Page 86 of Holiday on the Rocks
“Kinda.”
“First of all, I’m a grown ass man now. I only beat up mother fuckers who deserve it.” He pointed to his face. “Secondly, if you’re worried about bodily harm to this handsome mug, don’t. I spent a month in Austria last winter and got learning to ski off my bucket list.”
What the what? “You spent a month in Austria?”
He nodded.
“Wow, that’s cool. I suppose construction workers get time off in the winter?”
“You think a laid off construction worker could afford to vacation for a month?”
“I don’t know. If you did, I guess so.”
“There’s always work available in construction. All seasons. I went to Austria to hire construction employees and stayed in a chateau for a month to learn how to ski. Got that bad boy off my to-do list.”
Is dumfounded still a word? “Oh. So you were hiring for the company you work for?”
“My company.”
“Your company?”
“Yup. I worked for others and didn’t like some of the ways people ran their businesses. Got sick of the shit so started my own.”
“You started your own?”
“Yes. It’s been a wild ride, and I learned as I went along, but it’s good.”
“Huh. I did not see this coming.”
We walked outside and saw nobody from our crew. No one at the table, nobody in line for hot coco, nada.
His phone screamed out and he grabbed it from his pocket as I turned my head, but not my eyes. He silenced it, but not before my supersonic vision caught a glimpse of his screen and the blond woman who popped up and disappeared quickly before he shoved it back in his pocket. How much Brazilian action did this man get? It appeared I was just one of them now. Yup, a notch in his belt, but I agreed to this so I needed to suck it up and let it go.
Levi pointed. “Maybe they hit the slopes.”
“I’ll call Rachel.”
“Let’s just go up. We’ll likely find them there.”
It’d been a few years since I’d hopped into some skis. Emily, Lexi, Rachel, Kristina, and I had gone on a ski trip in college to Breckenridge, and I forgot the enthusiasm of knowing you’re about to be carried two miles up by a rickety bench hanging from cables above. As we started our journey up, the skiers below me appeared at a leisurely pace as they reached the bottom, but as we went further up the mountain, I chuckled as skilled skiers whipped by others who were on their asses.
As our chair reached the top and became even with the surface of the mountain, we slid off and turned to the trail with none of our gang insight. “I wonder where they are.”
He zipped up his coat. “Let’s go and maybe we’ll find them along the way.”
We approached the trail we were planning to take, and I’d be lying if said a few butterflies didn’t take flight in my tummy.
“Langley, you okay?”
I nodded. “Yeah, it’s just been a hot minute since I’ve zipped down a mountain.” I gulped as I looked at the hill in front of me. “Just give me a second.”
“Are you procrastiskiing?” He nudged my arm with is. “Get it?”
“You’re not funny, Dawson.” I inhaled deeply. “You remind me of my pinky toe. Sooner or later, I’m going to bang you on a table.”
His laughter boomed. “Okay, replay that sentence and see why I’m a little aroused right now.”
“Okay, you’ve done it. Due to personal reasons, aka you, I’m evil now.”
