Cash In Now Honey

The following morning, I heard the doorbell ringing but ignored it, snuggling deeper down into my bed. Barrett jumped from my bed and went out of the room only to return a minute later and lay on the floor beside my night stand. I heard a creak that sounded like my door but ignored it.
“Carson, wake up,” Scotty said as he jumped on me.

“OH MY GOSH!” I yelled, scared shitless. He laughed from on top of my side and I looked over to see Mason climbing onto my bed beside me.

“Morning,” he said to me.

“Good morning,” I replied. He leaned over and kissed me quickly before laying down.

“So, I’m guessing the date went well?” Scotty asked.

“None of your business,” I said to him. “Now get your ass off of me, I can’t breathe.” He rolled off of me and called for Barrett to follow him. Mason wrapped his arms around me and hugged me.

“Nice digs,” he said to me as he looked around.

“Thanks. It’s one of my family’s vacation homes,” I told him.

“One?” he questioned. I nodded and yawned. I snuggled into his side and tried to go back to sleep but couldn’t.

“What are we doing today?” I asked him.

“Shredding?” he asked. I nodded and got up. I went into the bathroom and did my morning routine before grabbing clothes to wear under my gear and changing. Mason had gone downstairs so I grabbed the rest of my stuff and went downstairs.

“Where’s Mason?” I asked Scotty.

“He went outside really quick,” he replied. “So, have you told him yet?”

“No,” I replied.

“You need to Carson. You’ll probably be surprised by his response,” he told me.

“I know. I think I’m going to on Friday. We have another date but then I leave next Sunday,” I told Scotty.

“Tell him,” he said to me sincerely.

“Tell who what?” Mason asked.

“You, that um, I’m really excited for our date on Friday. I had a lot of fun last night,” I said
quickly.

“And you were talking with Lago about this?” Mason questioned.

“Yeah, I mean I’ve known her for so long and dated her for three years. I just want her to be happy or whatever,” Scotty said. “Damn, I sound like a sap.” I laughed and hugged Scotty before looking at Mason.

“You ready to go?” I asked him. He nodded and we headed outside. I got in his car with
him because Scotty said he had sponsor stuff to do today. We arrived and I put on my gear
before Mason looked at me.

“You just want to ride pow today?” he asked me.

“To start, sure,” I said to him. He smiled and we began for the lifts. We climbed on one
and went to the top. We rode the pow for a few hours before moving on to the park. I was
going over a box when I got distracted and it threw me off my game big time. I landed nose first into the snow and dug in. As soon as I felt the snow grab, I tumbled heels over head but the board stuck for a second and tweaked my left ankle. Pain shot through it as I came to a stop. I had felt my foot come off the board when my binding broke and figured that’s how I’d gotten hurt.

“CARSON!!!” I heard Mason yell as I laid in the snow, holding my foot, trying not to cry. He fell into the snow beside me and told me not to move as he called the medics that were at the resort. He told them where we were before hanging up.

“It’ll be about five minutes. Shit, how did I let this happen?” he said, looking really
frustrated.

“It wasn’t your fault. I got distracted,” I said to him as I tried to sit up.

“No, stay laying down,” he said as he lightly pushed me back down into the snow. “Shit,
Lago is going to kill me.”

“He’ll be fine,” I told Mason, who gave me a doubtful look.

“So, what hurts? I mean your leg obviously,” he said.

“My ankle. I feel like I broke something,” I told him. “Mason, is my board alright?” He laughed and nodded his head.

“A little banged up but nothing a little TLC won’t fix,” he told me. “You would worry about
something like that right now wouldn’t you?”

“Yep, that’s why I asked,” I replied. I heard the motor of snowmobiles and saw three coming to stop a few feet down the slope from Mason and I. He filled them in on what
happened as they loaded me on to a back board. I cried out in pain as they tried to take off my boot to assess the damage and saw Mason wince.

“We’re taking her to the hospital. Are you coming with?” one of the medics asked Mason.

“Yeah,” he replied as he grabbed our boards and climbed on the back of the snowmobile with one of the medics. We got to the bottom where there was a resort vehicle waiting at the bottom, which I was loaded into and Mason climbed in beside me. He pulled out his phone and hesitantly hit send.

“Scotty, yeah. You might want to head to the hospital,” Mason said to him.

“Nice way to start a conversation,” I said to Mason, who shushed me.

“Yeah. I’ll fill you in when you get there. No, she’s fine except her left foot. She said she might have broken something,” he told Scotty. “Bro, it wasn’t my fault.”

“Give me the damn phone,” I said to Mason, who handed it over quickly.

“Scotty, stop worrying. I’m fine,” I said to him.

“Carson, anything with the word hospital involved does not mean someone’s okay,” Scotty said. I heard him slamming a car door then his truck starting up.

“Dude, chill,” I said to him. “I’ll see you in a little bit.” I hung up and handed the phone back to Mason.

“He’ll be fine once he sees me. Don’t take him freaking out on you personally. He just needs someone to blame until he sees me and sees that besides my foot, I’m fine,” I told him. “Scotty has always been like super overprotective of me.”

“How long have the two of you known each other?” Mason asked me as he reached over and unclenched my hand from where it was gripping my snow pants in pain and wrapped his fingers with mine.

“Well, I’m originally from Vermont but I moved out here when I was fourteen. I knew Scotty from elementary and middle school and then when he came out here for competitions and stuff, he’d stay with me because we had always been really good friends,” I told Mason. “So all in all, I’d say for most of my life.”

“And uh, you guys, um, you dated right?” Mason asked, pulling off his stocking cap and running his free hand through his static-y hair.

“Yeah, for almost three years,” I told him as I reached out and smoothed out his hair. He smiled at me before pulling his stocking cap back on.

“What happened, if you don’t mind me asking,” he said to me. We pulled up to the hospital and the side door opened.

“I’ll tell you later,” I said to him as I was pulled from the van. Scotty was outside and rushed over.

“Mase, we need to talk,” he said. I shot him a deathly glare saying ‘if you yell at Mase, I’ll yell at you ten times worse’. Scotty looked at me then at Mason and sighed. I was taken inside and went through the same routine as last time when I hurt my foot, which was only a bit different from the time I tore my ACL and then broke my right leg.

“Hey there Carson,” my doctor said to me as he came into the room.

“Hey Jeff,” I replied. Yeah, I was on a first name basis with my doctor from visiting the clinic so much.

“So, looks like you only have a hair line fracture in your ankle. It should be able to heal on its own if you take care of it right,” he said to me. “We’re going to put you in boot and on crutches. I know what you’re going to ask but no, you can’t go boarding or surfing for at least four weeks.”

“Fine,” I said with a huff.

“Alright, we’re going to get you fixed up then you need to come back in two weeks.
Carson, please take it easy this time. I’m tired of seeing you in here with leg injuries,” Jeff said
as he went to leave.

“Alright. Next time, I’ll make sure to hurt my arm,” I said sarcastically. Jeff laughed.

“Good bye Carson,” he said before disappearing. Two hours later, I was skillfully making
my way to the front desk to sign off on everything. Scotty was outside getting his truck but Mason rushed over to me.

“Are you okay?” he asked me.

“Hairline fracture. I should be alright in like four to six weeks,” I told him. I signed the forms and the nurse placed the prescription script on the counter, which Mason snatched up.

“I’ll go pick it up,” he said to me. “I’ll bring it to the cabin.”

“Thanks,” I told him. Scotty pulled up and helped me into his truck as Mason climbed into the back. Scotty headed for the slopes to pick up Mason’s car when he turned to me.

“Do you mind if Mase takes you home? I have some plans that I need to get to and I don’t want to...” Scotty began but I cut him off.

“It’s fine. You don’t need to explain,” I said to him. Scotty fell quiet and pulled up beside Mason’s car. Scotty took my stuff and placed it in Mason’s car as Mason helped me out of Scotty’s truck. My crutches slipped on some ice and Mason quickly caught me around my waist.

“Are you okay?” he asked me from behind as he pulled me up into a standing position, keeping his arms around me until I had my footing.

“Yeah, thanks,” I said to him before climbing into his car. Mason climbed in a minute later after talking to Scotty.

“So, where to?” he asked me.

“Home,” I replied.