Greyston makes the bed while I get dressed, but his focus isn’t solely on the bed. I don’t fail to notice that his eyes are on me the entire time I’m changing. If the look in his eyes didn’t turn me on so damn much, I’d probably find it a little creepy. Okay, no I wouldn’t.
“Well,” he begins, “we’ll go to the ski resort today and get in some time on the slopes and then maybe go for dinner tonight.”
I pull my sweater on and nod. “Cool.” It suddenly occurs to me that I’ll likely be on the beginner hill for the entire day while I learn. “You’re not going to waste your mad skills babysitting me on the kiddie hill, are you?” Greyston regards me curiously. “I just don’t want you to feel obligated to stay with me all day. You shouldn’t have to miss out because I’ve never done this before.”
Laughing, Greyston tosses our pillows into place and walks over to me. “I won’t be missing out,” he assures me. “We’ve got all week, and I’m confident you’ll do just fine and will be itching to hit the more advanced trails soon enough. I’d prefer to make sure you’re comfortable on them before allowing that to happen.”
After Greyston dresses in jeans and a blue sweater, we head downstairs for breakfast. While I start cooking, Greyston calls Gemma to see if she can still get us passes to the resort. It still stings to know that the two of them have a history, but I believe wholeheartedly that Greyston would never betray me the way Ben did. Of course, this doesn’t stop me from eavesdropping on his end of the conversation.
“So you’ll be there in an hour?” There’s a pause while Gemma says something. “Cool… I’ve got my equipment stored here, so I won’t need rentals… No. Mom’s skis are here, too… Oh, right. Actually, let me ask her.” I look up from the cooking bacon and turn toward the island where Greyston is sitting. “I forgot to ask, but do you want to ski or board?”
“Ummm…” I’d never really given it much thought, actually. I probably should have.
“My mom’s skis are here, but if you wanted to board, Gemma’s got an extra one you can borrow. You’re about the same height, so it’d be fine.”
I think about my options for a minute, trying to figure out what might be easier, and I’m honestly not sure. If either of them are anything like water-skiing or wake-boarding, I’d probably have to go with wake-boarding, because I had a nasty habit of getting my water skis crossed and wiping out. Yeah, it’s probably a smarter choice.
“I think I want to snowboard?” I tell him, sounding a little unsure before I nod resolutely. “Yes. Definitely snowboard.” Smiling, Greyston relays the information to Gemma and tells her we’ll be heading to the resort after breakfast.
By the time he hangs up the phone, the bacon and eggs are done, and I take them to the small table in the kitchen where Greyston joins me. While we eat, I ask questions about snowboarding: how to distribute my weight, what to expect…you know, things that will help keep me off my ass. Greyston answers as many questions as he can, but he assures me that there’s only so much that he can tell me that’ll actually help me. Apparently being thrown right in is the best way to learn. Awesome. I’ll be on my ass in half a second flat.
After cleaning the kitchen, Greyston grabs his gear and runs out to the car, starting it to warm it up. I’m just about to put my jacket and boots on when he stops me. “Before you put your boots on, we should determine your lead foot.”
“My what?”
“The foot you’ll lead with on the board,” he clarifies.
I shrug. “Well, I’m right-handed, so…”
Greyston chuckles. “That doesn’t always determine your dominant foot for boarding.”
I nod. “Oh, okay. How do I do that?”
“It’s going to sound a little strange, but one way is to run across the floor and slide. Whichever foot you put in front is usually your lead foot.”
This sounds like it has the potential for injury. “What other ways are there?”
He smirks. “Well, that was really the best and nicest way.” He tries to suppress a chuckle, but fails miserably. “I could do to you what I did to Toby…”
“Which was?” I inquire with an arched brow.
“I stood behind him and pushed him. He stepped out with his left foot, and that turned out to be his lead foot,” he explains.
This sounds even more dangerous than the other way. My reflexes are usually a little slow, so I’d likely land on my face because my legs would fail to react in a situation like that. “Okay. First of all,” I begin, smiling, “that’s just mean. Second, I hope you’ve got video of that somewhere. And third, I’ll take option one.”