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I smiled as I got up to shake the hand of Lukas Hendricks, owner of the real estate agency The Hendricks Group and best friend to Emmett’s brother, Julian Hoult. Julian, in turn, was owner of not only the New York Empires, the team that employed Drew Maddox, but Hoult Tower, where both Lukas and my company were located.
Like I said, we were all intertwined.
“I’m great. Can’t complain,” he said, smiling politely at Holland and giving a quick introduction before turning back to me and talking about the one person we had in common—Emmett. “Yeah, we’re actually heading up to Mount Hood this weekend,” he said, getting a genuine look of surprise from me.
“This time of year, huh?”
“Yeah, Lia and the kids are already tired of the heat, and that’s one of the few spots that still has snow in July, so we’re heading out there to do some cooling off, some summer riding. Like I said, Emmett’s coming if you wanna join,” he offered. “I know you're not a snowboarding guy, but I’d be happy to show you the ropes. You'd probably be out-riding me within twenty minutes.”
I smiled despite the palpable shift I felt from Holland without even looking in her direction.
“That sounds great, but I can’t swing a trip in the middle of the season,” I said.
“Shit, right. You got baseball,” Lukas snapped his fingers, shaking his head at himself. “I don’t know how I forgot that. Maybe during the actual winter then, yeah?”
“Maybe,” I laughed, exchanging a few more words with him before saying goodbye and taking my seat once again.
I prioritized taking a drink from my glass before lifting my eyes to the fully
incredulous look I could already feel Holland giving me.
“What?” I said when I finally looked up.
She stared. "Why… didn't you correct him?"
I stared back. “About what?"
“You're not a snowboarding guy? You and Adam are like, the best snowboarders I've ever seen. You are literally the first person I think of when I hear that word.”
I took another drink from my glass. “Huh,” I said, willing her to pick up on my lack of interest and change the topic. But it was too late. I could tell from the faraway look in her eyes that she was already going full-speed down memory lane.
“I swear I remember you and Adam would go all the time. You had that one season where you flew to Wyoming literally every weekend. I still can’t pronounce the name of that place you were obsessed with,” she said rapid-fire, getting excitedly lost in all her recollections.
“It’s just Jackson Hole,” I said tersely.
“No, it’s something more specific. French-sounding. Corbet… Corbet something?”
I was quiet for a moment.
“Corbet’s Couloir,” I finally said.
“Yes.” Holland snapped triumphantly. “Corbet’s Couloir. La Grave. Christmas Chute. Why else would I remember the names of all these random mountains? Because my dad forced me to Google all of them for him–extensively. He was so convinced you guys were going to die on one of them.”
She was laughing now, making fun of her dad, and a part of me wished I could join in her enjoyment, but I couldn’t.
On a day-to-day basis, I was stellar at keeping certain memories buried. Faking as though they never happened, and doing it so well that were it not for Holland right now, I could’ve had that conversation with Lukas without thinking twice about how it was based entirely on a lie.
As if suddenly recognizing the silence, Holland caught herself.
“I’m sorry,” she said abruptly, her big smile fading into a small frown. “I feel like I just… hit a sore spot or something.”
“You didn’t,” I said. Lie. “I just don’t have the time for these things anymore.”
She nodded but frowned. “What about weekends?”
“I don’t take those.”
Her eyebrows went up. “I mean I know you run a pretty big company, but… ever?”
