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“You know this is supposed to be a party?” he says jokingly, giving us both curious eyes, then joins us at the railing.
We both nod, but don’t say anything.
“He would have liked this, having us all together,” Layne whispers, as snow starts to fall.
None of us say anything; we know who he is talking about. And for the first time in a long time, the memory of my brother’s smiling face doesn’t hurt that much, because I know he died being in love, and not giving a shit what others thought.
It’s late at night when I get back to my room. Rebel stretches from his place on the bed, and I smile when he closes his eyes again and goes right back to sleep. Luckily, the owner of the motel took to my doggo and promised to walk him during the day. She’s probably been showering him with well-deserved cuddles and snacks.
I open the porch door and breathe in the smell of the snow and the woods. It will be hard to leave Aspen behind, and I still don’t know what I should do. Maybe I should go to my parents’. Grabbing a bottle of water, my phone starts ringing.
“Ace here,” I say, picking up the phone, not looking at the caller ID.
“Hi, darling,” Ray says.
“What’s up, handsome?” I grin and head out to the porch and put my feet up against the railing, looking at the lights in the distance.
“My dick an hour ago, but who’s counting?” He snickers, and I laugh.
“How’s Africa?” I ask, pulling a thick fleece blanket over my legs. I loved house sitting in Seattle for them.
“It’s been great. Garrett is taking beautiful pictures, and I’ve been helping out at a couple of mobile clinics.”
“That’s awesome,” I say. “What was the exciting news, lover boy?”
“We wanted to ask if you would have time to head over to our apartment in Aspen. You’re there for the X Games, right? You know, if you want you can stay there instead of a motel…” he tells me, and I almost drop the bottle in my lap.
“You mean that?” I ask, surprised.
I place the water with a shaking hand on the table in front of me.
“You okay, hon, with being back?” Ray asks. “We know how much you hate going home. We’re putting the place up for sale and only keeping Seattle. And we thought you might want to use it for a while. Till you grow a pair and to talk to your parents.”
“You know me too well,” I mutter. My parents have left me countless messages asking if I would stop by, maybe I should take this as a sign to go home.
“We will be home in Seattle on Monday, but the family that’s interested wanted to check out the Aspen place first. I sent them a couple of pictures and they wanted to see it in person. They’re in town that week and would love to check it out on Monday.”
Maybe it’s time to stay. It would give me a chance to swing by Angie’s and figure out what I want to do. And maybe I can see Jesse again.
“Okay, I’ll do it,” I say without really thinking it through. “Email me the particulars, and I’ll show the people around.”
“They’re really nice,” Ray tells me.
“They must be if they want to live there,” I say, and he chuckles. I visited their place once a couple of years back. From what I remember, it was a big apartment with two garages below, and three-sixty views of the center of Aspen.
“Ace, I have to go, kid. I’m on a payphone.”
“What happened to your cell?” I chuckle. Ray is always losing stuff.
“Don’t ask.” He laughs. “We’ll try to call next week. Love you.”
“Love you too, Ray, and give Garrett a kiss from me,” I tell him when my phone buzzes from an incoming text.
“Will do,” he says, and he’s gone.
I stare at my phone, reading the text from Jesse. He sent me a picture of a beautiful sunset from high up on the mountain, with a wish you were here under it. I don’t know what to respond, so I wait. But damn, I can’t stop thinking about his gray eyes, the way he talks, his lopsided grin. Maybe I should send him a text. I open his message and stare at my phone until my eyes hurt. A message from Shane pops up. Thank you for telling me about Ronnie. Looking forward to seeing you tomorrow on the mountain. I stare at both messages, and start to type, See you later, snowboard guy. I watch the three gray dots flicker on my screen, but an answer doesn’t come.
