11. Oliver
ELEVEN
Oliver
“You’re killing it, man. You sure you’ve never boarded before?” I held out my hand for a high five, and my lesson of the day slapped it with his thick glove-covered hand.
Kevin was visiting Key Ridge from California and was easily the best person I’d taught in the few weeks since I’d been out here. He was maybe thirty-five, forty? I couldn’t tell, and the fact that he was so in shape made it hard to gauge his age. His laid-back attitude gave him that youthful glow too.
“I’ve only ever skied, but I am pretty good at that,” he admitted, pulling down his bandana.
“I know the lesson is technically over, but how about one more run?” I asked.
Kevin pulled out his phone and checked it briefly before sliding it back into his pocket. “Let’s do it.”
It was unusually cold today, with light snow flurries drifting down during the few afternoon runs we’d completed. Usually, days like these were reserved for late January or even February, but by March, I had come to expect blue skies and warmer temps. I’d always take fresh snow though. It extended the season and made the conditions better.
“I ski too. I’ve always preferred boarding though.” I unstrapped my back foot and glided over to the ski lift. The mountain was crowded considering it was Sunday, but thankfully there was a second line reserved for lessons. Kevin and I moved to the front of the line, and I nodded my head in greeting to the younger guy working the lift before we were back on the chairlift and heading up the mountain.
I leaned back in the seat as the ground whizzed by below us. Everywhere I looked, skiers and boarders were catching turns or tumbling into the thick snow. I fucking loved it here. Honestly, it was kind of hard to believe I’d spent so many years in Denver when places like this were only hours away. Granted, many of them were expensive as hell, but Key Ridge had managed to maintain much of its quaintness despite the big resorts and developments coming up around it.
“Do you ski a lot out in Cali?” I asked Kevin while the lift slowly moved us up the hill.
“Not as much as I used to, but we always try to visit one new mountain every winter. The last two years, we’ve gone up to Canada.”
I whistled. “I’ve been meaning to get up there.”
Kevin swept his glove through the air, gesturing toward the endless expanse of snow-covered mountains stretching out before us, their peaks disappearing into the horizon. “Well, it’s tough to leave when you’ve got all this at your back door.”
“That’s true,” I said, breathing it all in.
Kevin was cool. Even though he was older than me, I saw a similarity in us. Hell, a new mountain every winter? Now that was the kind of plan I could get behind.
I had never been the kind of kid who knew what they wanted to be when they grew up. And now that I was partially grown, I still didn’t have the faintest idea. Nathan was always the successful genius in the family, leaving me to be the adventurous one with the wanderlust spirit. Maybe I could drift from mountain town to mountain town. Frankie was all excited about helping me find a life plan, but maybe what was next for me was to be planless. Everyone acted like I was falling behind while they moved on with their lives, but I wasn’t even thirty, for Christ’s sake.
“So where are you off to next?” I asked Kevin as we neared the top of the hill.
“Who knows. We likely won’t decide until next year.”
“Love the spontaneity,” I said.
I angled my body as we arrived at the top of the lift and leaned forward to easily exit and move out of the way of the rotating chairs. Kevin followed behind. Even though he said he’d only had one beginner lesson prior to today, I hardly believed the guy. He’d picked up everything right away and was already cruising down intermediate runs.
Although, come to think of it, that was how I had been when I first got started snowboarding. I hadn’t grown up doing the activity, but I had gotten a skateboard for my tenth birthday after I’d begged my mom. I used to drag my best friend, Harrison, to the skate park two blocks away from my house. It had taken me awhile to pick it up, but I was naturally pretty good at learning a new skill. When I first came out to Colorado, I’d bought a secondhand snowboard and drove out to the mountains to give it a try. The next season, I was already trying my hand at a competition. Granted, I didn’t win—not by a long shot—but I had a good time. It was actually that competition where I’d first met Giles.
“Alright, you sure you’re good to go down this hill?” I asked Kevin. “If you stay to the left, it’s groomed, but the right does have some moguls. ”
“You lead, and I’ll see what I can manage,” Kevin said.
I pulled down my goggles, grateful I had remembered to grab the ones for darker days. The sun was still nowhere in sight.
Cruising down the mountain, I kept my right foot forward to practice my switch riding. I did this a lot when teaching lessons—the beginner terrain wasn’t very challenging for me, so it was good to practice the skill.
I kept right to hit the moguls, weaving in and out of them as I careened down the hill. There were a few spots of fresh snow that had just fallen and I let out a loud “Whoop!” as I cruised through some especially soft spots. Boarding all day every day like this was a dream—one which I absolutely did not want to wake up from.
It only took about five minutes for us to reach the bottom. I’d slowed a few times on the way down to check on Kevin, but he hadn’t fallen once. He honestly barely even looked shaken anymore. Damn. He was goals. He was who I wanted to be in ten years—bumming around different mountains, learning new skills, being an all-around badass. It was comforting to see someone not conforming to the typical wife-and-kids route. Gave me hope that my current lifestyle didn’t really need adjusting after all.
“You killed that.” I held up a hand for another high five, and Kevin met it. We both slipped off our helmets, and I tucked mine underneath my left arm, shaking out my hair in the process.
“Thanks. Today has been epic. I’m stoked I finally feel confident on one of these things.” He unstrapped his board, and I followed suit.
“You’re a natural. Hey, I’m about to grab dinner in town. Would you want to?—”
Before I could ask him to join me, a little girl that only came up to my waist in a bright-pink ski jacket flung herself at Kevin. “Daddy!” she yelled excitedly.
Kevin laughed and leaned down to kiss her forehead. “Sweetie. How did you do in your lesson?”
“She did amazing. As if there was ever any doubt.” A tall woman with black hair peeking out of a white knit beanie walked up to Kevin and gave him a kiss on the lips. “And how was your lesson?”
“Ollie here is the best,” Kevin said. “He had me in way better shape than I ever thought I could be. We’ll have to get you out there next.”
“I don’t think so,” the woman—who I gathered must be Kevin’s wife—said. She turned to me, shaking her head. “I used to love skiing, but I broke my leg a few years back. Now I’m officially retired.”
“She always did like cocktails in a warm lodge more than being on the slopes anyway.” Kevin looked at her with fond familiarity.
“Hey.” She swatted his chest. “I was good, thank you very much.”
“This is my wife, Stephanie, and daughter, Sam, by the way. This is my instructor, Ollie.”
“Nice to meet you,” I said, trying to hide my surprise that Kevin had this whole family. Even though I’d only met him today, this didn’t fit into the vision I’d crafted of him—the vision I had already started modeling my own life after. In reality, Kevin was apparently a family man. Not at all what I saw for my future.
“Can you teach me to snowboard?” Sam asked.
I chuckled and bent down so that I was closer to her level. “I most definitely could. I bet you’re a natural, just like your dad.”
“Let’s master skiing first,” Stephanie said, smiling .
I looked down at Sam. “Maybe next year.”
Her smile widened, revealing two missing top teeth.
While I hadn’t spent too much time around kids, I had given my fair share of lessons to them throughout the years. While I preferred the more advanced lessons, kids always impressed me with their resiliency and lack of fear. They would truly just go shooting down the mountain without a care or a single thought toward their well-being. Meanwhile, most beginner adults completely got stuck in their own heads. Frankie’s lesson came to mind…
“Thanks again. We’ve got to go catch our dinner reservation, but I really appreciate today.”
I shook Kevin’s hand and said my goodbyes, watching as he walked away with his little family.
They were cute, but I felt zero pang of longing for that dynamic. My childhood had proven to me that just because you can call it a family in name didn’t mean it acted like one.
I slung my board underneath my arm and headed in the direction of my studio apartment. A hot shower to shake the internal chill that had gripped onto my bones sounded more than enticing.
“Ollie!” My name echoed along the bottom of the mountain. I whipped around to see Giles walking toward me, his own snowboard still in hand.
“Hey,” I greeted him. “You trying to grab a drink?”
Did I sound too hopeful? Too desperate?
“Nah,” Giles said. “I was just getting a few runs in, waiting for Mattie to finish up at the lodge. We’re making dinner together since Frankie is working again.”
“Sister-in-law cramping your style?” I joked.
Giles shrugged. “I think anyone in my space for an extended period of time would eat at me a little. But Frankie is trying really hard to get a job so I’m trying not to stress her out more. Plus, she works at Marie’s most nights lately.”
“Right, I’ve seen her in there.” A huge understatement. I’d learned her schedule and had eaten dinner there every night she worked this week. While the food was fine—good, even—I was beyond sick of the roasted vegetables and healthy crap that was exclusively on the menu. I’d kill for a burger and fries. But any time I thought about going somewhere else—sitting alone at a table for one—I found myself wandering into Marie’s yet again to sit on a barstool in front of Frankie. I’d suffer through another plate of rabbit food if it meant getting whatever free time she had in between pouring drinks.
“If you’re trying to get a drink somewhere, I think some of the seasonal workers were headed to The Ridge.”
I winced at the thought. I’d tried hanging out with some of those guys when I’d first gotten here, but they all made me feel ancient. Last weekend, they’d gone out for one of the guy’s twenty-first birthday, and at least two people in the group had asked me to look at their fake IDs to see if they looked legit.
“I’m good,” I said.
Giles chuckled. “Too young for you?” he asked knowingly.
“Is that what I seemed like to you when we met?” Giles was a little older than me, and I don’t even think I was twenty when we first met.
“If anything, you seemed even more exuberant, if that’s possible,” he joked. “But I liked you. You weren’t afraid to try anything. Plus, you had a good head on your shoulders. Responsible.”
“You’re probably the only person to describe me like that. Can you put in a good word with Frankie?” I wanted to take the words away the second they came out.
Giles lifted his eyebrows, but didn’t necessarily look surprised that I’d brought her up. “You’re hanging out with her tomorrow, right?”
“Not like that,” I said, even though he hadn’t actually suggested anything. And I wasn’t sure how to describe what Frankie and I were doing tomorrow. The word “date” didn’t quite fit, but what other term could describe two people who had kissed, still felt a spark of attraction, and were now spending time alone together?
Giles held up his hands. “I didn’t say anything.”
I still felt the need to explain myself, like word vomit. “We’re both new in town, we don’t know many people. I just wanted to hang out and make it up to her after the snowboarding nightmare.”
“I think she’s half expecting that to be the surprise,” Giles said. “She told Mattie yesterday that if you parked at the base of the mountain and brought out another snowboard, she was walking home.”
That made me grin. “I should do that to mess with her.”
“She’ll like what you have planned. I’m glad you’re taking her out. She needs to loosen up a little. She’s constantly on her computer, obsessing over an interview or a rejection letter. It can’t be healthy.”
Giles had actually given me the idea of where to take Frankie.
“I’m happy to provide a distraction. It’s my specialty,” I said, not even kidding. That’s what I’d become known for—lightening the mood with a joke when things got too serious or planning a pointless day trip to distract someone from something heavy. It was the role I’d played my entire life.
“I should go,” I said, even though my only plans were to sit around alone in my apartment. “I’ll let you get to your night. ”
We said our goodbyes, and Giles walked in the direction of his house while I turned toward my apartment.
When I strolled up the driveway to the stairs that led to my front door, Bev’s garage opened. I scooted out of the way as she backed her car up.
“Want me to pick you up anything from the store?” she called.
“Nah, I’m good, thanks.” I stopped at her window and leaned against my snowboard.
Bev shook her head in disapproval. “I don’t know how you exercise all day and hardly eat.”
I chuckled. “I eat. I just don’t cook.”
She brushed off my flippant response. “Fine. Whatever.”
“Have a good night, Bev.” I waved as she pulled out onto the street and drove away.
I took the stairs to my apartment two at a time and pushed open the door. The studio was a small square of a room, with a kitchen on one wall, a bed in the back corner, and a small living room setup taking up the rest of the space. It was cozy, though. Apparently, Mattie had lived here for a while when she’d first moved to Key Ridge. She’d joked with me that it was a rite of passage to falling in love with the town. I told her I had no intention of staying past the winter, but she’d just said, “We’ll see.”
I stripped off my clothes and hopped into the hot shower, cranking it up a few degrees hotter than I would normally deem tolerable. Once I’d properly seared myself, I pulled on some gray sweatpants and a worn navy-blue hoodie that said Outdoor Adventures on it from the wilderness store I used to work at.
The small kitchen had barely been touched since I’d moved in, but I still pulled open the fridge door as if expecting food to magically appear. It was empty, except for the random condiments in the door and the one carton of eggs I’d purchased. The thought of scrambled eggs for dinner made me gag on the patheticness more than the taste. I slammed the fridge door shut and pulled out my phone to scroll for dinner ideas.
There was a sandwich shop at the edge of town that I’d yet to try. I’d do that.
But as soon as I put on my coat and my boots, I’d already changed my mind. Because a sandwich alone was equally as sad as staying in this apartment by myself.
There was only one place I could go to feel slightly less alone right now. I hustled down the stairs, and toward the entrance to Marie’s.
I was more than prepared to scarf down yet another salad just to see her.