I folded my arms across my chest. “I don’t know…”

“Oh, come on.” She held her hands together and blinked up at me, the same move I’d already used on her. The fact that she actually looked excited about this struck a chord with me. “Please.” She blinked again, her lips forming a pout. It took everything in me not to grab the back of her neck and haul her mouth onto mine.

“Fine,” I relented. Not because I wanted Frankie to help me with some stupid two-year plan or whatever the hell it was she had in mind. But because it felt like she needed this. Needed to offer me something that she felt she was good at.

“Yay!” she clapped excitedly, and I arched an eyebrow.

“Careful. Your wrist.”

“Oh.” She looked guilty and instantly pulled her hands apart, cradling her wrist again. At this point, I wouldn’t have been surprised if she accidently picked the wrong one.

“You know, you could have just told me you were done for the day,” I said. “You didn’t have to do this whole injury charade.”

Before she could respond, there were two short knocks at the door and it swung open. The nurse hurried in, looking out of breath. I knew for a fact she had her hands full as the only on-site medical professional on the ski hill.

“Alright, let’s see the wrist,” she said, holding out her hand to Frankie. It only took her a minute of bending and assessing before she dropped it back in Frankie’s lap. “Looks fine to me,” she said. “Doesn’t even seem swollen or sprained.”

I smirked over at Frankie, but she didn’t meet my eyes. “Isn’t that great news? We can get you back out there.”

Frankie frowned and looked pleadingly at the nurse. “Please tell this crazy man that it would be in my best interest not to go speeding down a mountain any time soon.”

The nurse looked up from her tablet. “Maybe you could give it another go next season. Would be a shame for you to end up back in here.”

“A shame indeed,” Frankie said, shooting me a warning glare. Something told me that regardless of if she was faking this or not, I wouldn’t be able to push her into giving boarding a second shot.

We left the medical room. The mountain was now crawling with tourists after the thirty minutes we’d spent inside.

“Well, Frankie. It’s been a fun morning.”

“Has it?”

“It has.”

She barely came up to my neck and craned her head to look up at me, shielding her eyes from the sunrays. “You’re a strange guy, Oliver.”

That made me chuckle. “Don’t I know it.”

“I guess I’ll see you around.”

“Sooner than you think. We’ve got fun to catch up on.”

She snorted at that. “Alright, then. I’ll start brainstorming goals for you in the meantime.”

It bothered me a little that she saw me as a project. But then again, wasn’t I doing the same to her? Dragging her around, trying to prove there was more to life than some stupid job?