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“Wouldn’t bet on it. I’m glad I survived this,” I say, trying to ignore the sadness in my heart.
He looks at me with a question in his eyes.
“Thank you for the last couple of days, Jesse.”
“Would you—” we say at the same time.
He laughs. “You first,” he says, slicking back his hair with the palm of his hand.
“No, you first,” I counter.
He rolls his eyes, taking a deep breath, his cheeks turning a little red. “After we get a beer, want to come back to my—”
Someone shouts my name, and we both look in the direction of the voice. Shit, it’s Shane with Cillian walking toward us.
“Ace,” Cillian yells, running to me. He picks me up in his arms and twirls me around.
Shane strolls over to us, shooting daggers in Jesse’s direction. Cillian sets me down, and his goofy smile always brings back memories of movie nights with my brothers.
“Looking good, Acie,” Cillian says.
“Hey, guys,” I say, feeling my cheeks overheat as I stare at my boots.
“Hey, man,” Shane says, holding out his hand for Jesse to shake. “Hey, aren’t you,’ he begins, but stops himself mid-sentence.
“I’m a teacher here,” Jesse answers, and I can practically hear their knuckles crack from where I’m standing.
“From a distance, you looked like—”
“I get that a lot,” Jesse grunts, brushing the snow from his gloves.
“Looking good, darling,” Shane says, suddenly standing next to me, then he puts an arm around my shoulders. Shane’s never done this before. And when I glance up into his eyes, he isn’t looking at me, but narrows his eyes at Jesse instead. Snowboard guy in turn glowers at the arm and the way Shane is trying to hold me tight to his chest.
“What have you been up to?” Shane asks with a hostile undertone in his voice.
Jesse’s jaw twitches when he says, “Been giving her lessons these last couple of days.”
“That’s awesome.” Cillian smiles, looking at me and then to Jesse. I recognize his look. He knows something is going on. We’ve been friends for too long to keep shit from each other.
Shane starts to laugh, and I shrug his arm off my shoulders. “Now you can finally keep up with us,” he says.
Cillian ignores Shane and turns to Jesse. “You teach every day?”
“Yes, when I can,” Jesse says, looking at me. “I try to make time in the off season. Had some spare moments the last couple of days.”
“I would have taken you up on the mountain, but I was really busy, Acie,” Shane says.
I nod, and Jesse snorts. “I tell you this, dude, the girl can ride. She just needed a good teacher,” he counters, flashing him a mocking smile, staring at him with a look saying, don’t fuck with me.
The testosterone flies through the air. I’m getting extremely uncomfortable with the whole male showdown happening in front of me. I open my mouth, but Shane beats me to it. “Ace, are you ready to have a well-deserved drink at the lodge?” he asks, ignoring Jesse.
Jesse flashes him a mock smile, shaking his head a little, scratching his stubble.
“I was actually planning on going—”
“Come on, Acie,” Shane says, picking up my snowboard and pushing it in my arms. I look at Jesse, who narrows his eyes at me.
“Nice to meet you, Jesse,” Cillian says, offering Jesse a hand again and they shake.
