Page 29 of Reckless Hearts
“Yeah…” I clear my throat, trying to make my voice sound normal. “I’m just not a fan of heights.”
Seb immediately looks down, which is a bad move because it has me wondering what he’s seeing. How far up are we right now?
“Did you know that for the majority of New Zealand’s geological history, we had no mountains?” he says to me.
I blink at him. “What?”
“I’m saying you wouldn’t have had this problem if we’d been here five million years ago before the Pacific Plate started crashing into the Australian Plate and pushed these mountains up.”
“Five million years ago is still a long time,” I manage to say.
“Not in the scheme of our geological history. It’s been over eighty million years since New Zealand separated from the supercontinent Gondwana.”
Seb’s eyes are so blue they look like they’ve taken color from the sky. I focus on them, and somehow, his eyes are an anchor point.
“Really?” I say.
“Yes. Our country was once just a swamp off the side of what became Australia, but then Gondwana started to break up.”
“Gondwana decided it was time for a divorce?” I manage to say.
Seb smiles. It’s a sweet smile, one that brings out his dimples. “Yes. And New Zealand decided to take a chunk of continental crust for a joyride across the ocean.”
Focusing on Seb, on his random geology lesson, seems to have lessened the panic inside me.
“We’re almost at the top. Are you going to be okay getting off?” he asks softly.
“I normally have absolutely no problems getting off, as you know,” I say with a wink because I want to reestablish the dynamic between us. I want to be fun and flirty Marcus, not the guy who melted down on a ski lift.
Seb flushes at my innuendo.
He pulls his ski mask back over his face, hiding most of his blush.
The chairlift slows as we approach the unloading area. We push the safety bar off us, and suddenly, the ground lurches toward us.
Seb pushes off, his movements fluid and graceful. I follow, trying to focus on his technique and not on how his ski pants hug his ass.
Attempting to mirror his movements, I manage two decent turns before I overcorrect and nearly faceplant.
Seb’s there in an instant, steadying me with a gloved hand.
“Just don’t overthink it,” he says. “Trust your instincts.”
I throw him a smirk. “I normally have no problems trusting my instincts.”
Fuck. Flirting with Seb is something I’ve been doing for years, and I find it hard to turn it off, even when it now runs contrary to what I’m trying to achieve this weekend.
But who am I if I’m not Marcus, the outrageous flirt and charmer? What is left of my personality if I turn that part off?
It’s not something I want to spend time contemplating.
Seb ducks his head slightly. He coughs lightly, then straightens his posture.
“Right, so, um…let’s focus on your form.” His tone gradually steadies as he slips back into instructor mode. “You need to bend your knees a bit more and shift your center of gravity forward.”
Seb is cute like this, his forehead furrowed above his goggles like nothing is more important than me making it down the mountain.
I follow Seb’s instructions, and my movements become smoother and more controlled. I find myself actually enjoying the rush of sliding down the slope. When we pause at a flat section, I take a moment to absorb the pristine snow, the jagged peaks, the endless sky.
