“So? I’ll take you at your worst over most people at their best. You know that, Bomber. You know I love ya.”

“Aw.” I took his arm. “You’re a big softie. Jesus, I thought my career was going to be over last year,” I said. “It was terrifying.”

“We’re all going to have to face it sometime,” Blair said.

“I know, I know. Ugh, I hate thinking about it though! It’s like, everyone else our age is just getting going on their careers and ours are going to be over. Skiing is the only thing I ever wanted to do.”

“Aren’t you a little bit excited for the next part though? I mean, there are some things I won’t miss. The injuries, the constant travel. I want to be in one place for a while. I want to get married and have some kids. I want to be able to own a dog for Christ’s sake.”

I had a sudden and deep flash of envy for whomever the eventual woman in this scenario would be. Blair had been dating a snowboarder named Kelly for a while—I’d liked her—but they’d broken up midseason. Relationships weren’t easy to maintain in our world. Sometimes, it felt like Luke and I were coasting on our long history until we could reach some better place where we could reconnect.

“Okay, yeah, I’ll give you that. A little stability probably wouldn’t kill me either. But what are we going to do?”

“I have this idea,” Blair said, his voice suddenly a little bashful. “I mean, I love skiing so much and I feel like it’s this sport that only a small number of people ever get to try. I want to start a ski school that’s also a nonprofit. We could get kids who normally wouldn’t have access to it up there on the mountain. Kind of like those adventure courses, you know?”

“Outward Bound?” We softened our voices as we made our way into the hotel.

“Yes! Exactly. Outward Bound on the snow. If I pitch it the right way, I know I could get Tad’s rich buddies on board. What looks better in a brochure than smiling kids?”

“That’s a great idea. I don’t have anything anywhere near that cool up my sleeve.”

“Maybe you could do it with me,” he said softly.

“Maybe.” I smiled. We’d reached the door of my room. “For now, I don’t want to think about the after.”

A moment of quiet descended, and out of nowhere there was an energy between us that hadn’t been there before. Or maybe I was like a radio dial that had finally hit the right frequency and was only now picking up on something that had been there all along. Blair leaned forward and brushed his thumb against the corner of my mouth.