders.
“How long are you in town?” Allison asks Adrien once their server walks away.
Interesting, Sergio thinks. I guess it doesn’t matter who she sits next to.
Not that it matters to him at all. He doesn’t feel stung, as he would have been ages ago.
His interest in her doesn’t go beyond wishing for her success in her figure skating career.
The truth is, it never has. His interest has always lain in who’s sitting on his other side. Jeremy.
Finally, with this new configuration at the lunch table, Sergio figures he can let the conversations around the table unfold.
Adrien can talk Allison’s ear off about Daphne and Paris and Rose and Holden can join in and Sergio can hopefully have Jeremy all to himself under the cover of their boisterous conversation.