Page 67 of Tailwhip
I turn to the asshole, who just gave me a snow shower, getting ready to tell him off, when I hear his voice. “Hey Peanut!”
I nearly lose my balance and fall over. “Avan.”
He smiles wide, showing me his dimples. My body has a mind of its own at the moment because I throw my arms around his waist in a tight hug. Avan wraps his arms around me and lifts me off the snow, board, and all. “Fuck, Ashlynn. I can’t believe you are here, right in front of me.”
He puts me back down, and I am holding onto his forearms. “What are you doing here? I thought you were leaving for Austria?”
He is still smiling at me. “I leave early tomorrow morning; I knew you all would be up on the slopes. Though, I never expected to find you in the park section.”
I throw my head back, letting out a laugh. “Yeah, Cor talked me into doing a jump.”
At that time, he and Cora descend the slope, so I can take on this jump. So, here goes nothing!
Once I see Cora and Avan off to the side, I am just standing up with my board, ready to take this on. I try to tell myself; you are a badass; you can do this. I let out my breath and start toward the jump. I hit it with my eyes closed. I open them once I come down on my landing. To my surprise, I stick, but once I look over at Avan and Cora, I face plant. I am laughing so hard at myself when I hear them stop next to me, and Cora is cracking up as well. Avan seems more concerned, “P, are you okay? Does anything feel broken?”
I can’t stop laughing. I finally catch my breath enough to say, “I landed it!”
Avan grabs my hands and helps me up. “Can I ride with you all down to the bottom?” he asks us. Like Cora and I own this resort, he can do what he wants!
“Of course, you can!” I tell him. After that, all three of us are off. Those two are much faster than I am, not to mention my hair is all over the place from my jump and blocking my eyes a bit.
We make it down to the bottom right as the last lift of the day heads up. I step out of my bindings and place my board on the rack. I turn toward Avan, who is barreling toward me. He grabs the collar of my jacket and slams me into his rock-hard chest, nearly knocking the wind out of me. I melt into his embrace. Once Avan lets me go, I pull my goggles off, and my hair is a mess! I have strains sticking out all over. Avan grabs my face between his hands and gently moves my hair out of the way. He moves his thumb over the end of my scar on my cheek and I can tell instantly when his demeanor changes. That’s also when I realize Cora didn’t tell him what happened. I pull my beanie all the way off so he can see the full extent of it. Starting from the center of my right eyebrow, down past my eye, and the turn onto my cheek. Still holding onto my face, he looks at me with a serious look. “What the hell happened to you, Ashlynn?”
I give him a small smile. “It’s a long story, Avan. I’d rather not get into that.”
He nudges my chin, so I am looking up at him. “Lucky for you, I have all night to hear it.” Charming as always!
Avan follows us back to the cabin. I have been quiet the whole ride back. It’s like all the emotions came to the forefront the moment I heard his voice. I melted in his arms the minute they wrapped around me, just like I did when we dated!
Cora breaks me out of my head. “So, I honestly didn’t know Avan was going to be there. Also, I am sorry I never told him about the accident.”
I keep my stare straight out the windshield. “It’s okay Cora, I am still so…I don’t know what I am honestly after seeing him again!”
I catch the small smile on Cora’s face. “If you want to hang out with him tonight to catch up before he leaves, that’s fine. I don’t care. I know you both have some unresolved feelings.”
That’s when I look over at Cora. “I am here to visit with you, Cor. Not Avan, though seeing him was a bonus.”
Once we pull into the garage at the cabin, Avan helps us unload all our gear and we introduce him to Neha. Avan still lived at home when Neha started going to school with us but was also gone a lot since he was two years older than us. They managed to never cross paths somehow, but that was also a bad time in Neha’s life, where she was sent to live with her grandma out in Montana, until the start of senior year. By then, the Hendrix family moved out of state.
Once we all go inside, Avan grabs my hand and walks back to his room and slams the door behind us. The slam makes me jump and he notices that. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to slam it like that.”
I am quiet because I am not sure what to expect at this moment. I go and sit on the edge of the bed and look down at the floor. I want to look into his dark eyes, but I know his focus will go to my scar. He kneels down in front of me. “P, look at me, please.”
I shake my head no and cover my face with my hands. To my surprise, I actually start crying, and I really don’t know why. I don’t know if it’s happiness over seeing Avan after so long or because sometimes, I feel ugly with this stupid scar and am embarrassed by it. Avan peels my hands away. “Please, Ashlynn.”
I compose myself and look at him; his dark eyes clash with my hazel eyes. “Hi!” I say to him, which makes him smile, showing off those dimples again.
“Hi, peanut! I know I don’t have a right to ask, but what happened? How did this happen?” As he says this, he traces down the side of my face along my scar.
“Avan, I don’t want to waste time telling you what happened if you are only going to be here until tomorrow morning.”
I lean my forehead down to his. “Can we catch up tonight, then?” Avan asks me.
I smile at him, “Yes, after I hang out with the girls first.”
Letting out a chuckle, he says, “Lucky for you, I don’t mind waiting.”
Avan leaves the room shortly after, so I can shower and go get dinner cooking.