The Ex Games(21)
Author: Jennifer Echols

“Hayden!” Chloe screamed. “Stop doing yoga and climb your ass up the jump!” Her voice jogged like she was maneuvering toward me as fast as she could in her gear, falling in the snow.

I could hold on until she and the boys got to me. I slipped another inch, but that just sent another wave of adrenaline through my arms, helping me tighten my grip. I could hold on—

Strong hands circled both my wrists and pulled a little, then slid down to my upper arms and pulled harder. Thank God that Chloe had reached me in time. But now I was afraid I was too heavy for her and would pull her over with me. I looked up to tell her to let me go if she felt herself falling.

It was Nick. Goggles and snow half-covered his face. I recognized him by his jaw—which he set in a grimace as I watched. Maybe I was too heavy for him.

But then Chloe did arrive, leaning over the lip of the jump to grab one of my legs. Josh grabbed the end of my snowboard. Together they all hauled me up over the edge, then collapsed around me on the jump.

“Are you okay?” Chloe shrieked, kneeling over me. I nodded, panting, and patted her pink glove. She and Josh’s friends plopped down with us in the snow.

“Y’all, thank you,” I breathed. I lay on my back, staring up at the bright blue empty sky. Compared with the blue shadows below the lip of the jump, it was so bright and white up here. Thousands upon thousands of people must be skiing on the mountain today, but the snow muffled sound. All I heard was the seven of us struggling to get our breath back. Nick breathed closest to me, inhaling long and deep and exhaling big clouds of water vapor, like he was truly shaken by the idea of me falling and relieved he’d come to my rescue.

No, come on. He would have rescued anyone. He wouldn’t let anybody fall off the end of the jump, even a stranger. In fact, he might not even recognize me. True, how many redheaded snowboarders could there be in Snowfall? But surely he didn’t have me on the brain like I did him. In my puffy, figure-erasing snowboarding clothes, I was basically in drag.

And then he grumbled, “Get on the other side of me.”

The snow squeaked under my head as I turned toward him. Was he talking to me?

He stood, grabbed the edge of my jacket in one hand and the edge of my snow pants in the other, and slid me five feet across the snow. He sat down again between me and the edge of the jump, like he was protecting me from rolling off. “Either do the jump or don’t, Hoyden. In-between is very bad.”

Some tourists up the hill yelled at us to get the hell out of the way. The boys scooted off one side of the jump, and Nick and I scooted off the other. Chloe stayed in the middle for a moment more. Clearly she preferred not to spend quality time alone with my brother and his friends. But when I made a small motion down by my side for her to join Nick and me, she shook her head and made a talking motion with her hand.

She wanted Nick and me to talk? Great. I huffed out one last sigh left over from my breathless moment hanging off the jump, and searched my mind for what I wanted to say to him. That I was sorry for insulting him about his parents splitting up, when I really didn’t know? This would be difficult to explain, and I found myself hoping Chloe and/or Liz had played Telephone and passed this message along after all.

I looked up at him. He still had his goggles on, and so did I. If we removed them, we would be able to see each other better, but we would also see the face-divots that came with several hours of wearing goggles. So I left mine on, and so did he. When I tried to look into his eyes, all I saw was a reflection of snow, trees, and sky.

“You’re welcome for saving your life.” He grinned at me for the first time, and his playboy smile was all the more dazzling because that’s all of him I could see—that and his strong chin—like he was a masked superhero. “Did Chloe say you were doing yoga?”

“Yeah, I help my mom teach a class at the health club,” I said sheepishly. Nick could make me feel so happy about my own jokes, or so sheepish about the things that defined me. I loved and hated that about him.

“Does yoga help you levitate? Because it sure wasn’t helping you climb back up that jump.”

“It helps me stay focused so I can concentrate on tricks. It keeps me limber so I don’t get hurt on hard landings. I could show you some stretches, now that you’ve decided you’re this big boarder.” Too late I realized this sounded like a come-on. Yeah, Hayden, he would say, I want you to show me some—wink—stretches!— nudge nudge.

“Stretches!” he barked in exactly the outraged tone he would use to say, Pink sequined football uniforms! “What good would that do?”

Now I was offended, which was strange because he hadn’t even tried to offend me, for once. But stretches were a big part of my life. “Typical. High school boys think the only speed for exercise is full-throttle, with nothing between complete rest and heavy exertion. You’re going to pull a muscle if you don’t warm up enough.”

“I warm up.”

“Come on.” I whacked his chest playfully, sugar-coating what I viewed as serious information. My insulated hand bounced off his insulated body. “I’ve seen the football team start practice. You’re in full pads so you can hardly move, and you stretch what the coach tells you, when he says. You can’t stretch right with a team. You’re not listening to your own body.”

“And you are? Tell me what my body’s saying now.” He flicked his long hair away from his goggles with his gloved pinkie. God, how I loved it when he did that. But he was plotting, scheming, turning my own words against me, making fun of me. He was so hot, even in goggles and waterproof layers, and I wished so badly he hadn’t called me a bitch yesterday and insinuated I was a betty.

“No, you’re right.” I nodded. “What was I thinking? Yoga would be too hard for you. You’re not subtle.”

I almost cackled as his lips parted in surprise. Now that I’d discovered Nick’s button, it was so easy to push! Just challenge him on anything. Tell him he couldn’t do something. Press the button and watch him steam in the frigid air.

He leaned very close to me, his lips inches from my forehead. “Neither are you,” he growled.

I flushed so hot that I was afraid he could see me steaming. What did he mean? Could he tell how much I liked him, after everything that had happened?

As quickly as he’d leaned toward me, he stepped away and glanced uphill. I turned to see what he was looking at. Gavin and Davis zigzagged down the mountain, barely missing each other each time they traded sides. As they approached the jump, they never hesitated. They both sped straight up the ramp and off the edge. Gavin recognized Chloe at the last second and called to her as he descended. Davis did a frontside 360, almost as if he’d seen me beside the jump and was mocking me, which was impossible because Davis did not mock people. Until last night, that is.