"How’d you sleep?" He asks, his voice turning soft with concern.
"Amazing," I answer, half-lie. I did sleep great next to Aspen, but his bed isn’t exactly the comfiest.
"Good. You ready for a full day of riding?"
"Ready as I’ll ever be,"I say, my excitement creeping in despite the early hour.
Aspen rolls out of bed and starts getting dressed. I follow suit, slipping out from under the covers and unzipping my suitcase.
I’m a little tired after last night, the sex and the tutoring. Aspen stayed up with me to help me do a couple assignments just as he promised. If he keeps this up, I might never let him go.
I grab a pair of black leggings out of my luggage and a tight black long sleeve to start. Over that, I pull on my black snow pants and a black zip-up. Once we're about to head out, I'll throw on my puffer coat to complete the look.
I have to take a shit, but there’s no way I’m doing that here. The last thing I want is for Aspen to smell anything foul comingfrom his bathroom, so I’ll have to hold it until we get to the resort. I hate being a girl sometimes. It’s funny—there are men out there who think women don’t poop or fart, like we’re somehow exempt. I wish we didn’t, but hey, we’re all human.
All I’m saying is, dating should come with a poop-free honeymoon period.
Not that Aspen and I are dating.
My brain is running in circles.
Aspen heads to the bathroom to brush his teeth and I use the time to finish getting dressed. I put on two pairs of socks and my snow boots. He comes back out, looking as good as ever. For someone who claims to have no fashion sense and doesn’t care about what he wears, he somehow makes everything look like it came straight off the runway.
Now it’s my turn. I brush my teeth, comb my hair, and do a quick, simple skincare routine.
Normally, I wake up looking like I spent hours getting ready, but today? Not so much. Every night, I do a Korean face mask that stays on overnight, then I apply a lip stain. I also put heatless rollers in my hair to sleep in which I cover with a silk bonnet, and I wear mouth tape. This way, when I wake up, I just take everything out, touch up for about ten minutes, and I’m good to go. I call it my morning shed.
But you’ve got me all the way messed up if you think I’m going to sleep next to Aspen looking like Aunt Jemima meets a creepy Korean voodoo doll.
Luckily, I woke up with a little bit of leftover curl from yesterday and no surprise acne. I apply my last serum for the morning, take one last look at myself. It’s weird how hard I try to look effortless. But for some reason, I don’t want him to see the messy, high-maintenance version of me—not yet.
I step out of the bathroom. “You hungry?” Aspen asks, his voice casual.
I hate how effortlessly handsome he looks. Meanwhile, I could easily spend two hours getting ready if it weren’t for the times I sleep in heatless curlers to save time.
“Not really, I can wait until lunch,” I tell him.
"You sure? My boss is cooking again,"he says with a chuckle.
"Oh, shit. Maybe he’ll let me cook my own meal,"I reply with a grin.
"I’m sure he will. You ready to go?"
"Ready!"I answer, and together we exit the apartment.
***
Pulling up to the resort at this time is nice and peaceful. Aspen has to come in thirty minutes before opening so the only people here are the employees. He parks his car in the parking lot and then we walk into the main building. Aspen tells me to wait in the lobby area while he goes to clock in fast. While I’m waiting I see no one other than his brother, Everest.
“Gen?! What are you doing here? Came back to tell me how wrong you were for choosing my brother and you missed me?” He says, typical Everest.
“You’re so full of yourself,” I say through a laugh. “How are you two even related?” I ask.
“Honestly no clue, but seriously, what are you doing here? I thought you left a few days ago,” he asks.
“Aspen asked me to come back,” I tell him.
“Ohhh,” he says as his mouth takes an “O” shape. “That’s why he wanted your number. So you came cause you like him!” He says like a little kid while poking my stomach.
