Page 34 of Next in Line
“What do you mean?” she asks, turning her head slightly. “You’re the one who won that race. You should have it.”
“Nah, I already know how to snowboard. You’ll get more use out of it if you’re still on this adventure mission.”
She goes quiet for a moment while I work on her shoulders to the sounds of the crackling fire. “I don’t know how to snowboard, though.”
“Oh,” I reply dumbly and bite the inside of my cheek because I know the next thing that’s going to come out of my mouth. “I could show you if you want?”
She turns to face me. “Seriously?” she exclaims with a big smile on her face.
I shrug. “It’s no big deal.”
“Eek!” She launches herself at me again, wrapping her arms around my neck. “It’s the perfect next adventure! Let’s do it!”
She’s bouncing and wiggling up against me so much, I can’t believe what starts to happen inside my pants. This is fucking embarrassing. I’m sure it’s because I lost my wingman, Miles. I’ve been going through a bit of a dry spell, but still, I’m over thirty. I shouldn’t just be popping boners like Pez.
She pulls back, and her eyes are alight with excitement. “I haven’t even sent Sterling a picture yet! He’s going to flip when he sees me on that silo!”
With that last remark, my boner drops like a cooked noodle. But like a thick noodle. A big ole cannelloni for sure.
“Yeah, you’d better get those sent,” I grumble and stand to make my way toward the door. “I’m going to go pack up my shit. I’ll see you in the truck.”
The door closes behind me, and I feel like I need to shove my own face in the snow for being so stupid just now. She’s after her ex, not my fucking noodle. I need to get my shit straight before being locked away in that cabin with her for an entire weekend.
Complimentary Coffee And Advice
The next day, I’m seated at Miles and Kate’s kitchen table when Miles comes strolling in. “You’re up early,” he states with a yawn as he reaches into the cupboard and pulls down a box of corn flakes.
“I put on a pot of coffee!” I reply excitedly, doing my best not to seem like the freeloading pain in the neck little sister who showed up unannounced and has no specific departure date in sight.
“Oh, you shouldn’t have,” Kate’s voice croaks from around the corner before she shuffles into the kitchen in fuzzy slippers and another one of Miles’s giant T-shirts. “We don’t drink coffee at home.”
“You don’t?”
“Shedoesn’t,” Miles replies with an eye roll as he dumps some cereal into a bowl and adds milk to the top.
“I’m a purist,” Kate replies and offers Miles a sleepy-eyed smile. “I wait for Tire Depot coffee because it’s the best.”
I nod slowly at that response. “So, do you go to Tire Depot every day then?”
She shrugs. “Not every day. I mean…the days I don’t want to shower, I usually stay home and write because I get good words in here too. But today is shower day, so I’ll be going in with Miles. You should come with us!”
“To Tire Depot?” I ask as I shovel a bite of cereal into my mouth. “Like where Sam works too?”
My face instantly flames red when my brother frowns at me. “Well, Sam more than works there. He’s months away from owning the joint. But yeah, that’s where he works. Why do you mention Sam?”
“Oh…well,” I begin to stammer. “He, um…”
“Meg gave Sam a ride home after his birthday shindig Saturday,” Kate interjects helpfully. “So I’m sure she’s just connecting all the Boulder dots.”
“Yes,” I agree quickly, my eyes feeling wide enough to pop out of my head as I nod a silent thanks to Kate. “I met a lot of people that night. Hard to keep track of everyone.”
Miles shrugs and slurps a big bite of cereal while mumbling, “Is your car due for an oil change? I could do it there this morning. Easier to do it there than here.”
“Ummm, probably,” I reply as I try to figure out if this could be weird with Sam. I mean, we faked it at a bar, so surely we can fake it at Tire Depot, right?
“It’s settled then!” Kate states happily. “I’ll ride in with Megan. That way you don’t have to wait for us to get ready, Miles. Meg, I just want you to know we’ll be missing the Danishes most likely.”
Her face is so somber, I wait for her to start laughing.
