“You on my lap makes me very happy.”
She cocked her head. “Don’t you have somewhere to be?”
“Yep.” I tightened my arms around her and stood up with her in my arms. She threw back her head and laughed. It was the sweetest sound I’d ever heard.
Giselle
Before we stepped through the door of the bar, Thayer slipped his hand into mine. My eyes cut to his, and he smirked. He was making good on his promise to show me off and break some snow bunnies’ hearts. I’d paired a green sweater with jeans and boots, while Thayer opted for a light blue hoodie and baggy jeans. He was always unapologetically himself, and I loved it.
We spotted Jesse sitting beside the Kincaid sign displayed on the wall. As we approached his table, we found him sitting with some of the German snowboarders who Thayer practiced with earlier. They all greeted Thayer with bro-hugs and acknowledged me with smiles and head nods.
“This is Giselle,” Thayer said, reaching for my hand again. “My girlfriend.”
Flutters erupted in my stomach; his declaration was more gratifying than I expected because it was how he saw me. And, hearing it aloud to a group of people made it even more real than it already was.
Thayer spent the next half an hour talking to them about the event and the condition of the ramp, which apparently was pretty icy. I loved how animated he became over snowboarding, since it had been so long since he’d been out there doing the thing he loved for as long as I could remember.
“Hey, where’s McCloud?” one of the guys asked.
Thayer shrugged it off casually, not letting on that he and Kason weren’t currently speaking. “Not sure.”
“He looked good out there,” another said.
“He’s the one to beat,” another added.
“Not if Thayer has anything to say about it,” Jesse announced.
Thayer looked away, clearly embarrassed by Jesse’s words. “Let’s just hope I qualify,” he mumbled.
“Dude, that’s going to happen,” Jesse assured him.
“Do you snowboard?” one of the guys asked me.
“Oh. Not much,” I admitted.
“Giselle’s amazing on a board,” Thayer said, always my biggest fan. I hoped I could offer him the same amount of support when he competed—especially since his mom wasn’t there to cheer him on and her absence definitely left a void.
“Here he is!” one of the guys announced, and all heads turned to Kason, strutting into the bar with no sign of Shay behind him.
“’Sup, boys,” Kason said as he stepped up to the table. His eyes immediately narrowed when he noticed Thayer and me standing there. He quickly averted his gaze and began speaking to the snowboarders at the table.
“You hungry?” Thayer whispered to me.
I shook my head, but given the disappointment in his eyes, I wondered if that was his way of trying to move away from the table and my brother. “Actually, I am.”
His appreciative grin told me I’d been right.
We stayed long enough to be polite, and then we left. It was a quiet ride back to the hotel. I knew Thayer hated the current state of his friendship with Kason—especially because I knew he would’ve liked to have his best friend’s support when he returned to snowboarding on such a big stage.
After brushing my teeth and changing into my pajamas, I climbed into bed as Thayer stripped down to his boxers. I knew if I didn’t say something, I wouldn’t be able to sleep. “Would you tell me if this was too much?”
He looked to me, his brows pulled together. “What?”
“Me coming between you and my brother?”
“G, we both know how your brother can be.” He climbed into bed, pulling me to him so we were face to face. “He’s making this about him when it’s really about us. If he can’t see how happy we are together, then he’s more of an asshole than I thought possible.”
“This should be such an exciting time for you, but now you have to deal with him acting like a baby and ignoring you. It’s gotta suck.”