Chapter 30 Giselle
GISELLE
“How was Thayer feeling this morning?” Shay asked when she found me in the lodge getting a hot chocolate.
“Nervous.”
“I bet,” she said.
“How was Kason?”
“You know your brother. Nothing rattles him.”
I nodded, hating the distance between us. Last night had been tough, acting like we weren’t anything to one another, but I was hopeful that every day was a chance for him to move past his anger and forgive us. “Hey, where were you last night?”
“I had a virtual interview for an internship I’m hoping to get this summer.”
“When will you hear something?”
“In a couple of weeks.”
“They’d be lucky to have you.”
“Heard you ran into Kason last night,” she said, swiftly changing the subject away from her.
“Oh, you mean when he pretended not to know me?”
“He’s gonna get over it,” she said. “He just feels blindsided—and a little foolish that he had no idea.”
“We never meant to do that to him,” I explained. “It just all happened at such a confusing time for me.”
“You don’t have to explain it to me. When Kason and I got together, it was a confusing time for me. I hated him, but at the same time, I saw something redeeming in there too.” She shrugged. “Things happen when you least expect them to.”
I thought about her words as we made our way to the bottom of the slope, where the Big Air qualifier was about to begin.
Qualifiers didn’t draw the huge crowd the finals drew, as there were fifty-five snowboarders broken into two heats, compared to the ten who made it to the finals.
Kason was in the first heat, so I went to support him—whether he wanted me there or not.
Thayer was off warming up for his second heat appearance.
“Dropping in first is Sven Larkin from Sweden,” the announcer said over the speakers.
Larkin flew over the hill, flipping numerous times before coming down hard on the snow and heading straight toward us, swerving before hitting the containment fencing.
We waited, and a score of 70 flashed on the leaderboard.
He looked disappointed as he moved off to the side to the area where participants waited for the snowmobile to bring them back up for their second run.
It was the best of two scores out of 100.
So, it was understandable that he would have been disappointed with that score.
Unlike the practice round, one snowboarder after another brought out their bigger tricks. If they didn’t, they risked not making it to the finals.
“Dropping in now is Kason McCloud from the US,” the announcer said.
Kason flew over the ramp, showing off an 1880 with a board grab.
When he landed it, everyone cheered. I watched the leaderboard, waiting for his score to appear.
When a 90 flashed and his name moved into the second-place spot, he pumped his fist. He was clearly satisfied with his score and second-place spot, as long as he could keep it.
He scored a 91 for his second run, which kept him in the number two spot and earned him a place in the finals.
After his heat, he disappeared with Shay who looked apologetically at me. She knew he’d be kicking himself later for not sticking around to support Thayer.
The second heat began shortly after. Thayer was the last snowboarder to go, so by the time his name was announced, I was freezing. But I wouldn’t be anywhere but there. I pushed my way to the front of the small crowd so I could be the first face he saw once he landed his run.
“Dropping in for the US is Thayer Caruthers.”
I held my breath. He flew over the ramp, grabbed the back of his board and rotated in the air once, twice, three times, four.
He landed his trick smoother than my brother had, and I could breathe again.
He swerved to a stop in front of me, his eyes on mine and his smile mirroring my own.
He unsnapped his boots from his board and held it in his arms while looking at the leaderboard.
My heart began to race. He just had to be in the top five.
He needed this. And I needed this for him.
A score of 89.5 appeared on the leaderboard. People cheered, and Thayer looked to me, exhaling his relief. His name appeared in the fifth-place spot.
Going into his second run, he was still in fifth place.
Since he was the last snowboarder to go, he didn’t need to do anything, and he’d still be in the finals.
I watched as he sped down the mountain, doing a fancy board grab when he peaked the hill but no flips.
It earned him a low score, but it didn’t matter.
He was safe and in the finals! Right where he belonged.
Thayer
Darkness had settled over Steamboat when Giselle and I showed up for the evening festivities. It wouldn’t have been much of a celebration if I hadn’t made it to the finals. But I had. And I was so damn happy I didn’t show up after a year and suck.
Savage Beasts was performing on the main stage. There were colorful flashing lights and a huge crowd when we arrived in the VIP section. The lead singer, Z Savage, was singing one of their biggest hits, and Giselle couldn’t have been more excited.
“I can’t believe they’re playing here!” Giselle squealed.
I laughed because she used to love Z. She even had a shirtless photo of him as her screensaver for the longest time.
Giselle was standing on her tiptoes, trying to get a better look over the crowd in the reserved area. It was adorable.
I moved behind her and squatted down. She glanced over her shoulder and realized what I was doing. A huge smile spread across her face as she widened her stance. I stuck my head between her legs and lifted her right onto my shoulders, giving her one of the best views in the crowd.
She threw her arms in the air and sang at the top of her lungs to the rock music Z belted out.
It was the most immature thing I’d seen her do in years, and I loved every second of it.
She deserved to let loose. She deserved to be the twenty-three-year-old girl she was.
She may have veered off course for a while there, but it was about damn time that the old Giselle returned.
And I couldn’t have been more stoked to have a front row seat to it.
The song ended, and she threw her head back and screamed with all the other girls in the crowd. I glanced around and spotted Kason, who I hadn’t noticed when we got there. His eyes were on us. I lifted my chin to acknowledge him, but he looked away.
What the hell was it gonna take?
The next song began, and it was slower.
“I love this song!” Giselle called. “Can you put me down?”
I tipped my head back and looked up at her. “What?”
“Put me down.”
I squatted down until her feet touched the ground, and she stepped off my shoulders.
When I stood back up, she’d already wrapped her arms over my shoulders, unafraid to ask for what she wanted.
I slipped my arms around her waist and pulled her against my chest, swaying us to the music in the middle of a bunch of drunk snowboarders.
“This is so awesome,” she gushed.
“Dancing with me?”
She chuckled. “That too.”
“Ouch.”
She laughed. “Come on, Thayer. It’s freaking Zzzzzzz!”
“I guess I just don’t understand the draw.”
She pressed her lips to mine in a hard kiss. “Don’t be jealous. You’re still Thayer freaking Caruthers.”
I smirked.
“And no rockstar will ever come close to that.”
“Liar.”
Her entire face lit up, and even though I knew she was lying, I’d take it.