Page 53 of Love Me Reckless

Chapter Thirteen

KIRILEE

Sawyer opensthe door for me, and we step into the quickly cooling afternoon air. The low sun casts a soft glow over the streets and shops, but the hazy scrim of clouds in the eastern sky makes me think snow.

“How did you and Zach become friends?” I ask Sawyer as we walk.

“It started with football.” He zips up his coat. “Then we were both in foster care around the same time.”

Foster care? I knew Zach and William ended up there when his family fell apart. That Sawyer did too sits heavy on my chest.

“Do you miss Alaska?” I ask.

“Parts of it, yeah, but change is good too.”

I give him a sideways glance. “Do you still have family there?”

“My mom is buried in Storm Harbor. My half-brother is still there, but we’re not close anymore.”

That he didn’t mention his dad makes me hesitant to ask. “I’m sorry about your mom.”

He releases a soft sigh. “She never talked about her people, at least not that I remember, but I don’t think they are in Alaska.”

My family tree is traced all the way back to the seventeen hundreds. “Have you ever wanted to do one of those genealogy tests?”

“What would be the point of that? It’s not like suddenly I’d have family to spend Christmas with or grandparents to come to my kid’s little league games. They’d still be strangers.”

“Well sure, at first, but maybe it wouldn’t stay that way.”

“It’s better being on my own.” There’s an edge of defiance in his tone, as if he’s prepared to defend this mindset. But I wonder if there’s something else behind this—is he ashamed of his past? Afraid?

“It’s brave of you to drop everything and move to Finn River.”

“I can’t let Zach have all the fun.” He shoots me a sly smile.

We pass an outdoor gear store, the window display of two mannequins dressed for a day on the slopes. “Speaking of fun,” I say, pausing. “Have you given my idea some more thought?”

He gives me a look. “You teaching me to ski? No.”

“Why not?”

“If we show up there together, it won’t be long before the word gets out.”

I bristle. He doesn’t want to be seen with me, just because of who my family is? “What’s so bad about that?”

He rubs the back of his neck. “The guys think I ski. It came up the day I moved in.”

The fight drains from me, and I start laughing.

“What the fuck is so funny?”

I put a hand on his shoulder. “What were you planning to do? Fake it?”

He shrugs. “I don’t know. Is there another ski area close by? Someplace I can learn without my crew finding out? I’d be ex-communicated, trust me.Lord of the Fliesisn’t fiction.”

I’m curious what he means by this. But also sad, because why does he feel so much pressure to fit in?

“There’s a ski area in town called Bear Mountain. They have a couple of beginner lifts.”

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