Chapter 45
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
Abby
Tucking my ski poles under my arm, I move my goggles over my eyes and stare up at the brilliantly blue sky. We couldn’t have picked a better day to go skiing. We got a fresh batch of snow two days ago but today is sunny and warm.
Today is the first full day the guys and I have been able to sneak away together in… ever, I guess.
With a little help from both sets of Mav’s grandparents, my guys and I have the whole day to ourselves, where we know Mav and Oliver are taken care of. They will honestly be having more fun than they would have if we were with them.
I would have been fine doing absolutely nothing today as long as we got to do it together.
We’ve been doing this whole testing-the-waters thing for almost two months now. The only thing keeping this from feeling like a real relationship is the fact that we’re hiding it from people in our lives, mainly our kids.
These two months have been both the best and worst of my life. Being with them has healed a part of me I didn’t even realize was broken.
Our relationship as a whole has grown, but my individual relationships with all of them have also grown deeper with each passing day. Every time I have to act like they don’t mean everything to me, an ache builds sharper in my chest.
It feels like it’s slowly cutting off the blood flow to my heart. I don’t know how much longer I can take this.
I want to be with them for real. I want Mav and Oliver to know. I want everyone to know. I want to hold their hands outside of stolen moments here and there.
I want to sleep in the same bed as them without having to sneak out in the middle of the night. I want to wrap them in a hug as soon as I see any of them, regardless of where we are.
A whole day to be with them openly is a dream come true. But when they asked me if I wanted to go skiing on our day of freedom, I was surprised.
“What?” I ask, turning to look at Wyatt.
“Do you want to go skiing on Saturday?” he asks again.
I heard him the first time, but I’m still confused. I look between all three of them. “You guys ski?”
They all nod.
“I wouldn’t have pegged you guys as skiers,” I say, cocking my head to the side.
“Don’t judge a book by its cover,” Linc says, giving me a knowing look.
“We grew up in Steamboat Springs. There’s a ski resort right there, so it just kind of happens,” Kane says.
“Kane and I were ski instructors when we were in high school,” Wyatt adds.
This makes me smile. “Really?” They both nod in confirmation. I turn to Linc. “Not you?”
“No, I worked at a garage back then.”
“But you know how to ski.”
He smirks. “Snowboard, not ski…I mean, I can ski, but I’d rather be on my board. I needed something to get the adrenaline rush when I couldn’t ride my motorcycle.”
This I can wholeheartedly believe. I can just picture a teenage Linc being a little daredevil.
“I’ve seen the skis in your coat closet—I’m guessing you know how?” Kane asks.
I’ve loved to ski since I was a kid, and my parents taught me how. I don’t get out to do it nearly as much as I used to, but I try to go a handful of times each season.
Mav knows how, but it’s never been his thing. He’s always begging me to go back to the lodge so he can read whatever book he’s in the middle of at the time.
Kane bumps his shoulder against mine. “You ready?”
“Yup, let’s do this.”
“Show us what you got, hot stuff,” Wyatt says.
I’m not a professional by any stretch, but I’m more than comfortable on a pair of skis on the side of a snowy mountain.
Using my poles to push off from the top of the hill, I start zig-zagging my way down. I drag in a deep breath of mountain air that clears my mind and cleanses my soul.
I shake my head, laughing when Wyatt zooms past me, whooping and hollering the entire time. He might be acting like a buffoon, but he clearly knows what the hell he’s doing.
Linc slides around me on his board, facing the opposite direction he should be. “Don’t fall,” he tells me before whipping around and taking off toward where Wyatt is becoming a tiny dot in the distance.
I look over my shoulder, but I can’t find Kane. Maybe he detoured off on one of the other runs that connect at the top of the hill, but I kind of doubt he would do that, especially on the first run of the day.
Skis slide along either side of mine. A firm body presses against my back as we continue to move down the slope.
“Hey,” Kane whispers in my ear. His arms wrap around my chest, holding me close. I tilt my head to the side, grinning up at him.
I’m not looking where we’re going, but I trust him to keep me safe. I’m trusting him with my heart, so this seems like a small token comparatively.
“Hey, handsome.”
He kisses me quickly before turning his gaze back to the snow-covered hill before us. He gives me one last squeeze before releasing me.
With a gentle shove to my back, he pushes me a safe distance away. I expect him to do his own thing the rest of the way, but he slides in beside me and grabs my glove-covered hand.
Kane is the sweetest man I have ever met. He looks like a big brute on the outside, but he’s pure honey on the inside.
He’s fiercely protective of the people he loves, but that isn’t his default setting. His nature is to always lead with kindness, and I love this about him.
We meander our way down hand in hand, neither of us able to wipe the smiles from our faces.
My legs feel like Jello at this point, but I’m determined to do one more run. After that, I’ll probably go lounge in the lodge until the guys are done for the day. I work out, but I’m not in all-day skiing shape.
“Do you want to race or take our time?” Wyatt asks as we move away from the lift at the top of the hill. I follow him to where the black course starts.
He’s gone down a few of the harder courses on his own throughout the day, but this is my max.
“You’re going to kick my ass if we race,” I say, rolling my eyes.
“I’ll kiss it better at the bottom if I do.”
“Fine,” I huff, sliding in next to him.
“I’ll give you a thirty-second head start,” he says.
“Fuck you,” I grumble. I should be taking his offer with open hands, but my pride is a little too strong for that.
“Just take the win.” His smile is infectious. It turns my frown upside down.
I’m just about to take off when he puts a hand on either side of my helmet, turning my head toward him. He smacks a loud kiss on my lips.
“Good luck, beautiful.”
“I would tell you good luck, but we both know you don’t need it.”
Wyatt is one of the best skiers I have ever seen in real life. I’ve watched him do flips and tricks all day long without even thinking about it. His body just does what he wants. It’s kind of unfair.
Using my arms, I take off. I might not be as skilled as Wyatt, but I would rather roll over and die than hand this win over to him on a silver platter. No, I’m going to make him work for it.
There aren’t as many people on this course, so I’m able to easily take the shortest route. I hear a whoop behind me, cueing Wyatt’s start to the race.
I crouch down a little further, trying to propel myself even faster. I glance over my shoulder, seeing him already barreling toward me.
How the fuck is he this fast?
Still moving as fast as I can, I navigate around another curve. I spare another glance behind me. He’s already closing the distance between us. I can already see the damn smile plastered across his face.
I whip my head around just in time to see the tree I’m about to collide with. I pull on my years of experience to try to change course. I skirt around the tree but lose control in the process.
I’m moving so fast, my momentum sends me careening into the packed snow. My body rolls several times before skittering to a stop in a softer patch of snow.
I groan, dragging in jagged breaths of air, one after another. Snow flies up around me as Wyatt slams to a stop beside me.
“Abby,” he shouts as he snaps his boots from his skis in a flash. He picks them up, shoving the ends in the snow so they don’t slide away.
He moves his goggles up onto his helmet and plops onto his knees beside me. I look up into his gold-flecked eyes from where I’m sprawled across the snow on my back.
“Fuck, baby,” he says, gently running his hands over my body. He’s searching for any signs of injury, but that’s kind of hard to do when someone is entirely bundled up in winter gear. “Did you hurt anything?”
I take a second to think about how my body actually feels, now that a little of the initial shock has subsided. “My back kind of hurts, but not bad.”
“Nothing else?” he asks.
“No,” I say, shaking my head against the snow beneath me.
He gently grips the edge of my goggles and shifts them up. His eyes bore into me. “Did you hit your head?”
My mind thinks through the crash. It’s all kind of a blur, but I didn’t hit my head on anything. “No.”
He lets out a relieved breath, shoulders relaxing. He grabs my hands, slowly helping me to sit up. Delicate fingers swipe snow off my cheeks, and I lean into his touch.
“You scared the shit out of me,” he says, touching the side of my face. “If something happened…” His words trail off as he shakes his head.
Reaching up, I wrap my glove-covered hand around his forearm. “But I’m fine. I promise.” I might be a little sore tomorrow, but I’m not injured.
His forehead falls against mine. Only our helmets separate us from being skin-to-skin. “I’m so sorry.”
“It isn’t your fault.”
“It is,” he says, shaking his head. “It was my idea to do this stupid race in the first place, and you only turned around to see where I was. It’s absolutely my fault.”
“Wyatt, no.” I grip both of his shoulders, giving him a little shake. “Accidents happen.”
“I know, but… fuck.”
He doesn’t worry often, but when he does, his worry can become all-consuming—especially if it’s about one of the people he cares deeply about. And I am now one of those people.