Mattie would give anything to see my love story unfold before her eyes. She wanted me to settle down with someone, like she had. She imagined a future where our families lived nearby, or at the very least, shared an annual tradition of taking trips together. But that wasn’t the life I envisioned for myself. Marriage was never something I’d considered, let alone dreamed about.
“You’re right, sorry. It sounds like an amazing opportunity,” she finally said.
“It is,” I insisted, ignoring the pit that had started to hollow itself inside my stomach.
“Oh look, it’s Giles about to drop in.” She pointed excitedly as her husband pushed forward onto the course. The whole crowd erupted in cheers. He was a bit of a towncelebrity given the fact that he’d done this professionally for so many years before moving back.
Giles hit the first jump and threw a back flip like it was nothing. He landed and grinded along a pipe with ease before popping off. The crowd whistled their approval.
“Damn!” I nudged Mattie. “Did you know your husband was this good?”
She shot me a smile before turning back toward the mountain, beaming as she watched him. “Go Giles!”
I joined in her cheering as he made quick, effortless work of the rest of the course. When he got to the bottom, he stopped, spraying the slushy snow.
Mattie and I clapped and cheered along with everyone else. He unstrapped and walked over to us, tugging the bandana that covered his face down so he could walk straight to Mattie and kiss her.
“Nice one,” she said, beaming up at him.
“Love you,” he said back, pressing his forehead to hers.
Something inside me splintered a little watching them together. That was a new feeling. I typically loved being a fly on the wall, able to witness how absurdly in love these two were. But something about watching them now made me feel a little despondent.
“Oliver’s going.” Mattie caught my attention and tilted her head to the course.
I lifted my gaze to watch as Oliver waved at the crowd, lifting his arms a few times in order to pump everyone up. It worked. He tipped his board forward and dropped into the course.
He hit the first jump and my jaw nearly hit the floor when he spun in a full three-hundred-sixty-degree turn. The crowd ate it up as he moved onto one of the rails. He landed on it,but jumped off halfway, getting air and grabbing the edge of his board in the process.
“Shit, I didn’t know he was that good,” I hissed, looking on with awe as Oliver executed yet another trick.
When he made it to the bottom, he stopped even closer to the crowd than Giles had, spraying them with snow in the process. Instead of being annoyed, everyone cheered even louder.
He took off his board and lifted it in the air, pumping his arms a few times.
Mattie and I screamed in support as he sauntered over to us.
“Nice one, Ollie. You killed that,” Giles said, holding out his fist for Oliver to bump.
“Seriously,” I added. “I had no idea you could do that.”
“You thought my skills were limited to what you saw those two hours we spent on the bunny hill together?” he teased, setting his board down on the snow and pulling me into his side. I loved that about him. So quick to always tether himself to me whenever we were in each other’s vicinity. It made me feel wanted in ways I’d never felt before. More than just physically or sexually. Wanted in every way.
“No. I just didn’t know you could do all that.” I gestured to the course, where a skier was now taking a turn hitting the obstacles. “You really undersold your skills.”
He chuckled and ran a hand through his tussled hair. “I didn’t undersell anything. You’re just not easily impressed.”
“False. I was very easily impressed just now.”
He smirked. “That’s because the tricks I did weren’t easy at all.”
I shrugged and pretended to be blasé. “I mean, they were okay. Not as good as Giles but?—”
A squeal escaped me as Oliver tickled my sides.
“You done talking shit?” he teased, but I couldn’t even respond due to being breathless from laughter.
“You could have gone pro if you wanted to,” Giles chimed in.
