Cash In Now Honey

I made my way to my family’s cabin and pulled into the garage. I went inside and went straight to take a shower. I stood there for twenty minutes just staring blankly at the wall in front of me. I couldn’t believe I had just seen my ex for the first time since we’d broken up. The whole thing was a complete mess and I didn’t know my feelings towards him anymore but didn’t know how to deal with it. I continued with my shower and got out. I went into my bedroom and pulled on a pair of sweats, rolling them up to my knees, a raglan t-shirt and a hoodie. I let my hair do what it wanted and headed down to the kitchen. I looked through the fridge and cupboards and began to make Scotty’s favorite meal, baked chicken with creamy rice, without even thinking about it. The doorbell rang and I went to answer it, not knowing who to expect since the only people who knew I was here were my grandma, my brother, and Scotty. I opened the door and saw Scotty standing there with flowers, the X-Men movie series, and a paper grocery sack. I turned and headed back for the kitchen, leaving the door open for him to decide what to do. Something inside of me was telling me not to give up and let him go completely just yet but then a bigger part was telling me to do the exact opposite. I heard the front door close as I pulled the pan from the oven and sat it on top of the stove. I could hear Scotty rustling around in the living room then saw him standing in the doorway, watching me.

“You can come in. I’m not going to freak out on you again,” I said to him softly. Scotty placed the bag on the counter and placed a few things in the fridge then in the freezer before coming over and standing beside me. I was dishing food onto plates as a few tears slipped onto the counter. Scotty reached over and took the spoon from me and placed it on the counter before wrapping his arms around me.

“I’m so sorry Carson,” he said to me as he pulled me into a tight hug. I turned my face into his neck and rested my cheek against his chest, looking outside at the slopes as it began to snow.

“I know,” I whispered to him. “It doesn’t make it any easier though.”

“I know,” he said as he rubbed my back. I pulled back and wiped my cheeks and handed him a plate of food. “Did you think I was coming or something?”

“No, it just sounded good,” I told him. I sat on a bar stool at the breakfast bar and ate, not really talking. Scotty eventually got me to crack. I told him everything and he explained his half of the story.

“I’d like to give it another try,” he said to me softly as we sat on the couch.

“I can’t,” I told him quietly. He leaned forward, kissed my forehead, and stood.

“Can we at least be friends then? I don’t want to not have you in my life at all, Car,” he said to me.

“Yeah. Friends would be good,” I said to him as I stood and walked with him to the door.

“You boarding tomorrow?” he asked me as he pulled on his coat and his boots.

“Yep. I usually get to the slopes at about ten,” I told him.

“Alright. Well, I think Mase, Jake, and I will be there,” he said to me.

“Okay, I’ll keep an eye out for you,” I said to him.

“I want to see some of your new moves,” he said to me. “By the way, that board you got it sick.”

“Thanks, my uncle gave it to me. It’s a tester,” I told him.

“I’ll see you tomorrow then,” Scotty said to me. “Hey, could you return those movies to Mason? I stole them from his house.” I laughed as he rushed out and got in his truck. Figures, he always does shit like that. I went to bed and slept in the next morning. I got up and got ready before heading for the slopes. I put on goggles and began my first run. I didn’t throw anything fancy, I was just warming up. When I got back to the top of the pipe, I saw five figures standing there. I recognized three of them as Scotty, Mason, and Jake but the other two had their backs turned to me.

“Carson,” Mason called, waving at me. I returned the wave and trudged towards them. The other two turned and looked at me. It was Danny Davis and Keir Dillion. Fuck, Keir knew my uncle and I hoped he didn’t mention anything about it. He knew I was some how related to Mike but just didn’t know how. Mason extending his hand to me and helped me up the slope. I righted myself and hugged Keir.

“How you been Carson?” he asked me.

“Good. What you doing snowboarding old man?” I asked, jokingly. Keir laughed along with
the other four guys.

“Haven’t in a while so I decided it was time to dust off the deck,” he said to me. I looked up at Danny and smiled.

“I’m Carson,” I said to him, extending my hand.

“Danny,” he replied a little shocked. “Sorry, I was expecting a guy.” I laughed.

“It’s alright,” I said to him. I sat my board down and stepped into it and strapped myself in. Jake smiled over at me before taking the few steps towards me.

“Hey Carson,” he said to me as he strapped into his board beside me.

“Hey Jake,” I said to him.

“You want to do pipe at the same time?” he asked me.

“Are you crazy? You already tried to kill me yesterday,” I said to him. “Plus, so not a good idea. Maybe another time without so many people to see us bust ass,” I said to him. He laughed.

“After you,” he said. I dropped into the pipe and threw a few tricks. I tried a trick I’d been working on but didn’t pull through and busted ass... HARD. I laid there for a minute just looking up. Snow flew around me as two people came to stops on either side of me.

“Shit, Car. Are you alright?” Scotty asked me. I grunted.

“Dude, is she dead?” Mason asked. I laughed and lifted up my hands. They pulled me up and I shook off the snow.

“Dude, you almost had it. What happened?” Scotty asked.

“I got distracted,” I told him. He nodded and we began for the top of the pipe. I felt like such an ass for not pulling through on the trick, especially in front of all these guys that were super bad ass at what they did.

“It’s cool Carson. Don’t worry about it,” Scotty said as he wrapped his arm around my neck and pulled me towards him. We made our way to the top and watched everyone else do their runs.

“Hey, what happened out there? You totally almost had that run,” Jake said as he came up beside me.

“I don’t know. I guess I got distracted,” I told him.

“Happens to me all the time. I start thinking about something and kind of forget I’m in the air and then eat snow,” he said. I laughed and looked over at him. He was looking at me and smiled. I smiled and bit my lip as I looked away. I watched Mason’s run and was a little in awe. He was amazing. His style was smooth and not too flashy like some riders and he pulled it off effortlessly. Jake noticed me watching Mason and dropped in. I knew he was showing off and chuckled when he didn’t pull through on his last trick and busted ass but not too badly. He stood and I saw him shaking his head as he stood and rode to the bottom of the pipe. Mason appeared beside me and hip checked me lightly.

“Hey buddy,” he said to me with a smile. I laughed a little and smiled up at him. “So I heard Jake ask you if you wanted to ride pipe at the same time. Why don’t you want to?”

“I never have before. I’m little scared I’ll bust ass and get plowed over I guess,” I told Mason.

“Do it with me. I’ll be gentle,” he said to me in a low voice.

“Okay perv,” I said with a laugh. “But if I bust ass, you owe me dinner.”

“Alright, I’m down with that,” he said.

“You’re going to making me mess up on purpose aren’t you?” I asked him as we stood at the top of the deck, waiting to drop in.

“Yep,” he said before he gave me a little shove. I dropped in and was constantly waiting for Mason to cut me off but he never did. I was almost to the bottom and was going to go back up the side of the pipe when two arms wrapped around my waist and my board overlapped with theirs. I wiped out but landed on Mason.

“Really? That was not cool. You scared the shit out of me,” I said to him as we laid in the snow towards the bottom of the pipe.

“So where do you want to go to dinner?” he asked me with a smirk.

“You could have just asked me out like a normal person,” I said as I stood. Mason followed suit as I began around the end of the pipe and began the walk.

“But really, what kind of food do you like? I don’t want to take you somewhere that you don’t like,” he said to me.

“I like everything but Thai food,” I told him. “Oh and sushi, that shit’s nasty.” Mason laughed and nodded.

“I think I know a place you might like,” he told me.

“Where would that be?” I asked him.

“It’s a surprise,” he said with a smirk. I rolled my eyes and picked up my speed a little. The rest of the day was fun. Jake told me he was leaving after he was done with his final run so I gave him a hug and he took off down the pipe, landing everything perfectly. He sent a wave my way before he began for his car.

“Hey, you want to pull a double?” Scotty asked me. “I won’t do what Mason did.”

“I know. I trust you,” I said to him with a smile.

“What, you don’t trust me?” Mason asked with a pout.

“I dated Lago for three years. I’d trust him with my life. You on the other hand, I’ve only known for a day so you’ve got a little ways to go,” I said to Mason. “I know you’ll get there though.” Mason smiled at me and I nodded to Scotty. We dropped in and I got to say, it was fun. I hugged him at the bottom of the pipe and sat down in the snow. He joined me and we watched everyone else do their final runs.

“I’m happy we’re able to be friends,” I said to Scotty.

“Yeah, me too,” he said with a smile. Keir did a clean run, a little rusty but he hadn’t rode for a while so it was understandable. Danny killed it. I had never seen him ride before but I had to say, I was more than a little blown away. Mason was the last at the top of the pipe and I could see his head bobbing in time with whatever he was listening to. He did a 1080 and then two corkscrew 540s back to back. I was a little in awe once again and couldn’t help but grin. Everyone had stood but I had remained sitting in the snow, watching Mason. He kept riding and came to a quick stop in front of me but lost his balance and toppled forward. He landed on me and knocked me backwards into the snow. His arms were tangled with mine and his left leg was at rest between mine.

“Dude, I know she’s hot but here is not the place,” Danny said to him, the other two guys chuckling. Mason quickly stood and pulled me up. Mason undid his bindings and picked up his board. He walked with me and told the other three he’d meet them back at his house. He walked me to my car and spoke to me while I changed out of my gear. I took off my boots and pants to expose my sweat pants underneath. I pulled up the bottoms and pulled on my pair of Nike 6.0s. I took off my jacket and thick hoodie so I had on just a tight black tank top. Mason stuttered a little when I pulled off my hoodie. I smirked as I reached for my clean hoodie and pulled it on.

“So what time should I be ready?” I asked Mason as I shut the trunk of my Tahoe.

“Um, is 6:30 alright? That gives you about an hour,” Mason said.

“Yeah, that’s more than enough time,” I told him.

“So what’s your address?” he asked me.

“Get it from Scotty,” I told him as I opened the driver’s door and slid into the seat. Mason stood at the door, holding it open while he looked at me.

“Can I at least get your number in case I get lost or something?” he asked me. I nodded and took his phone and put my number in it.

“I’ll see you in a little bit then?” I said as I started my car.

“Yeah,” he replied with a smile. He shut my door and waved before he began for his car. I backed out and headed for the cabin.