Page 31 of To Her

James always teased me, telling me that Con was super into me, but I didn't see it. Our friendship was easy, uncomplicated—exactly what I needed after the mess with Matt and the intensity with Alex.

I started to pull my suitcase from the trunk and grabbed my skis and poles, all of which were brand new. I'd hadn't been skiing since I was 12, but Con had assured me I'd pick it back up quickly. I wasn't so sure, but I was excited to try.

I had applied for the job here the second I'd gotten home from work the same night Con had told me about it. And I'd managed to get a job at one of the local hotels. I was given a room to sleep in and held the position of waitress and daily cleaner. The pay was better than I was getting in Seabreeze Haven and would give me two shifts a day in the same building, so I was happy with that.

Just as I closed the trunk, I looked up to see Con walking down the hill toward me, with a huge smile on his face. He was in shorts and a t-shirt, which made me cold just looking at him. He ran hot 24/7 and never once complained it was cold; he was a walking furnace. I wasn't shocked at the clothing choice even though there was a thick blanket of snow on the ground around me.

He scooped me up in a bear hug that lifted me off my feet. "Come on, let's get you up to the hotel," he said, grabbing my suitcase and bag, leaving me to just carry my skis and poles.

I followed along after him, having no idea where I was going, but he did. This was his third year up here, so he knew the area well. He was working at the same hotel he had worked at for years now, and it was next door to mine, which was good. We'd be able to see each other often.

We had walked about halfway when I said, "Hold on, I need to stop." I was huffing and puffing like an elephant made to run,and I looked at Con, who wasn't even breathing heavily even though he was carrying my suitcase and bag.

"Fuck me, this is a long walk," I gasped, trying to catch my breath.

He just laughed at me and said, "It's the altitude here. We're higher up, so the air is thinner. You get used to it after a while. When you go back at the end of the season, you'll find you can walk and run further than before. You'll be a lot fitter without having done much at all."

Well, shit. Okay, now I didn't feel so bad looking like an out-of-shape mammoth.

The rest of the walk was hard, not gonna lie. By the time we walked in, I was a mess—sweaty and ready to vomit—but the staff were so nice and just laughed and said it's a shit walk the first one back for the season. Then they showed me to my room.

Con carried my stuff and helped me unpack. I had a small room with two beds; I would, in fact, be sharing with someone, which wasn't on the list, but I wasn't fussy. As long as they didn't snore, I'd be alright.

"Let's go get a drink," Con said once we'd finished unpacking. "You look like you need one."

I scowled at him, but I couldn't deny he was right. He took me out to the local pub they had in town and bought me a beer. We played a game of pool, where he introduced me to the people here—other seasonal workers, locals who ran businesses in town, ski instructors who'd been coming back for years.

My phone pinged with a message from Alex:

You having fun?

I shot back a message saying;

Did you know the air here is different? I just walked up a hill that would normally be fine, but it was like walking in mud.

To that, I got a whole message back on altitude and what it does to the body. Shaking my head, I looked up, and Con was smiling at me.

"That Alex?" he asked.

I smiled back, saying, "Yep. He's telling me how the air is different," making Con laugh.

I hadn't cut things off with Alex when I decided to come here. I just told him I wanted to do the season, and he said it sounded fun and he couldn't wait to see me when it was over. Then he continued to message me non-stop, acting like long distance wasn't an issue, even though we weren't actually together.

I was scared to even consider settling down again. I was burned—I wasn't gonna shy away from that. I was very, very burned. But I was also ready to find myself in this mess I had made, find out who I was, and take these three months I had here to just discover who I was inside.

After our drinks, Con showed me around the small town that surrounded the resort. There wasn't much—a few restaurants, some shops selling ski gear and souvenirs, a small grocery store, and the pub we'd just left. But it had a charm to it, nestled in the mountains with snow-covered peaks visible in every direction.

"So, what do you think?" Con asked as we walked back toward the hotels. The sun was setting, casting a golden glow over the snow that took my breath away.

"I think I'm going to love it here," I said honestly.

And I meant it. For the first time in a long time, I felt like I was exactly where I was supposed to be. Not waiting for someone else's call, not trying to fit myself into someone else'slife, not wondering if I was enough. Just me, in this beautiful place, with a friend who wanted nothing from me but my company.

That night, as I settled into my new bed, I thought about how much had changed in just a few months. From finding Ben with another woman, to the rollercoaster with Matt, to the passionate but undefined thing with Alex, and now here—starting fresh in a place where no one knew my history, where I could be whoever I wanted to be.

My roommate hadn't arrived yet, so I had the room to myself for now. I lay there, listening to the unfamiliar sounds of the hotel—distant laughter from the bar downstairs, the occasional creak of the old building settling, the soft whoosh of wind outside my window.

I felt a sense of peace wash over me. This was good. This was right. This was what I needed.

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