Page 7 of Double Trouble

“Better?” he asks through his breaths.

“Much.” I give him a grin and unhook my helmet. “Thank you.”

He nods, his cheeks red, and I can’t tell if it’s from exhaustion or blush from my appreciation. Either way, it looks good on him.

He kicks his board up and catches it with a shaking hand. Huh… wonder if he’s dehydrated.

Then his eyes swivel to the doors, and it hits me in a wave of guilt. Shit, he’s probably freaking out over his job. He’d get fired in a second if we were found, and my boarding would cause more problems for someone else.

“Pete’s asking Candace to marry him,” I blurt. I don’t know why, but I feel like he should know the reasons he’s risking his job. His brows shoot sky high, and his head jerks back the tiniest bit.

“Huh?”

I pinch my eyes shut and plop to a grinding bench positioned between us. My hair flings from my helmet as I pull it off. “That’s why I’ve been freaking out lately.” I give him a look. “I know you’ve noticed.”

The shock of my word vomit seems to dissipate as he sits next to me. “You aren’t happy about it?”

“I’m happy for them, I guess.” I lift a shoulder. “He hasn’t asked her yet, but I know he will soon.”

He nods. “And I bet they won’t be living with you and Demi, huh?”

He’s so good at reading between the lines. A smile tilts my lips at the fact that I don’t have to elaborate with him. He just gets it… gets me. Hell, he knew what I needed just from a few simple texts. “Adulting is such bullshit.”

“Yes.” He bumps shoulders with me. “I’m not sure how Pete getting engaged affects your boarding, though. I can guess… but I don’t think I’d be right.”

“Take a stab at it.”

He taps his chin. “That you will be the breadwinner—again—and you’ll either get a second job or pick up more hours at the farm, meaning you’ll have less time to dedicate to the competition. So instead of trying for a sponsorship, you’d rather get a steady paycheck and give it up. Am I getting close?”

Wow. “I knight you Mr. Intuitive.” I slash my arm across his shoulders.

His neck turns red, but his soft grin wraps his lips, and he runs a hand through his brown hair. “Permission to speak freely?”

“Always.”

“If all you’re hurting for is time, I can give that to you.” He gestures around the empty boarding park. “Obviously.”

“I couldn’t ask you to.” As sweet as it is to have the entire place to ourselves, I can’t take advantage. It would be nothing but selfish. I’d be leaving Pete with Demi without telling him, for one, and we don’t keep secrets from each other. Not to mention Tanner’s job would go bye-bye if we were caught. All for what? A sponsorship I won’t even get?

“Brink,” Tanner prods, and his gaze goes to my forehead where I know all my thoughts are showing in the form of wrinkles. “You got a training program for the Ultimate Boarder?”

“Kinda.” I came up with a few tricks I want to perfect, but I don’t have a specific routine yet.

He reaches for his Velcro pocket on the side of his shorts, pulling his phone out. He leans into me, the smell of sweat and boarding mixing and reminding me of playgrounds and excitement and everything I live for. He turns the phone sideways and pulls up a video. “Look at this year’s competition. You would wipe the floor with her.”

I gently rest my chin on his shoulder to see the screen better, and his body tenses under the slight touch. His breathing shallows, but I stay put. He’s probably thinking how gross I smell, but hey, boarding equals sweat.

The girl in the video is pretty well-known in the mid-west region of boarders. She’s got a channel and a decent following, but yeah… her routines are a bit basic whenever she competes. She’s fantastic at the one-shot tricks, but to do a flow, that’s where she needs some work.

I was that way too, but I’ve gotten better—making my routines more like a dance than a bundle of fancy tricks with no flow. Doing these things the past four years have taught me.

But she’s seventeen. Perfect age for a sponsorship. Me? I’m a grandma on wheels.

“See?” he says, clicking his phone to black. I lift my chin from his shoulder, and he faces me. “You could get the sponsor.”

“It’s not a guarantee, Tanner.”

“Nothing is, right?” He pushes his phone into his pocket. “What’s the harm in giving it a shot?”

---