Page 21 of Catch Yourself a Snowmance
“Sometimes I wonder.” I laugh and Mitch joins me.
“See you downstairs.” He turns and walks down the hall.
Alyssa is wearing a fluffy sweatshirt and leggings with Ugg slippers, flipping pancakes and humming when I walk into the kitchen. Her head turns and our eyes meet. My mind unhelpfully flashes to the moment she stood on tiptoes and kissed my cheek. I run my hand down my jawline. Two days of growth make my skin feel like sandpaper. I wonder if she liked that or if it was a turn-off. I smile at her and grab a mug down to get some coffee.
“The guys will take over breakfast duty tomorrow,” I tell the kitchen full of people.
“Darn right you will,” Jennifer says in a mock scold.
“Any requests?” I ask her.
“Can any of you bake? I’d love some muffins.”
“I bake,” I offer. “Do you bake, Gage?”
“I can manage with a box mix.”
“Muffins and omelets,” I say.
Alyssa walks over to the island and places a platter of pancakes in the center. “Dig in while they’re hot.”
I watch her move through the kitchen. I lean back on a counter across from the stove. Mitch catches my eye and gives me a look that questions every word I uttered upstairs. Good friends can be a blessing or a curse. He knows me too well.
When the next platter full of pancakes is set on the table, we all dig in and eat breakfast. After the dishes are washed, the guys all put our boots on and head out to the shed through the path Gage and Mitch shoveled this morning. We grab shovelsand snowblowers and spend the rest of the morning clearing the snow off the driveway and freeing up the cars. We finish by spreading a few bags of salt we found in the shed across the pavement. The local snow plows come through the road outside the cabin just before lunch.
We all eat soup and sandwiches, warming ourselves around the fire in the living room and then we take off for the ski resort. Our cell service is more consistent today. The resort website said the roads are clear and they’re open for business.
I’ve always been a skier. My family grew up taking ski trips at least once a year. I’ve never snowboarded.
Alyssa asks the group, “Who’s snowboarding with me?”
I know what I’m choosing. I’ve always wanted to learn to snowboard. No time like the present.
“I’m snowboarding,” I say, thinking everyone else will answer at the same time.
The room is quiet. My three friends all give me identical looks of disbelief. None of them says a thing, though.
Until Mitch just has to say, “First time snowboarding. This should be fun to watch.”
“You’ve never snowboarded?” Alyssa asks him.
“No. I have. Our boy, Carson here, has not.”
“Do you ski?” she asks me with her brows raised and her eyes soft.
“I do. Black diamond. And I learned to surf at the coast growing up. I’ve got this.”
“Okay. Let’s go!” Liam says from the doorway.
We’re all bundled up, Alyssa’s wearing that red ski jacket again, and some black snowboarding pants. I’m in jeans and my winter coat. I pull on my beanie and hop into the driver seat. Since the guys drove up separately, we all ride to the slopes in my car while the girls drive in the SUV they came up in.
“Snowboarding for the first time?” Liam asks me from the passenger seat.
“I figured I ought to give it a try.”
“She’s a good woman.”
“Who is?”
