The taxi stops outside Skylar’s house and I have to say I’m kind of scared to go in. I don’t see the minivan in the driveway, so I take my chances. After paying the driver, I notice the mailman is one house away, so I wait. He hands off the envelopes to me with no you’re welcome after I say thank you. Did someone erect a billboard advertising what I did to Skylar? Using the key to go through the front door, the noise inside tells me something isn’t right.

I shut the door, take off my shoes and coat, unsure why since I might be running the opposite way in a second. Rounding the corner into the family room, a familiar voice puts my body at ease.

“Fucking hell, he’s such an idiot.”

Dax.

“Give him a break. It took you forever.”

Demi.

“Not four years.”

Dax again.

“I wouldn’t have waited.”

Demi.

“Yeah, you would have.”

She giggles and I can just picture them snuggled on the couch, him kissing her neck and her smiling, lovesick expressions on their faces. I’m so not in the mood.

“Say you would have.”

“No,” she squeals.

“Say it.”

“Don’t go after the nipples.”

Oh, screw this, I’m over their cutesy shit.

“I really don’t want to see her tits, so...” I walk in and Demi scrambles off Dax’s lap, although he easily plops her back down and rests his arm over her lap.

“If it isn’t the stupidest motherfucker I know.” Dax’s razzing voice says he wants to laugh, but he truly does mean it.

I sit down on the chair, tossing the mail on the coffee table, followed by my feet.

“You got your cast off.” Demi smiles, and I’m surprised she’s being so nice to me.

“Yeah.”

We pretend I didn’t overhear them talking about Skylar and me. Not that I should be surprised, Demi’s Skylar’s best friend. I’m sure by now they’re all in the loop.

“Why are you guys here?”

Dax’s face beams. “It’s not every day you turn thirty.”

My face pales. How could I forget about that lovely day I was born, when my parents looked at me and said, ‘nah, he’s not a keeper?’

“You’re getting old. Old enough that you should know better. You’re making high school decisions bro.” Dax taps his head, his eyebrows up.

“And that’s my cue.” Demi stands.

Dax grabs the waist of her jeans and she falls back down to his lap.

“You know the rules.” He purses his lips out for a kiss.

She does that annoying giggle thing again and does as he says. Thankfully, they don’t use tongue.

“It’s good to see you, Beckett.” Demi’s hand lands on my shoulder as she rounds the back of the couch and walks out of the room.

“Save it. I’m not in the mood. Actually, I’m booking a flight back to Park City for tomorrow.”

“You’re gonna run?” It comes out of his mouth like he honestly can’t believe it.

“I’m not running, I’m giving her space.”

He sits up, his ass on the end of the couch. “Space to what? Hate you more? Plan your murder? Damage is done, dude. That friendship that was so important to you...that went out the window the minute you stuck your dick inside her.”

I wince at his words. Honest yet accurate. “Did she put you all on speakerphone and tell you all at once what happened between us?”

“News travels fast in this group. Don’t act like you haven’t been the initiator of the telephone game a time or two.” He raises his eyebrows once more.

Unfortunately, I can’t argue with him.

“So, you came here to what? Talk me out of doing the right thing?” I slide to the edge of the chair because what I really want to do is pace the floor. One drunken night’s decision and my entire life has blown up like a propane tank in the hot sun.

“No. That’s the funny part. She planned your entire birthday party before all this shit went down. Grady and Mia are on their way here, too. We’re supposed to go to a bar tonight. Some VIP crap.”

Of course she did. Planned to celebrate a day I’ve never thought of as worth celebrating. Because that’s how amazing she is.

I focus on the wood grain of the coffee table. How the stain is darker in some spots, the scratches that probably came from Skylar and her siblings when they were younger, or maybe they’re more recent from Molly and Caiden.

“We’re fighting.”

He shakes his head. “Of course you are. You fucked her and then told her she was a mistake.”

“I said IT was a mistake.”

“She’s a chick. She heard SHE was a mistake.”

I throw my hands up in the air. Defeated.

He leans back, resting his ankle on his knee. “I get that you grew up in foster care. I don’t know what you went through, but my growing up wasn’t so great either and I had a biological mother. Think of it this way, at least you don’t have a daily reminder that she’s only interested in your money.”

“Still?”

“Every day since I cut her off.”

“You did?”

He loses the gleam that was in his eyes seconds ago. “I gave her twenty grand and said not to call me for money again. Guess she didn’t completely understand the direction because she says she gave my brothers some.” He holds his hands out. “Those are my demons and I’ve slashed away at them, so I can be in a healthy relationship.”

“How much Dr. Phil have you been watching?”

He laughs, but there’s no real humor to it and his eyes narrow. “I could sit here and lecture you, but the truth is, you gotta find it in yourself. The fight for her. You run from anything but snowboarding. Last month you stood in my room and listed off reasons why I needed to go after Demi. Why my upbringing wasn’t the whole of who I was. So.” He slides forward on the couch again. “Look on the bright side, you’ve got me.” He winks. “And just so you’re aware, I’m not some consolation prize, okay?”

I laugh, shaking my head.

He stands and leaves the room. I inhale a deep cleansing breath. Picking up the mail to put it on the counter where Sky’s parents usually keep it, I walk it over to the box in the kitchen.

I drop it in right before the return address flashes up. University of Chicago. I scramble to pick it back up, holding it up to the light to see what it might say. I think I see welcome and congratulations, but I can’t really be sure. She applied and that means she’s serious about leaving skiing for good. I have a feeling my trip back to Park City will be on my own, whether I like it or not. Which is fine, we’re both better off that way anyway.