Chapter Eighteen
COLE
“Hey, Cole, you in there, man?” Jack snapped his fingers in front of Cole’s face, bringing his friend’s scowl into focus.
“Y-yeah. Sorry, Jack. What was that you were saying?” Cole asked.
Jack shook his head and rolled his eyes before securing his feet back into his snowboard. “You’re so cooked, Cole. So, so cooked.”
Jack jumped, turned his snowboard, and shot down the hill. Cole followed, trying to catch up.
“What do you mean I’m cooked? What the heck are you even talking about, Jack?” Cole called after him.
Cole took the higher line down the slope, Jack the lower, and they met at the bottom, both breathing hard from the exertion—and the thrill—of the ride.
With about thirty minutes before their next lesson, Cole and Jack had decided to fit in a quick run before heading back to the area Mynt Resort had set aside for private lessons.
“I mean, you’re in deep. Over your head. Buried. Nails in the coffin.”
Cole raised a brow as Jack acted out each one, finishing with a final swing of an imaginary hammer.
“I still don’t get what you’re talking about. What’s any of that got to do with me?” Cole asked, unclipping his boots from his board and picking it up as he waited for his friend to explain.
“Let me spell it out for you, then. You”—he poked Cole in the chest, and Cole brushed his hand away, frowning as Jack held up the same finger he’d just jabbed him with—“Are.” Jack held up another finger. “In.” He lifted a third, and with the last finger, he silently mouthed the word “Love.”
Cole’s heart dropped into his stomach at his friend’s proclamation, and a bead of sweat slid down his neck.
That couldn’t possibly be true, could it?
No… Like? Sure. But love? That was the kind of thing that only happened in those sappy romance movies or the cheesy novels people read just to get a happily ever after.
Insta-love wasn’t real. It took time—time to actually get to know someone, to understand them—before deciding you loved them.
Sure, he’d followed Aspen’s career for years, but he’d only known her, in person, for a few days. That wasn’t nearly long enough for the “L” word. Was it?
He chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck. “Nah, I like Aspen. But I don’t L… L…” He cleared his throat, his voice barely above a whisper. “Love her.”
His friend’s eyes widened, and he let out a loud laugh before covering it with his fist. “Uh-huh. Yeah. Sure. Of course you don’t.” He smacked Cole’s shoulder, grabbed his board, and headed toward the sectioned-off area for the snowboard instructors.
“Wait… Jack.” He stumbled after him, tripping over his board and landing with an ‘oof’ on the ground.
Scrambling to his feet, he hurried to catch up. “Jack… I don’t. Right? I couldn’t possibly… could I?” His friend spun around, shoulders shaking with laughter as he placed his hands on Cole’s shoulders.
“Like I said before, my friend. You. Are. Cooked.” He turned and left Cole standing there, his best friend’s words echoing in his mind.
Was it actually possible to fall in love with someone in just a few days? Was his heartbeat picking up when he saw her because of physical attraction alone, or was his heart actually more involved than he had realized?
He shook his head and walked to his designated area, leaning against his board as he waited for his next lesson to arrive, pondering his friend’s words.
He had felt a flicker of panic at Jack’s declaration—not because he was afraid of falling in love, but because of what it meant.
Aspen wasn’t just some run-of-the-mill ordinary person.
She was an athlete. One of the best female snowboarders out there.
Relationships were tricky enough on their own; throw in fame and fortune, and you were practically asking for trouble.
Cole didn’t care about money. He loved his job, and he loved where he lived. He was comfortable in the little life he had built. Sure, he knew relationships required sacrifices, but would he be the one sacrificing everything to be with her?
He shook his head. This was ridiculous. All because his friend had said some silly words, he was now contemplating a life with a woman he barely knew.
It wasn’t even worth thinking about—Aspen would be leaving soon anyway.
She was only here for the charity event, and after that, she would move on with her life.
He needed to focus on the goal: helping Aspen not only heal from some of her past trauma but also rediscover her love for Christmas—all while offering her a friendship with no strings attached.
A voice behind him snapped him out of his thoughts. “Hey, man, I need a guide for the cliff drop.” Cole’s defenses shot up. There was no way this could be the guy from yesterday.
He spun around, and the moment their eyes met, Cole knew the rest of this conversation was going to be…
fun. “Oh. It’s you. Someone pointed me to the guy in charge, but they must be wrong.
No way would Aspen be dating a mountain guide loser.
” Chase crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes, waiting for Cole’s response.
How was he supposed to answer that? Yes, I’m the mountain guide loser running the cliff jump—and yes, I’m the one hanging out with Aspen? Yeah, not going to happen. So he went with something else.
“If you’re planning to do the cliff jump, be here tomorrow at 5:30 a.m., and don’t forget to sign the waiver so the resort isn’t liable if you hurt yourself.” Cole crossed his arms, narrowing his eyes at the cocky son of a gun a few paces away, mirroring his stance.
Chase let out a laugh. “Yikes. 5:30 a.m.? That’s a bit early, isn’t it?
Can’t I just pay you or something to take me later in the day?
Surely you do that—you can’t make too much cash as a mountain guide.
I’ve got a Benjamin Franklin here with your name on it if you take me right now.
” He pulled out his wallet and waved the bill at Cole, as if that made it more tempting.
Cole kept his face neutral as he replied.
“Nah, man. Can’t do that. We have rules around here.
We do the drop a few times a week, at 5:30 in the morning—no exceptions.
And you’ve gotta have a waiver. Plus, I don’t take bribes, so you can put your Benjamin away.
” Cole’s next lesson approached. “I’ve got a lesson to teach.
But like I said, if you want to ride, you gotta follow the rules.
” With that, he turned toward the approaching teenager, shifting his attention to him instead.
Cole heard Chase blow out a breath, letting out a half-hearted chuckle, and could already picture the smug look on his face as he spoke.
“What a shame. Looks like I’ll have to track down Aspen, then.
She’s never been able to resist a good ride down the slopes.
Red loves the big jumps, and I’m willing to bet she knows exactly where to find a good… old… drop.”
Cole listened to the crunch of snow beneath Chase’s boots and the smug chuckle of a guy convinced he’d already won fading as he walked away.
There was no way Aspen would take him to the drop—would she?
She knew the rules, yet he remembered how close she'd come to breaking them before.
His heart raced as his mind spun through every possible scenario, each one ending badly.
What if Aspen got hurt again? Chase didn’t seem like the type to stick around to help her.
She’d be left all alone. Cole thought of the news reports of their breakup just days after her injury and felt anger rise within him.
Yesterday, seeing them together had stirred a surge of jealousy and protectiveness in his chest. Now, it was a mixture of both anger and fear.
He didn’t like Chase—and he was fairly certain Aspen didn’t either.
But he had seen how she acted around him, as if she couldn’t protect herself, as if Chase held some unspoken control over her, leaving her utterly helpless in his presence.
But what could Cole do? He had a lesson to teach. In his ten years of instructing, he had never once canceled a session—but he couldn’t just leave Aspen to face Chase alone.
He took a deep breath, steadying his racing heart, and tried to focus on the lesson. But his mind kept drifting, and after about ten minutes, he gave up. “Hey, man, I’ve got a bit of a family emergency. Can we reschedule? I’ll even throw in a sunrise tour for free to make up for the inconvenience.”
The teenager’s eyes lit up at the word “free,” and Cole pulled out his phone to jot down the new lesson time before packing up his snowboard.
He didn’t know where Aspen might be. Maybe she was at one of the resort’s activities, but he couldn’t be sure.
Either way, he would find her—and hopefully, Chase wouldn’t be with her.