Gifted Connections 3

Troy laughed. “I don’t think separate houses would work anymore. Maybe we can find a compromise…somewhere.”

I smiled. I liked that idea better than flitting around several different homes.

“Can we find a place with a beach, where winter is almost nonexistent?” Noah asked hopefully. “I always wanted to learn how to surf.”

I laughed. “You sure dancers would want to engage in such a risky sport?” I teased.

Noah snorted as Troy guffawed.

“Okay, Misty,” Troy said. “No more procrastinating. Time for your maiden voyage.”

I groaned but used my poles to get me closer to the hill. I took a deep breath in and pushed myself forward once more. I watched as the trees whizzed past me, and I had a momentary moment of panic when I felt like I was going too fast and was going to crash into a little girl who had jetted out in front of me. I swerved around her as her father yelled an apology.

“It’s okay,” I yelled back as the orange netting at the bottom came increasingly closer.

I did exactly as the boys told me to do to slow down; I turned my body sideways to come to a complete stop. I started laughing. I felt free. Exhilarated even. Now I knew why most of the people that decided to come out today were excited to come. It was fun. I was eager to get back up the hill and try again.

I watched as the guys came to a smooth stop beside me. They both had snowboards and made their movements look effortless.

“You did great!” Noah exclaimed.

“What did you think?” Troy asked with a smile.

“Thanks.” I smiled feeling happy over Noah’s praise. “I love it!” I admitted to Troy. “Let’s go again.”

They both laughed. “Okay, five more times, then you have to try the next hill,” Noah insisted.

“But no rush,” Troy quickly added.

“Okay,” I said as I began to moved towards the ski lifts. I didn’t know if five more times would give me the confidence to go on the next one, but I knew I would want to test my abilities further eventually.

I sighed as I leaned back into the couch. I leaned into Jace’s chest as I took a sip of my hot chocolate.

“This is amazing,” I smiled as the rich, smooth, sweet liquid hit my tongue. It had to be the best cup of hot chocolate I ever had. “Did you get the same thing?”

Jace chuckled as he draped his arm on the back of the couch and took my hand with his. “I did. Coffee sounded good, but the sign boasted about having the best hot chocolate so I thought we should give it a try.”

“Good choice,” I commended him.

After hours on the slope, we chose to warm up in the lodge. All the others were still out there, reluctant to take a break.

“If you’re done, we can always go back to the cabin and slip into that hot tub,” Jace said suggestively as his thumb made lazy circles on my palm.

“Mmm,” I sighed as I closed my eyes. “That sounds amazing right now, but I promised Jaxson I will go on the blue…square.” I said hesitantly. I didn’t know that much about skiing. I had heard about the bunny slope, the green, blue square, black diamond, and double black diamond. I think.

Jace smiled and nodded. “You’re picking it up rather well. You’re a natural.”

“You have to say that, you’re my connected,” I teased him as I slipped one of my ice-cold hands under his thick sweater.

He hissed out when my cold hand made contact with his bare skin. “Blake,” he said in protest but still rubbed my hand with his own.

“I want to see you go down the double black diamond,” I smiled as I leaned into him once more. “I think Kade idolized Jaxson briefly until he saw you go down the slope. When did you learn how to ski?”

He tensed for a moment before he sighed. “Alison and Aunt Megan were skiing as soon as they learned how to walk,” he said quietly, and I realized he was talking about his mom when he referenced Alison. “They loved skiing, and when I was about three they would take me skiing, too. We always had a family trip to a skiing resort until the institute was founded. Dad started to take us again when I was eleven or so.”

“Was it always bad between your parents?” I asked hesitantly. “Between your parents and Aunt?”

He shook his head. “No. I remember when they were happy once. The first time I realized that ‘parents’ fought was when I was five or six. Jaxson was maybe two or three. He doesn’t remember it, but it was Aunt Megan that really took care of us. She was the one who read us bed time stories and tucked us in at night. She kissed our ‘boo boos’.