Cash In Now Honey

“So, Carson, I have a question for you,” Mason said as he began down the mountain and the
trip back to my house.

“What’s that?” I asked him. He fiddled with the radio for a minute before looking at me.

“What’s your last name?” he asked me. Fuck, I thought. No one knew who my uncle was besides Scotty. Did I really want Mason to know?

“Olson,” I told him. It was a pretty common last name, I thought to myself.

“Are you related to Mike Olson somehow?” he asked me.

“Did Scotty tell you?” I asked him.

“Did you not want me to know?” he asked me in return.

“It’s not that. I just, I rarely tell people about my family because of the whole personal gain thing but now that I think about, that doesn’t really apply to you. I mean you’re completely successful on your own. You were in the Olympics and you got first at the World Superpipe Championship,” I said, rambling on.

“Woah, Carson. I was just curious,” he said to me.

“Then yeah, I’m related Mike Olson,” I told him.

“How, if you don’t mind me asking,” he asked.

“He’s my uncle. My dad didn’t take an interest in me like he did my brothers. So when I was seven, I went and stayed with my uncle for the summer and he kind of stepped into the dad role I guess. He taught me to snowboard and just kind of took me under his wing,” I told Mason, who nodded in content as we drove down Highway 203. It had begun to snow as we made our way back to the house and I smiled. We sat in a comfortable silence for a little while before Mason cleared his throat and spoke.

“So um, Danny, Jack Mitrani and I were going to go to Hyde Lounge tonight. Would you consider coming with? I know that you just got hurt and you might not be up to it,” Mason said but I cut him off.

“Mason, I’d love to,” I told him. “Plus, I’ve heard a lot about this Jack Mitrani character and would love to meet him.”

“Yeah, Danny told him all about you so he’s kind of the same way,” Mason told me. He turned left instead of right and I was confused.

“Where are you going?” I asked him.

“I was going to stop by my house and grab a change of clothes. I figured I could just change at your place, if that’s alright. Save some travel time from dropping you off, going home, coming back to your place, then going back,” he said.

“Yeah, that sounds good,” I replied. Mason and I talked about completely random crap until he pulled into the drive way of a house in Mammoth Lakes.

“I’ll be right back unless you want to come in,” he said as he shut off his car.

“I need out of the car for a couple minutes,” I said to him. He nodded and rushed around to help me out of the car. I handed him my crutches and slowly pulled myself up and out of the car with his help.

“Oh my gosh, I love snow so much,” I said as I looked up at the sky with a huge smile. Mason laughed and motioned for me to follow him. He unlocked the front door and I followed him.

“I’ll be right back,” he said as he began down a hallway. I perched on the armrest of his couch and looked around. He had up pictures of him and a whole bunch of other pros and he had his awards displayed. I saw a lot of pictures of what they called the Frends Crew and smiled. He emerged a minute later with a Burton bag in his hand and a lighter weight jacket in the other.

“You ready?” he asked. I nodded and stood. He pulled into the driveway of my house and I told him to keep the car running. I got out, punched in the code on my garage door and motioned for him to pull in. He did and I pushed the button to shut the door.

“Thanks,” he said after he’d shut the door to his car.

“No problem. Now you won’t have to clean off your car when we leave later,” I said to him.

“You have another car?” he asked.

“Um the Tahoe stays here so, yeah,” I replied I opened the door and was greeted by my Alaskan Husky, Barrett.

“Hey bud,” I said to him, petting him. He went over to Mason and pawed at his leg until he stuck out his hand. I watched in amazement as Mason played with Barrett, who licked his face. Mason laughed and stood up, looking over at me.

“What?” he asked when he saw my face.

“He doesn’t do new people,” I told him. “It took him forever to warm up to my family but he seems to love you.” I went over to the back door, opened it, and Barrett shot outside. I watched him as he played in the snow and I laughed. I heard the front door open and turned to Mason. “I think one of my housemates is home.”

“You live with people?” he asked me.

“Yeah, my brother and his best friend are here for a few weeks now,” I told him. Then my brother’s best friend Ryan walked in. “Hey Ry.”

“Shit, what happened Carson?” he asked me.

“Hairline fracture in my ankle. Ryan, this is Mason. Mason, Ryan,” I said. They kind of sized each other up and I laughed to myself.

“Aguirre right?” Ryan asked as he extended his hand, which Mason shook.

“Yeah,” Mason replied.

“Didn’t know you hung with the big boys there, Carson,” Ryan said sarcastically.

“Fuck you,” I replied to him as I opened the sliding door to let Barrett back inside. Mason clenched his jaw and looked outside. “Come on, I’ll go get some clothes.” I led Mason through the main floor to the stairs. I was struggled a lot, not having used crutches on stairs for a while, so Mason just picked me up and carried me up the two flights of stairs.

“Thanks,” I said to him as he placed me back on my feet.

“How many times have you hurt your leg?” he asked me as we made our way to my room.

“This is the third time. First time was my left ACL, second time was my right leg,” I told him.

“Both from boarding?” Mason asked.

“ACL was but Ryan was a dick and pushed me off a boat at Mono Lake and I busted my leg,” I told Mason as I began for the door.

“Wow, he is a dick,” he replied as he stepped inside behind me and pushed the door shut. I went over to my closet and looked for something to wear. I was very accustom to maneuvering around on crutches so I figured I’d be alright in a dress or skirt. I pulled out a red and black woven print dress that had a belt around the waist that I loved and found a pair of shoes to match.

“I’ll let you in once I’ve changed,” I told Mason as I grabbed different undergarments from my dresser drawer. He nodded and I went into the bathroom. I changed and went and opened the door, motioning Mason inside. He had changed while he waited for me and was wearing an oversized t-shirt, jeans, sneakers, and a hat that he had on backwards. He came and sat on the counter beside me and talked to me while I straightened my hair. He told me about Jack and Luke Mitrani and Kevin Pearce. I had to say, I was really excited to hopefully get to meet these guys. I put on some blush and put away my eyeshadow, eyeliner, and mascara. I put on my chap stick before slipping on my one shoe and stood.

“Wow,” he said. “I never told you last night but you looked amazing and you do now too.”

“Thanks,” I said to him. “I’m not normally super girly but I don’t know, tonight feels like an alright night to be a bit more feminine than normal.” Mason stood and came over to me.

“It doesn’t matter, you’re always beautiful,” he said to me as he placed his hands on my hips. I looked up at him surprised and he looked worried. “Sorry, too fast or did I say something wrong?”

“No, I just have never really had someone say that to me besides Scotty,” I told him. “It’s been a while.” Mason smiled and leaned towards me.

“You need to be told more often then,” he said before he kissed me. I was really enjoying myself until I went to move and hit my foot against the cabinet.

“Fuck,” I said as I pulled away.

“Oh, hey, I’ll be back in like fifteen minutes,” Mason said. He took a few steps then came back. “Are you okay?” I laughed.

“Yeah, I’m good,” I replied.

“I’m gonna go pick up your prescription,” he told me. I nodded and went into my room. I called my grandma and talked to her for a little while and then Mason came back. I took one of the pain killers and he asked if I was ready to go. I nodded and we headed out. We meet up with Danny and Jack at some little bar and grill for dinner. Jack was hilarious and I was really enjoying myself. We had been at Hyde Lounge for probably two hours and I was currently at the bar. I was about to take my next shot when someone’s arm snaked around my waist.

“Woah, slow down there champ. Vicoden and tequila don’t mix too well,” Mason said as he took the shot glass from me and drank it. He looked up at the bartender then. “She’s done. If you give her another drink, you’ll need another job.”

“How’d you even get these? You aren’t legal,” he said as he nodded to the bartender. I was handed a bottle of water and Mason took it, motioning for me to follow.

“Aguirre, you’re a fucking kill joy,” I said to him as I followed him to a booth that Jack, Danny, his girlfriend and another girl were sitting in. Danny’s girlfriend stood and Danny exited the booth and Mason slid into it. He indicated for me to scoot into the booth.

“Yeah, make the cripple sit in the middle,” I said as I struggled around the booth. Mason reached over, wrapped his arm around my waist, and pulled me around to the back of the round booth beside him. He sat my water in front of me and smiled over at me. Danny and his girl looked at each other and spoke before Danny turned to us.

“We’ll see you guys later,” he said before they headed off into the crowd.

“How much have you had to drink?” Mason said into my ear so I could hear him. I shrugged and took a drink of his beer.

“Nope,” he said, snatching it from me. “Danny’s worried and so am I. I totally forgot about the fact of how many painkillers you’ve had today.”

“I only had one. I’m fine,” I told him. I felt fine, I knew I probably wouldn’t in the morning but whatever, that was twelve hours from now.

“Do you want to dance?” Mason asked. I nodded and we scooted out of the booth. I grabbed my crutches but Mason sat them aside.

“You don’t need those, you’ve got me,” he said with a smile. I grinned and he helped me over to the dance floor. He stayed towards the outside of the everyone so that we’d have a bit more room because of my foot. I wrapped my arms around his neck and his were tightly wrapped around my waist, holding my body close to his.

“So, do you have any good moves?” I asked him.

“A few but none are appropriate for this place,” he said with a grin. I threw back my head in laughter and looked over at Jack and the girl who he was with. She was laughing about something and he was grinning widely. Danny was in a similar situation with his girlfriend. She was smiling at him and wrapped her arms around him. I turned my attention back to Mason, who was watching me with a grin.

“What?” I asked him.

“Nothing,” he replied as he pulled me closer to him. You could have stuck a piece of paper between us and it wouldn’t have fallen. We were pressed together as our hips moved to the rhythm. Mason’s hand drifted to my hips and moved them with the beat. I let go of him and spun around so that my back was pressed against him. His hands remained on my hips and my arms went up around his neck again. I turned my head to the side and felt his nose press against the top of my cheek. I got lost dancing with Mason and was soon pulled away from him by Jack. I danced with Jack for a little while but then told him I wanted to go back to Mason. He smiled and nodded, helping me over to where Mason was at our table. I scooted around and sat beside him, placing my legs over the top of his knees so I could rest my foot on the booth. He smiled at me and put his arm around my waist. He leaned over and whispered in my ear.

“You having fun?” I nodded and smiled. “Do you like the guys?” I nodded again.

“I like Jack. He’s funny,” I said into his ear. Mason nodded and took a drink. I took a drink of my water and we sat and people watched for a while. A few girls asked Mason to dance but he smoothly declined.

“You can dance if you want,” I said to him.

“No, I’ve got the girl I want to be with right here,” he said before placing a kiss on my cheek. I rested my head against his shoulder and I felt the pain killers kind of wearing off. My ankle began to throb and the alcohol wasn’t blurring out the pain any. Mason noticed my face and spoke to me.

“Do you want to go home?” he asked me. I thought and then slowly nodded.

“My ankle really hurts,” I told him. He nodded and scooted out of the booth. He grabbed my coat and crutches for me and told me he’d be right back after he found Jack. He found Jack and told him we were leaving and returned to my side. We made our way out to his car and he drove me home. Mason yawned the entire way back to my house and as we pulled into the driveway, I thought he was going to go to sleep.

“Do you want to crash here?” I asked him.

“Won’t it bother your roommate?” he asked. I shook my head no. “Then yeah, that’d be nice. I don’t know if I’ll last the twenty minute drive home.” We both got out of the car and made our way up to the front door. I unlocked the door and motioned for Mason to be quiet as we made our way inside. I closed and locked the door, and set the security panel before going into the kitchen. I pulled a bottle of Powerade from the fridge and offered one to Mason.

“Thanks,” he said as he took a drink then wrapped his arms around me. He placed a kiss on my neck and I shuddered a little. “You cold?”

“No,” I said.

“Then what?” he asked.

“You found my sweet spot,” I told him. He grinned and kissed me again. “Let’s go upstairs. I’m sure there’s some clothes you can sleep in somewhere in one of the guest rooms.” We made our way upstairs and I went and found Mason some sweat pants.

“Do you want a shirt too?” I asked him. He shook his head no and took the sweats from me. We both got ready for bed and climbed into my queen sized bed. Barrett curled up by my feet as I snuggled up against Mason and fell asleep.