Page 16 of Fall Apart

Was I almost theother womanfor him that night?

My blood almost boils thinking about that possibility. I take a deep breath, remembering that from everything I know about the Chapmans they are insanely loyal people. But it still doesn’t sit right with me.

I look down the table at Tanner, V, and Collin. “What time do you guys need to hit the road tomorrow?” I tilt my head, squinting with one eye in thought. “It’s like a five hour drive back to Jackson, right?”

Tanner sets his beer down and wraps his arm around Veronica, who rests her head on his shoulder with an impossibly sweet smile, almost as if it was a natural reflex to his touch. “Yeah. About five hours. There might be more snow coming in tomorrow night, so ideally we should hit the road a little after lunch.”

I take a sip of my wine, nodding. “Great. Then we should still be able to get in a full morning of skiing.”

“You guys lucked out on conditions this week.” I look back at Kayleigh, almost startled by her. She’s been mostly quiet, sharing little whispers and giggles with Clay after catching up with Tanner earlier on. “I’ll be out on the slopes tomorrow training.”

“Training?” I ask, leaning forward on my elbows. “Do you work at the mountain or something?”

Clay snorts a laugh and brings his fist to his mouth trying to hide it. “You could say that.”

“Clayton Michael Chapman!” Kayleigh chides him playfully, slapping his hands, bringing my attention to them. I can finally make out the letters on his other hand. Together, his knuckles spell outOVERCOME.

Maybe it has something to do about their mom? Veronica told me how hard it was on Tanner. I can only imagine it was hard on all of them. Clay and Grace still lived with their parents here in Park City when it happened. I remember Tanner was out of school and living in Jackson Hole since he was the eldest.

Clay’s head snaps up and his cheeks show the slightest hint of pink. For the first time, he looks his age, young and playful.

“Awww. Your name’s Clayton?” I use my best baby talk voice and rest my head on my fists, making a pouty face. “That’s so cute.”

Immediately the playful look is gone and he’s back to glaring at me. I swear I can hear his teeth grinding from here. “Clay. Not Clayton.” He turns his glare to Kayleigh. Veronica said he could be a grumpy asshole and she wasn’t kidding. This is something else. “She’s called me that since high school because she thinks it’s funny. And it’s not.”

High school? Ok. She really is an old family friend I guess. Still could be a girlfriend or something though.

“Be nice,Clayton.” She runs a hand through his hair, ruffling it until he swats her away. “But yeah, he’s not wrong. I guess you could say I work at the mountain.”

I look around the table, realizing I’m missing something when I see Tanner and Grace grinning as well.

“The Jensensworkonthe mountain. Normally you’ll find them on the racecourse,” Grace says, huffing a laugh before turning to Kayleigh. “Your speciality is still giant slalom, right?”

Suddenly it clicks and I can feel my jaw drop. Giant Slalom? Jensen?

Kayleigh Jensen. That smile. I’ve seen it dozens of times on posters all over Aspen Valley resort. She’s always wearing goggles in her promotional posters, but she’s always flashing that signature smile. She’s the middle Jensen kid - a two time Olympian, training to qualify for her third Olympics three years from now.

The Golden Jensen Family. They’re all Team USA ski legends. Her grandfather was an Olympian. Her father was a multiple world champion professional before retiring. Then he got into real estate and development. And now the three kids are all Olympians. They’re practically Park City royalty. I’m pretty sure my dad even has a vintage poster of some of them in the other room.

Veronica laughs. “You should be proud, Kayleigh. It’s almost impossible to make Lizzy speechless and you did it the first timemeeting her.” That prompts another chorus of laughter from Collin and Tanner.

I lower my eyes at Veronica. “Very funny.” And that’s when I can just hear Clay mumble something to himself at the end of the table, almost inaudible. From the corner of my eye, I can see Kayleigh punch Clay in the leg, not so playfully this time.

“Seriously.” Tanner’s deep voice gets my attention. “Kayleigh’s the best skier here. Hands down. It’s not even close.”

She rolls her eyes at him. “You’re a pretty epic skier, Chap. You just don’t like cameras or crowds.”

He shrugs and smiles. “You’re not wrong.”

I notice Clay, looking out towards the windows at the lit ski slopes beyond.

“What’s wrong,Clayton?” I tease. “Cat got your tongue? Aren’t you a great skier too?”

He turns to me slowly, but doesn’t say anything. His glares don’t scare me though. He can be as much of an asshole as he wants, but I can play that game too. I don’t back down. That’s one lesson from Dad I took to heart.

I continue. “Why don’t you come out with us tomorrow? Or are you scared the girls will show you up?” I say again, using my teasing baby talk voice.

And that’s when I realize I’ve donesomething. Something bad. Somethingverybad.

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