by Tara Wyatt
He kissed her then, pulling her words deep inside. Savoring them. Treasuring them.
“I thought I could mistake-proof my life if I just tried hard enough,” she whispered when he pulled away. “I think what I was doing instead was stopping myself from actually living my life. I was so scared to mess up that I didn’t dare follow what I actually wanted. It was the plan or nothing.”
He wove his fingers through her hair. “Hey, I’m living proof of just how badly you can fuck up your life and survive. Mistakes aren’t something you can plan to avoid. They happen to everyone, and as long as you learn from them, as long as you grow, that’s what really matters. Mistakes are some of life’s greatest teachers.”
She smiled at him. “That’s very wise, Bastian.”
“I have my moments.”
She laid back down, her head on his chest and he stroked a hand up and down her back. “So, if you threw the plan out the window, what would do you? Would you still be working at Silver Stream?”
“Ha. For Stammler? No.”
“So what would you do if you could do anything in the world? No fear of mistakes, no worrying about doing everything just right. What would you do if you were living for you?”
She sighed. “Don’t get me wrong, I love my career. I wanted that promotion so badly. But Stammler’s an asshole, and sometimes I feel like all I really do at Silver Stream is help rich guys get richer.”
“You know, I always noticed that you seemed more enthusiastic about projects that had some kind of charitable or community-focused component. Like that development in Harlem with space for the after-school programs. Your passion really came through on that one.”
“That’s very observant of you. Those were always my favorites. It felt rewarding, helping organizations find the space they needed, or connecting charities with opportunities.”
“Well, I was your boss for three years.” He wound a lock of her hair around his finger. “Have you ever thought about working in the nonprofit sector?”
“Not in any serious way, no. But I do like the idea of it. Using my skills to actually do some good in the world instead of just lining the pockets of the rich. Actually helping people and making a difference…it’d be nice to do something that means something, you know?”
“Maybe it’s something you should look into if you’re ready to tell Stammler to fuck off. Which, in my opinion, you should. Davis, too. I never trusted that guy. He always seemed slimy to me.”
“Davis? Really? I mean, he’s kind of a prick, but I don’t think he’s untrustworthy.”
“That guy’s a climber, and I’ve heard the way he talks to you. He wants you out of his way.”
She lifted her head slowly, meeting his eyes. “Do you think he might’ve been the one to mess with the food?”
He shrugged. “Maybe. It’s definitely worth looking into. Keep a close eye on him. He’s a snake.”
She nodded, her expression solemn. “Okay. I will.”
“But let’s circle back to this ‘Kayla finding a job she actually loves’ thing. For what it’s worth, I think you’d be amazing working for a foundation or community organization. They need people with your skills and expertise.” He kissed her temple. “And you deserve a fulfilling job.”
“It’s definitely something to think about, because I’m not sure how much longer I can stomach working for Stammler. At least you were always nice to me, even if you weren’t around when I needed you.” Her expression shifted, her eyes meeting his. “So…the entire time you were my boss, you wanted me?”
He rolled her under him and kissed her. “The entire fucking time, Kayla. You used to drive me insane with those pencil skirts and those high heels and that red lipstick. You were one of the few people who called me on my shit, and I liked that too. From the start, I thought you were the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen. And then as we worked together, I saw how smart and driven and talented you are. You impressed me constantly.”
“And yet you never gave any indication that…” She shook her head.
“I was your boss, Kayla. It would’ve been borderline at best.” He kissed her. “Plus I had the distinct impression that you didn’t feel the same way about me, and I didn’t want to do anything to make you uncomfortable. Yeah, I had a lot of issues at Silver Stream and I wasn’t the boss or mentor you deserved, but I wasn’t going to put you in that kind of position.”
“Mmm. And yet now I like all the positions you put me in.”
His heart thumped happily against his chest and he kissed her. He didn’t know what he’d done to deserve this gift, but he was going to do everything within his power to cherish it.
15
With her suitcase wheeling along behind her, Kayla carefully stepped out of her building’s elevator, grateful for the simple cane the resort staff had insisted she take with her to help her home. It felt so strange being back in the city, back in her building. So much had happened that it felt like she’d been gone for a lot longer than just five days.
Amazing how much could change in five days.
That morning, after slow and sleepy sex with Sebastian, he’d called for a snowmobile to take her back to the resort. She had to get her stuff together to head back home with her colleagues, and he had a day full of lessons. As they’d waited for the snowmobile, they’d stood on the porch together, the sun dazzling against the snow, making it sparkle. He’d kissed her and kissed her and kissed her, only letting her go when the buzz of the snowmobile cut through the quiet morning air. She’d promised him that she’d text and that she’d be back on Friday.
She was already counting down the seconds. On the charter bus ride back to the city, she’d booked her train ticket for Friday afternoon, sending him a screenshot of the confirmation. His text back, a couple of hours later, had made her smile because the same thought was bouncing through her brain.
Sebastian: Is it Friday yet?
Kayla: No. It’s still Sunday, somehow.
Sebastian: What about now?
Kayla: Still no.
Sebastian: This is going to be a long week, isn’t it?
Kayla: You’re telling me. And you don’t have to deal with Stammler tomorrow morning.
Sebastian: Don’t take his shit, baby. Stand up for yourself.
Kayla: I’ll try. How’d your lesson with Chase go?
Sebastian: Really good. He has so much raw talent. He can land tricks that I find tough, even now. But his attitude sucks and I don’t get the sense that his parents think this could actually be anything serious for him.
Kayla: Hmmm. Talented, crappy attitude, unsupportive parents…I think he’s lucky you’re in his corner.
Sebastian: I like working with him. When I don’t want to strangle him, that is. I gotta go, I have a group lesson starting in 10.
Kayla: Okay. I miss you already.
Sebastian: I miss you too. Text me when you get home safe.
Kayla: I will.
Yeah, five days could change everything, couldn’t it? Five days could undo three years of animosity. Five days was long enough to make her question what she wanted and how she wanted her life to be.
She accidentally banged her suitcase against the door to her apartment and heard Willa’s voice from inside.
“Hello? Is someone there?”
“It’s just me,” she called back, hoping she hadn’t scared her. As she fumbled for her keys in her purse, she heard the lock flip and the door opened.
“Hey, you made it back! Mostly in one piece, I see,” she said gesturing at Kayla’s cane. “Here, let me help you.” She took Kayla’s suitcase and purse from her, putting them in Kayla’s bedroom. When she came back, she helped Kayla take off her coat and boots, too. “Did you wipe out on the ski hill?” she asked, no doubt noticing the tensor bandage still around Kayla’s ankle.
“Yeah, I twisted my ankle pretty good, but it’s already feeling better than it was. Another few days and I’m sure it’ll be fine. It’s no big deal, really.”
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With her coat and shoes put away, Willa tilted her head and scrutinized her. “You should’ve asked me to come pick you up at Port Authority.”
Kayla waved her off. “It’s fine. I took a cab, and I have this very sexy cane.”
Willa pouted. “I wish you would’ve called me.” But she let it go quickly and headed into the kitchen. “You want some tea?”
“Tea sounds good.” She shuffled into the living room and plopped herself down on the couch, noting Willa’s discarded laptop and multiple notebooks open with various scribbles. The computer screen was filled with code that meant literally nothing to Kayla. She’d always been impressed with Willa’s tech skills. She was a total whiz, especially when it came to coding and design.
“So how was the rest of the retreat? I didn’t hear from you again, but I just assumed you were busy.”
“Oh, I was pretty busy,” she murmured, blood rushing to her face.
A few minutes later, Willa returned, two steaming mugs of peppermint tea—Kayla’s favorite—in her hands. Kayla took one gratefully, curling her fingers around the mug’s warmth. Willa sat down on the couch beside her, then blew over the surface of her tea and took a cautious sip.
She frowned. “You look different,” she said slowly, her eyes roving over Kayla from head to toe.
“I do?”
“Yeah. You’re kind of glowing. Was there a spa at the resort?”
She shook her head, biting her lip as her cheeks grew even hotter. “There is, but I didn’t go. The glow you’re seeing is probably from all the sex I had. With Sebastian.”
Willa’s eyes went wide. “As in Prescott? That Sebastian? The one you spent the past three years complaining about?”
“That’d be the one.”
“Oh. My. God.” She set her tea down and clapped her hands together excitedly. “I knew you didn’t hate him!”
“No, I definitely don’t hate him, especially after we had sex eight times. And I lost track of how many times I came. I don’t even know.”
“No wonder you’re glowing,” said Willa, a hint of jealousy in her voice. “Ooh, the Prescotts are horrible, stay away from them,” she said in a teasing tone. “What’s that saying about protesting too much?”
Kayla laughed, remembering their conversation from just a week ago. “I’m willing to admit when I’m wrong, and I was wrong about Sebastian. Very wrong, in fact.”
“So…was this like a ‘let’s bang it out of our systems’ kind of situation? Because when we talked on the phone, I got the distinct impression that there was more than just attraction there.”
Kayla sipped her tea. “You’d be right about that, too. We’re dating now. He’s…I guess he’s my boyfriend?” She shook her head, still kind of amazed at everything that had happened. “I already bought a train ticket to go back next weekend.”
Willa leaned forward and pressed the palm of her hand to Kayla’s forehead. “Just making sure you don’t have a fever, because this is a pretty dramatic turnaround.”
“I know. I know it is. But…” She stared into her tea, warmth suffusing her at the memory of everything she’d shared with Sebastian that weekend. Not just the sex, but connecting with him on a deeper, more emotional level. “For once, I’m deviating from the plan and following my heart. It’s scary, but it feels right. It feels good.”
Willa reached out and squeezed Kayla’s knee. “Then I’m happy for you. Surprised, but happy.”
“Surprised but happy sums up how I’m feeling, too.”
“Does anyone else know?”
“About me and Sebastian? I don’t think so. But it’s not a secret. It’s not like he’s my boss anymore.”
At that, Willa’s cheeks went pink and she took a long sip of her tea. “Yeah,” she said after a minute. “It’s always a bad idea to get involved with the boss.”
Kayla shifted on the couch slightly, an idea forming. “You know, Bastian mentioned that it’s Max’s birthday soon. Not this coming weekend but next, I think? He’s coming into the city and Theo and Lauren should be in town, too. If there’s a dinner or a drinks thing, you should come. You know, because you’re my friend and you’re close with Lauren and Theo.”
Willa looked at her, hesitation written all over her face. But then she nodded slowly. “Maybe, yeah.”
“Good. I’m going to go take a shower and try to get some stuff organized for tomorrow morning. I have a feeling Stammler’s going to want to see me first thing to debrief about the retreat so he can make sure I know how unhappy he is with how everything went.”
“Eep. Good luck with that.”
“Thanks. I think I’m going to need it.” She carefully rose from the couch, happy to find she could put more weight on her foot than this morning. “And Willa? Thanks. For being so cool and understanding and not giving me a hard time about this.”
She grinned. “Why would I give you a hard time? I just want you to be happy. Go. Take your shower. I have broken code to fix.”
“I know you just wanna drop in and catch air, I get that,” said Sebastian, his arms crossed in front of his chest. Chase said nothing, just stood there with his hands in his pockets, pretending he wasn’t listening. “But you can already land crazy tricks. That’s not what we need to work on. If you want to improve, we have to focus on the supporting skills. That’s why we’re doing steering drills today. When you drop back into the pipe, you don’t steer into it enough, which costs you speed, and losing speed costs you the ability to get your rotations in. This especially happens on your toe side wall. We’re going to work on dropping back in and when you do, dropping your lead shoulder down too, making sure your hip and front knee are lined up right.”
“I know how to ride,” he said sullenly.
“Listen, if you just want to ride, there’s a time and a place for that. Book a lift ticket and get out there. But this is a lesson. It’s my job to help you improve.”
Chase looked up at him, squinting through the hair swooping over his eyes. “But, like, what if I try, like really try, and I don’t get better?”
Sebastian laid a hand on Chase’s shoulder. “Listen to me, kid. You have tons of talent. You do. You’re already way better than I was at your age. But anyone can improve with practice and the right help. Anyone. Especially if it’s what you really want. Is getting better what you want?”
Chase hesitated, shuffling back and forth on the spot on his board. “Yeah. Cause, like…there’s like this competition? In a couple of weeks? Over in Killington?”
Sebastian grinned. “Yeah? You wanna do it?”
“I mean, kinda? But my mom said it was stupid and too far, and like, you need an actual coach to like, enter you and stuff.” He tilted his head, looking at Sebastian. “Like, if I did it, do you think that you could maybe enter me? Like as my coach?”
He leaned forward, an excited feeling taking over his entire body, making his chest feel like it was expanding. “Yeah, dude. I think I like totally could.”
For the first time since they’d started working together, Chase smiled. Not a snarky, sarcastic, smartass smile, but a real, genuine one. “Really?”
“Sure. Bring me the forms next time you come.”
“Okay. I will.”
“And listen, I’m sorry your mom isn’t on board with this. I had a similar experience and I’m here to tell you that it’s okay. If you want it, you need to go for it. She might not believe in you, but I do.”
“That’s super corny.”
“Saying corny stuff is part of a coach’s job. Come on. Let’s work on those steering drills.”
Sebastian: So I’m officially coaching Chase at a big competition in a couple of weeks. He asked me to.
Kayla: That’s amazing!! With all of your experience, I bet you’d be an awesome coach.
Sebastian: Thanks, baby. I’m excited. Mentoring Chase feels really good. Like it’s what I’m supposed to be doing.
Kayla: I love that. I’m really excited for you!
Sebastian: How’s everything going at work?
Kayla: It’s only Wednesday morning and Stammler has yelled at me four times this week. I walked out of his office this morning and told him to reach my admin if he needed anything. He was really pissed, but damn that felt good.
Sebastian: Good! I wish I could’ve seen the look on his face when you walked out on him. You’re a fucking VP, he can’t talk to you that way.
Kayla: You know, at first I thought I was being paranoid about him talking down to me and giving me work that isn’t appropriate for my position, but I don’t think I was. He talks down to all of the female execs.
Sebastian: He’s such a fucking pig.
Kayla: Agreed. And speaking of pigs, Davis has been a gigantic pain in my ass. He’s been insubordinate multiple times since we got back from the retreat. So I started termination paperwork for him.
Sebastian: I love it, Kayla not taking anyone’s shit. It’s awesome.
Kayla: It does feel pretty awesome, I have to admit. It completely goes against my original plan, but I’ve been deviating from that quite a bit lately with pretty good results. Thanks for inspiring me.
Sebastian: Always happy to help. And speaking of helping, I have a favor to ask.
Kayla: Sure.
Sebastian: When you come on Friday (ha, pun most definitely intended), bring some work clothes and red lipstick. I have an idea.
Kayla: I think I’m going to really like this idea.
Sebastian: Oh, you’re going to fucking love it.
Kayla: Is it Friday yet?
Sebastian: Soon, gorgeous. Soon.
16
Sebastian pulled the snowmobile to a stop in front of his cabin, savoring the feel of Kayla behind him, her arms wrapped around him, her thighs bracketing his. He’d picked her up in Albany about ninety minutes ago, using one of the resort’s SUVs, and they’d spent the entire ride back to Blizzard Ridge talking about their weeks. About Stammler and Davis, about Chase, about how Kayla’s entire friend group was giving her a lot of good-natured ribbing over the fact that they were together.
