Right as Raine (Aster Valley 1)

And then there was my mom and dad. Thirty years of her putting up with his controlling, opinionated, football-saturated bullshit. I didn’t know how she did it. He was often kind and tender toward her, but there were also times he was an absolute jackass.

I wouldn’t say I’d had great examples in my life of true love like the kind I saw between Luke and Steph and the kind that had seemed evident between Winter and Gent last night. It was the kind of love that made it seem like each of them felt honored to have been chosen by the other. Maybe it was something newer couples had, but I was fairly sure Tiller’s sister had been with Luke for going on ten years.

After the meal, we took a walk through the snow to the edge of the slopes where the old ski mountain was laid out in all of its snowy glory. The sun shone on the bare aspen trees, and the cables from the original ski lift sparkled in the afternoon light.

“It makes me itch to strap on a board,” Tiller said with a smile, turning to his sister. “Maybe thrown down with Steph if she still has some skills.”

Stephanie’s cheeks were pink from the cold, and her eyes were bright. “Name the time and place, brah,” she said with a laugh. “I’d like to see your epic wipeouts after all this time.”

They started telling stories of their adventures on the slopes. When Tiller had been in high school, Stephanie had been at Colorado College. She and her friends would plan ski outings to nearby Breckenridge and invite Tiller and his friends.

“I can’t picture Julian skiing,” I said, thinking of the buttoned-up business executive I’d met several times. He was one of Tiller’s close friends from childhood, and he’d stayed with us several times when his job brought him to town.

Steph turned to me. “Oh no. Julian loves to ski, and he’s really good at it. But the one you really need to see is their friend Parker. That man is hot shit on skis. He’s also not bad-looking in tight ski pants…”

Luke leaned over and swatted Steph’s ass. “I’m not bad-looking in tight ski pants either, wench.”

Steph chuckled. “True. We should plan a weekend soon to take the girls. I’d be happy to stare at your ass as I follow you down the mountain. We should take the girls before it gets crowded over the holidays.”

I could see Tiller’s disappointment at not being included. It was the same every season—the most we got was a quick visit and meal with our families between games. I didn’t much mind because I wasn’t as close to my family, but I knew it bothered Tiller. He’d never complain about it because Moose had told him again and again that football was only temporary. There’d be time later on for the other things in life.

“That league paycheck will make for plenty of good Christmases and ski trips after you’re retired, son,” he’d said only an hour or so ago when Tiller was grumbling about missing Santa gifts on Christmas morning with the girls.

I’d gritted my teeth and kept my mouth shut. After Tiller retired, Santa would no longer be visiting the girls. Unless Tiller had his own kids or Steph and Luke had more, that would be that.

I realized Jill was trying to get my attention. “Have you ever been skiing, Mikey?”

“If you mean water skiing, then yes, ma’am,” I said politely, shooting her a wink.

Steph’s face lit up. “Oh man, we need to get you some lessons. It’s too bad Tiller can’t teach you. He’s so patient. I wish he could teach the girls.”

I sensed Tiller’s funk deepen, so I leaned down to scoop up some snow before carefully packing it into a ball while he wasn’t looking.

While moving closer to Tiller, I said, “I think I might rather be the guy back at the lodge with hot cocoa than the guy flying down the slopes on waxed sticks. No offense.”

Bam. I nailed Tiller directly between the shoulder blades with my snow missile and then took off running toward the girls. Tiller squawked in shock and immediately promised retribution. His nieces proved to be crappy human shields and even crappier snowball throwers, so we went down in a cold and wet blaze of glory once the snow started flying.

Even as I dragged my freezing, teeth-chattering ass back to the lodge an hour later, I knew the pain had been worth it.

Tiller had gotten a fun day in the snow with his family, even though it hadn’t included skiing or snowboarding. It wasn’t exactly what he’d been missing, but it was enough.

We all took a break to shower and dress in comfortable clothes before meeting back up to watch the Monday night game between the Titans and the Chiefs. A lot was riding on the result of this game since the Titans were in direct competition with the Riggers for a spot in the playoffs.