Nodding, he turns to add some brown sugar to the warming juice and giving it a stir. “Making apple cider with my mother as a child is one of my favorite memories. Her recipe is actually one of the best I’ve ever had.
“Smells good.”
Greyston grabs the cutting board with all his fruit on it, and adds it to the pot, momentarily displacing the steam. He stands at the stove, stirring the cider, and the smell fills the air. Soon, he’s pouring it into two mugs and nods toward the living room, mugs in-hand.
We settle onto the couch, and Greyston hands me my cider. I blow on it before taking a sip, and it’s like tasting Heaven. “This is really good.”
“Thank you,” he replies humbly, taking a sip from his own mug. “So, I was thinking maybe we could go out and get you your own gear before going to the resort again.” I raise an eyebrow, shocked and curious. “Or we can rent.”
“But I thought…?”
“We shouldn’t be spending our entire vacation with Gemma,” he tells me.
I look down into my mug as it rests in my lap. “It’s okay. I don’t mind,” I tell him softly, not even believing myself.
Greyston uses his forefinger beneath my chin to urge my eyes to his. “Yes you do. Even if just a little.”
“Okay,” I confess with a sigh. “Maybe I mind a little. It’s not that she isn’t lovely—she is—and I’ve been trying not to let things get awkward between us.”
“I know. And I honestly never thought that we’d see her. Running into her was purely coincidental.”
“I believe you,” I assure him with a nod.
“This was supposed to be our time together, and I’m going to salvage the rest of our vacation starting right now. From this moment on, it’s all about us.”
Leaning forward, my smile widens, and I kiss Greyston gently. “Okay. As long as you realize it’s not me making the demand.” Knowing how his last relationship ended based on ultimatums, I want to make it clear that I will never do that to him.
He kisses me again. “Understood.” Silence fills the room, and I watch as his lips curl up into a sly smirk. “So, you’ll let me buy you new boarding equipment?”
“What?” I demand incredulously. “Oh no. I can’t let you buy me equipment. This trip was more than enough.”
Naturally, Greyston is prepared to negotiate. “You forget, all I had to pay for was the airfare, and it really wasn’t that bad since I had some frequent flyer miles to cash in. But, if it makes you feel better, I’ll let you pay me back. I just don’t want to leave you without money to get by.”
I feel like this is some kind of ploy, but I can’t find the loophole, so I agree. “Okay. I’ll let you pay for it now, but I’ll pay you back.” I meet his gaze and hold it. “Every penny.”
If Greyston had a loophole in his deal for me to pay him back, I’m hoping I’ve squashed it. It’s doubtful, but I have to at least try. He takes a moment to contemplate this before he says, “You’ve got a deal. But take as long as you need. I really don’t want you to be stressing about money, okay?”
I smile so wide my cheeks hurt. “You bet.”
With it still being so early in the day, Greyston and I head into town to start looking at boarding gear. My legs are feeling better with every hour that passes, and I’m pretty excited about heading back to the resort the next day, and having my own gear would be awesome.
Greyston leads me straight toward the snowboarding equipment where he lets me pick through the various boards available. I take my time, trying to find a design I like, and while I do this, Greyston explains what I should be looking for.
“You need to take your ability level into account when choosing a board,” he begins as I trail my fingers over a sleek black board with a bright blue design. “Because you’ll want one more fitted to a beginner or intermediate skill level, this won’t be your last board.”
“Okay,” I reply, moving onto the next one and taking everything he says into consideration; he is the more experienced boarder, after all.
“You’ll want to look at the width of the board.” I nod again. “Your board shouldn’t be too much wider than your boots. If they extend over the edges too far, then you run the risk of them hitting the snow during hard turns, resulting in a wipeout.”
“So I should pick boots first, right?” I shrug. “I mean, if sizing is anything like how regular shoe companies operate, then they could be different.”
“You’re exactly right.”