Page 23 of Let’s Be Real

I guessed I was.

She stayed beside me as she sent the picture then showed me his response when it arrived.

Adrian: If you come back and tell me Nate’s your best friend, I’m going to riot. Do not allow him to replace me.

She laughed. “I think he’s forgetting this was his idea.”

“He is jealous,” I murmured, mostly to myself.

Was this what Ben and Roman had meant? It still didn’t make sense to me. If he and Samantha wanted each other, there was nothing stopping them.

“I don’t think he’s actually worried about you usurping his position.”

“I doubt anyone could.”

“No, they couldn’t,” she confirmed. “I wouldn’t let them.”

The air was cooler at the summit, and the view was breathtaking. Valleys spilled out in every direction, distant mountains stacked against the horizon. A wooden deck wrapped around the top station where passengers from the gondolas ahead of us were disembarking.

And just beyond it…

I followed Samantha’s gaze.

A winding metal track carved down the mountainside, hugging the slope in long, twisting turns. Little sleds shot down one by one, riders leaning into the curves, flying like they had a death wish.

Her fingers clamped down on my arm. “There it is.”

I huffed a quiet laugh, bracing myself. “That’s…the alpine slide?”

“That’s the alpine slide.” Her knees bounced as we approached the station. “You’re going to have so much fun.”

I wasn’t convinced.

But when the doors slid open, I followed her anyway.

Samantha went first. One second she was there, and the next she had disappeared, leaving behind the echo of her battle cry.

I glanced at the resort employee. He was completely uninterested in me, not paying me any mind. Getting nervous wasn’t like me, but I found myself hesitating before climbing onto my sled.

I didn’t want to die today, so throwing myself off a mountain seemed counterintuitive. Then again, I’d been walking around on solid ground all my life and it hadn’t done much for me. Maybe this was exactly what I’d been missing.

I took a seat on the sled. The bored employee went over the exact same safety instructions he’d just given Samantha and the half-dozen riders before us.

Then I was off.

The first few feet were deceptively slow, giving just enough time for doubt to creep in. The track dipped, making the sled lurch forward, and my grip tightened on the brake handles, instinct screaming at me to keep control.

Then gravity took over, and speed hit all at once, a rush that ripped the breath straight out of my lungs. The mountain blurred at the edges, green and gold streaking past as the track curved sharply to the right. I leaned into it without thought, heart punching hard against my ribs as the sled picked up even more momentum.

“Oh shit—”

The words were gone before I could even hear them.

Wind tore through me, cool and wild, dragging a laugh out of my chest that didn’t sound like it belonged to me. It was loud and reckless and edged with something unfamiliar. Something dangerously close to joy.

I eased off the brakes, and the sled surged faster.

A sharp turn whipped toward me, but instead of panicking, I leaned harder, giving all my trust to the track. The metal rattled beneath me, the world tilting enough to make everything feel a little unhinged.