“What’s the word on our newest instructor? Has he been on the mountain yet?” Carter helps himself to a beer as Lennon signals someone to bring more.
“Yes, actually. He took a client up today.”
“And?” Carter’s brows disappear behind his hair.
“And I can see why you want Ryder on the mountain. He’s very capable.” My pride won’t let me say more than that since I was initially so skeptical.
“Wait, you actually got Ryder on a board?” Lennon’s jaw drops. “People have been trying to do that for months. That was after they spent the summer trying to get him on a bike, but he ignored everyone.”
“It was his doing.” I have just enough alcohol in me to point the finger at Carter. “And Max’s.”
“Who’s Max?” Sloan asks.
“One of our guests. He’s a fan of Ryder’s so his parents personally requested him as an instructor, and the little guy is hard to say no to. They’re supposed to ride again tomorrow.” My nose wrinkles before I can stop it, which Carter doesn’t miss.
“You don’t sound too happy about that.”
“I’m torn. On the one hand, Max loved it, and I want him to have a good experience. On the other, Ryder implied Max would be able to ride normally, and that’s not really his call to make.”
“Who’s call would it be then?” Lennon’s question isn’t skeptical, just curious.
I take another sip of beer and lick the remnants from my lips. “Normally, it would be the instructors, but since this is the first time he’s worked with someone who has a prothesis, a child no less, I’m not sure he’s got enough experience to know whether it’s true. I don’t want Max to get his hopes up.”
“Fair point.” Carter nods his approval. “But Ryder is an expert on snowboarding, and I assume that makes him a pretty good judge of skill regardless of whether someone has a prosthesis or not. Could he be right?”
“I don’t know.” I chew the corner of my lip. “I’m not a snowboarder so he’s speaking a foreign language to me, which he didn’t seem to appreciate.”
“Would knowing how to snowboard help you understand what Ryder says about Max’s progress?” Carter eyes me over the bottle as he takes a sip, and my mouth goes dry. The answer I should give and the answer I want to give are not the same.
“I suppose it couldn’t hurt.”Being professional sucks.
“Excellent.” Carter pulls his phone from his pants pocket as he rises from the table. “Be right back.”
When he returns with a beaming grin it takes every ounce of strength I possess to feign excitement with his news.
Chapter eleven
Ryder
The last time Carter’s name flashed on my screen I got an ultimatum—get on the mountain or have my probation revoked. It makes me leery of answering his call now, though I suppose he knows where to find me if I don’t. Probably better to rip the Band Aid off then.
“What trouble am I in now?”
“You think I only call when you’ve done something wrong?”
Why the fuck does he sound amused?
“That’s been my experience so far.”
“Noted,” he chuckles. “So, I was just speaking with Hayden…”
“And he complained about what I said to the kid,” I finish for him.Figures the ice prick would run straight to Daddy Carter and tattle on me.“Message received, I overstepped. I’ll let you guys tell Max I’m not his teacher anymore then. And just so you know, I’m right. Hayden would know that if he knew how to ride which, by the way, it’s messed up that he doesn’t.”
“The program he’s building includes lots of activities, winter and summer. He can’t be expected to master them all.”
“Then he shouldn’t contradict the person who knows what he doesn’t.” I have no idea why I’m trying to defend myself—it’s not like I want to be a damn instructor—I’d actually prefer to go back to janitor duty since that means I can get through my hours without talking to anyone. I just need to be right about what Max can do. More right than Hayden is.
Take that, Frosty.
