Page 40 of Privileged (Adrenalin)

“Different dads,” he says that like it’s all the explanation needed. “If Ally didn’t live here for Finn’s career, she’d be a fashion designer. Since she isn’t, she lives for these dress up events.”

An unexpected pang of sympathy rattles through my chest for Ally. I’m doing everything I can not to give up my dream career, and it sounds like she willingly forfeited hers for her husband. The man I haven’t really treated like a partner. No wonder she’s leery of me. I resolve to get better about utilizing Finn’s skills going forward.

“Let’s have a round of Wet Pussies before we ride!” shouts a brown-haired man at the end of the bar, causing me to choke on my beer.

“Did he just?...”

“Yep.” Sloan gives me an apologetic look. “It’s sort of hard to explain.”

“Is that the best you can do, Deacon?” A sandy blonde-haired man asks as he strides into the room with another blonde man, fingers lovingly entwined. Maddox and Cade.

I’m not one to let on when I’m uncomfortable, but I breathe a little easier seeing two familiar faces. We aren’t friends, not exactly, but they don’t resent me the way some of the others do.

“I’m not competing, cousin. I just want a good shot before I go,” Deacon says.

“Then you want a Leg Spreader. Best shot there is, no competition.” Cade slaps him on the back with a sly grin.

“One of each then!” Deacon shoots a seductive look toward a woman lingering near the bar.

“Is this a pickup game?” I watch Deacon sidle over to the woman, who doesn’t appear to be part of the group since she’s not in costume.

“It’s a…” Sloan flicks his wrist toward the guys, his cheeks heating up as his eyes meet mine. “You know what. I’ll let them explain it.”

Dex places a shot on the bar for each of us—not sure which one but it’s definitely delicious—then we all head out to do our laps. Cade drags his cousin along at Ally’s insistence, something about a full cast, although I think the man who ordered the shots would prefer to keep hitting on the woman.

Once on the street we cluster together as a group, Sloan and I lingering slightly toward the back with Cade and Maddox. Onlookers cheer as we ride past, as if we’re in a parade, and fellow racers toast us as we pedal along, which seems to mean ‘nice costume.’ I follow suit, raising my cup each time I see an outfit that looks like it took a lot of effort.

Cade points out different landmarks as we ride; the oldest building in town, the first restaurant, which has a newspaper article to validate it once served Billy the Kid, and artwork from a famous local sculptor. He also shares stories about growing up in Katah Vista and sneaking into Dex’s bar when he was underage so he could play pool.

It sounds like such a normal childhood that for a moment, I’m envious. Even though I was just up the mountain at training camp, I didn’t have much opportunity to run around town as a kid. My days were filled with skiing and homework, and most of the time if we left the mountain, it was to attend competitions at other resorts. Maybe if I’d been here in the summer I’d have come into town more, butsummers are when I went home. I suppose that might be why I didn’t put much effort into socializing when I first got here; I never quite learned how to do it since the only friends I had were also teammates and roommates. Yet when I tell him about traveling the world for races, he’s the one who seems to think I had the better childhood, since he’s only ever been to the beach to visit his cousins.

“How come you didn’t end up going pro in anything?” I ask Cade. “Living here with access to some of the best terrain there is, I’m sure you easily could have.”

“Probably.” He raises his prop shield and pretends to throw it for some kids who chant‘Cap.’“I tried to focus on one specific thing, but there’s so much to do here. I couldn’t pick just one sport. Depending on how much snow we get or where we get it, I might ski, snowboard or snowmobile. I’d rather do them all than focus on one as a career… Hey, that reminds me. You ever been snowmobiling out here?”

I shake my head no.

“We’ll have to do that this winter. I promise you’ll love it.” He puts some more effort into pedaling to catch up to his cousin, Deacon, who’s offering him a beer from a cooler strapped to his bike. That leaves me with Sloan and Maddox, who are deep in conversation about a sore muscle Maddox has, until Finn drops next to me.

“Sorry you got the leotard costume.” He jerks his chin at me and looks pointedly at the mask now dangling from my handlebars.

“I don’t mind. It’s oddly familiar, like a racing suit.”

“So ah, Sloan probably mentioned it, but Ally’s sort of… particular about this event. She spends months on costumes for all of us, so, you filling in was sort of a…”

“Last resort?” I try to finish his sentence and lift my brows, shooting him a knowing look.

Finn coughs up an embarrassed little laugh. “I was gonna say cool favor, but that too. How’d Sloan talk you into it? This doesn’t really seem like your thing.”

Reading between the lines, I suspect he wants to know just how well I know his brother-in-law. Hopefully, I can sidetrack him. “Having fun doesn’t seem like my thing?”

“Not really, no.”

I chew my lip, wondering how best to respond to that. “It hasn’t been in a long time. Seemed like there was too much work to be done and I didn’t want the distraction.” He goes quiet as if weighing whether my commitment to the resort makes up for shutting him out and being a recluse up to this point.

“And now?” His tone is flat, which I think means he’s giving me the benefit of the doubt.

“Now my masseuse thinks all that time I spend in the office is catching up to me. This gets him off my case.” It’s on the tip of my tongue to mention he’s the one who encouraged me to bring in myteam, but that would suggest a level of familiarity we both want to avoid. I pluck my drink from the cupholder and take a sip, hoping I’m as good an actor as I was a skier.

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