Shattered (Extreme Risk 2)

“What about Logan? Don’t you need to get back to him?”

She doesn’t seem upset by that fact, like a lot of girls would be. Instead, all I see on her face is concern for my brother—which shouldn’t be a surprise, really. Tansy is one of the most compassionate people I’ve ever met. Still, it warms me a little. Makes me feel a little lighter inside.

“He’s with Z and Luc. I’ll check on him, but he should be fine. Besides, we don’t have to be gone long.”

“Gone?” she asks. “We’re actually leaving the resort?”

“Not the resort, just the building.” I guide her out of the bathroom and over to the balcony. “There’s a whole big resort out there that we’ve barely begun to explore.”

“Oh, right. A walk! That sounds like fun.” The fact that she actually believes that makes her all the more endearing.

“I was thinking of something a little more exciting, but—”

“I am not having sex with you in the snow, Ash Lewis.” She gives me her sternest look, which really isn’t very stern but is adorable. “Frostbite on my ass so does not sound like something I want to explain to anyone.”

“Get dressed in something warm.” I drop a kiss on her nose. “I promise there will be no frostbite on any delicate parts of your anatomy.”

She eyes me suspiciously. “How about, no frostbite on any part of my anatomy at all?”

“Yeah, I suppose we could go for that. If you insist.”

“I do. I really, really do.”

“Sledding?” Tansy asks as she stares at what I just rented. “You want to go sledding?”

“You don’t like sledding?” I ask her incredulously. “Everyone likes sledding.”

“I don’t know if I like it or not,” she says after a minute. “I’ve never been.”

I stare at her in shock. “You live in Salt Lake City. How could you have never been sledding?”

“I didn’t always live in Salt Lake. I was born in San Diego where there isn’t exactly a lot of snow. By the time we moved to Utah, I was a little old for a sled.”

I snort. “You’re never too old for a sled.”

She eyes me, and the sled, with extreme misgiving. “I’m not so sure about that.”

“Do you not want to do it?” I try not to be disappointed, though I don’t have a clue why it matters to me so much. “We can go for a walk instead—”

“Are you kidding me? Bring that bad boy on. If I end up dying, at least I won’t be a virgin when I go.”

She shoots me a mischievous look when I laugh, and then she yells, “Race ya,” over her shoulder, right before she takes off toward the forest and the closest slopes.

“Cheater!” I call after her, but I start running.

She’s not going very fast—not used to running in snow, I bet—so I catch up to her easily. I stay behind her, though, because it’s a good view. She might be skinny, but she’s got a really great ass.

She’s out of breath by the time we get to the slope I want to take her down, and I’m a little surprised. She looks like she’d be in pretty good shape, but she’s breathing hard, bracing her hands on her knees as she sucks in air. I start to tease her about it, but there’s something in the look on her face that tells me she’s embarrassed. That messing with her about it will only hurt her feelings.

So I don’t, instead I file the knowledge away along with a question mark. Even as I start planning ways to build her stamina in the back of my head.

“Okay, so sledding is an art form,” I tell her, placing the sled in perfect position at the top of the hill while I wait for her to catch her breath. It’s dark out, but the resort has lamps at the top of each of the three sled runs, plus lights going down the sides to illuminate them. It’s not great visibility, but up here it’s more than good enough for me to make out Tansy’s eyes and facial expressions.

Plus, there’s no one else out here. We’ve got all three slopes to ourselves, which I consider a major bonus.

“An art form?” she asks, eyebrows raised.

“Absolutely.” I pull her over to the sled. “So, you’re going to be in front, and I’ll be in back. Which means, I’ll do most of the steering, but you should still know what to do, just in case.”