stopped melting. Her joy tasted as sweet that morning as it had the night before.
Round two, we took our time. So much, we hit round three before we finally dozed off for a nap. We didn’t get up until lunch.
The presents arrived when we hit the slopes the next day. Frankie was a damn natural, but she was so wary of the blue, even if she insisted we could split up so we could check out the different ones. Of all people, it was Coop who convinced her by the end of the day to try one. Not because he’d done it, but because he’d do it if she would.
Excitement sparkled in her eyes, but she kept chewing her lower lip. Heights were not her favorite thing. Course, Coop got her to go on a rollercoaster. She could handle the blue. We’d do the easiest one. Finally, she said yes, and it took everything I had not to cheer out loud.
No problem, Jake did a fist pump and a very enthusiastic yes. That covered it for all of us.
At the top of the blue, she stared down the hill with huge eyes and then looked at us. “If I break anything, as soon as I’m healed, I’m coming after you.”
“Deal,” Jake said, all confidence and ease. “You’re not going to break anything. You can do this.”
“Slow and steady,” Bubba advised. “We’re not leaving you. Promise.”
“I’ll even go first,” Coop told her. “You can follow me. That way I can take all the pratfalls.”
Her snort made us all grin, but when she glanced at me, all I said was, “Whatever you want to do, babe. We can cross back over to the green about a third of the way down if you want to try something else.”
Lips pursed, she adjusted her hat and then pulled down her goggles. It was sunny as fuck today, which was great, except the snow was blinding when we first got up there. The goggles helped. “I got this. And if I tell myself that enough,” she insisted, “I’ll be right.”
I chuckled. “You have this.”
Despite the bravado, she blew out a couple more breaths and resettled her feet before facing the downward slope. None of us moved, letting her take her time. Then she said, “Fuck it. You only live once,” and pushed off.
Heart clenching, I was a second behind her. Jake was right behind me. That left Coop and Bubba to follow. Bubba would keep an eye on Coop. Between the three of us, we had them covered. She zigzagged her way, wedging if she picked up too much speed, but you couldn’t miss the moment she relaxed and her confidence actually bloomed. She did a perfect cut, and instead of wedging to slow, she turned and used the momentum to execute a perfect parallel turn.
At the bottom, she was laughing when we caught up to her.
This trip was the best idea.
It was blues for the rest of the day. Easy blues. But still blues.
Back at the lodge, the presents filled in the underside of the tree until it was near full to bursting. Frankie was torn between looking at that and heading up to change. We were hitting the hot tub again. One foot on the stairs, she paused to eye me, then the guys. “Any more surprises waiting for me up there?”
I smirked. “Wouldn’t be a surprise if I told you, would it?”
Besides, the next big surprise was scheduled for Jake’s birthday. He’d already signed off on the idea because he’d seen Frankie watching those videos, too. Should be a good night.
“Uh huh.”
I made a shooing motion, and she stuck her tongue out at me.
“Promises, promises,” I teased, and she laughed before heading up the stairs at a swift clip. Damn, that made her ass sway when she walked that way.
Coop let out a breath and so did Jake. Bubba laughed.
“What?” I glanced over at him.
“Just glad I’m not the only one who makes like some cartoon dog with his tongue lolling out.”
No, he definitely wasn’t the only one. “Hard not to,” I admitted. “Never giving her up.” In case that wasn’t absolutely clear.
I slanted a look at the other three, and Jake just shrugged. “No argument, but I’m not either.”
“Ditto,” Coop said, grinning. “Besides, weird as this shit might be, it works.” All three of us cut a look at Bubba, and he held up his hands.
“I have already choked on my own stupidity. When I said I was in, I meant