I walk into the meeting room in the ski lodge pumped for the day. Today we’re doing the Kids Day Out program, where we talk to underprivileged kids before they spend the day out on the slopes.

I always look forward to these…nothing can beat the look on the kid’s faces when something you say to them clicks, or when they discover for themselves that they have a natural aptitude for the sport. It’s like I’ve helped to open up a world of possibilities for them.

“Here you go.” Candice shoves the bag full of hats for the kids into my arms then scurries off to talk to the program director before I can thank her.

I slide into the chair next to Mia who has a cup of tea sitting by her row of markers. As always, she has that faint smell of honey. I can’t help but think that it’s not normal to notice this. I mean, I can’t remember thinking about what a girl smelled like ever before.

“Good morning,” I say.

“Morning.” She leans back in her chair. A pair of skin-tight leggings adorn her legs and she’s wearing a sweatshirt with the logo of one of her sponsors on it. She's killing the endorsements, that’s for sure.

“So, what's the drill?” she asks. “Just sign anything they bring up?” I think this is her first time doing anything like this.

“First we give speeches.”

She cringes.

“It's not that bad. Usually the kids are all in awe, their mouths hanging open, that I'm not sure they even hear anything. Speak from the heart and you'll be fine.”

“No one told me there was a speech. I would’ve prepared.”

I sip my coffee as the kids begin to file into the room. Boys are whispering and pointing to me. “It's Grady Kale,” I overhear a few of them say.

“You'll be fine. Just convey your love of the sport. How hard you worked to get here. That sort of thing.”

She nods, but her face pales and for such a confident female. I never would’ve thought a room full of kids would intimidate her.

The manager of the program comes over to introduce herself. “Hello, I'm Georgie.” She holds out her hand, her eyes locked on mine for a few extra seconds. She’s wearing leggings, boots, and a long sweater that hangs open revealing a shirt that reads, Icing Isn't Just for Cupcakes.

“Grady.” I take her hand. “Nice shirt.”

She looks down as though she forgot what she was wearing and then smiles. “Thanks.” Her hand extends to Mia and they shake hands.

“Mia.” She smiles at Georgie, but it doesn’t hold its usual friendliness.

“Can I tell you how excited I am to have you speak to the girls? We've been sharing stories this entire week about your journey to the Winter Classics. The triumphs you've had to overcome.”

Mia's cheek flush the softest shade of pink. “I wish I was better dressed.” The two of us look at her, but I'm pretty sure I'm the only one who has their blood flow being redirected to between their legs.

“You're dressed fine as you are. You’re a snowboarder, that's what they expect.” Georgie's known Mia for two minutes and can calm her down whereas I've known her her entire life and my words did nothing.

“Well, thank you.”

Georgie smiles between both of us and then turns to face the group of kids that are now seated in front of us, legs swinging under their chairs, eyes poised expectantly in our direction.

“And here I thought she was more interested in you,” Mia whispers, choking down her laugh.

“Well, she clearly prefers what you have to offer.”

“Okay boys and girls, as many of you know, behind me is gold medalist, Grady Kale, and Winter Classics competitor, Mia Salter. Let's give them a warm welcome and thank them for having us here!”

Georgie steps aside, clapping on while her eyes are focused in on Mia from the side of the room now. Seems someone might have a crush on my sidekick.

“You go first.” I nudge her on the leg with my pointer finger.

She shakes her head.

“No. You,” she whispers.

“You want to go after the master?” I ask her and she rolls her eyes in a playful way, but says nothing. “Suit yourself, but you'll have a lot to live up to.”

She giggles and I'm starting to like the sound of her happiness more than I should.

I stand and round the table, sitting down on it. My own legs swinging in the same fashion as all the kids.

“Like Miss Georgie said, I'm Grady Kale. I've been snowboarding since I was younger than all of you.”

I talk a while longer, but hands are raised in the air before I give my full spiel. I prefer answering their questions to listening to myself talk so I call on the red-haired boy in the front row.

“Is the metal heavy around your neck?”

I shrug one shoulder. “It’s kind of heavy, but you don't really notice it because of all the adrenaline running through your system when you’re standing up there.”

“Are you two boyfriend and girlfriend?” a blonde girl with pink-framed glasses asked.

I swear all the kids inch forward waiting for me to respond.

“No.” I look over my shoulder to Mia, who raises her eyebrows.

“But my mommy said...”

Miss Georgie steps up to the girl and kneels down in front of her. “Katie, remember we talked about that? We’re not to ask personal questions.”

Katie leans closer and whispers loudly for all to hear, “My mom told me to ask.”

I chuckle under my breath.

“I know, but we're here for them to tell us how they came to become snowboarders.”

“My mommy says that Mia would be crazy to not want him. That he's so hot she's surprised the snow doesn't melt under his board.”

Mia giggles behind me and I shake my head. “Looks like you have a fan out there,” she mumbles.

“Why don’t we hear about what they hope for in the upcoming Winter Classics?” Miss Georgie suggests.

“Yeah, Grady is going to win gold,” the red-haired kid says.

I jump down and fist bump him. “Definitely.”

“No, Matt Peterson will.” The kid behind him kicks the other little boy’s chair.

“Nuh-uh, Grady's gonna win.”

“Now, now boys.” Miss Georgie has to step in once again.

“Matt is a great rider, too. He'll definitely be a challenge for me.” What I don't say is that I'll still beat him.

“How fast do you go down?” a kid near the back calls out.

“Pretty fast. The faster I go, the higher I get off the halfpipe.” I slide back on the table. “How many of you ski or snowboard?”

A few kids raise their hands.

“They're all going out after this. A lesson on the bunny hill,” Miss Georgie says.

I clap my hands. “Great. Can I join?”

All the kids’ eyes widen. This is the reason I do this.

“Um.” Candice steps forward from the side, her finger up in the air. “You and Mia have to do the promo shoot for that sponsor…”

I stare blankly at her. Does she want to tell these kids no?

Looking chagrined, she steps back until she hits the wall.

I return my attention to the kids in front of me. “Is anyone scared?”

A few kids look away. No one is gutsy enough to raise their hand.

“Let me tell you a story then.”

“Were you scared your first time?” The red-haired kid who might be my biggest fan but did look away when I asked, seems eager for me to tell him some feel-good story about conquering my own fears.

I have fears that these kids wouldn't even understand yet.

“No.” I look over my shoulder at Mia. “I was always a ‘do it now and ask how later’ kind of kid. Whatever my friends did, I did without really thinking of the consequences. Which did land me in the hospital a time or two and I don’t recommend that for you guys.”

They laugh although it's really not funny. I may have learned to play by the rules a bit to keep my career going, but challenge me, and I'm not one to ever tap out. Which can lead to disastrous results…

“This story is about a young girl. She had these two braids that were always uneven with a crooked line down the middle.”

The kids laugh and I hear Mia scoff, which only spurs me to go on further.

“She begged for a board. Her parents said she was too young and asked why she didn’t want to play with Barbies or dolls.”

“She didn't love Barbies?” one girl asks, sharing a look with another girl.

“Nope. She didn't much care for makeup or anything girly. Her brother was a snowboarder and she wanted to be one, too.”

The blonde-haired girl with glasses looks to Mia with a knowing smile. She's a smart cookie and obviously has done her research on our story.

“Did they ever buy her one?” another girl in the back asks.

“They did, for her birthday. Her brother being a pretty cool older brother agreed to take her out the next day, show her a few tricks, so she went to bed that night with her board.”

“In her bed?” the same girl with the Barbie question asks, eyes wide and again she looks at her friend.

“Yep. Probably hugging and kissing it like it was a boy.”

“Okay, let’s not exaggerate.” Mia stands and slides to the front of the room, joining me on the table.

“The next day her brother and his friend took her up the ski lift which took a lot of convincing. We each took an arm and plopped her down between us.”

“The chairlift can be intimidating at first,” Mia says.

“Getting her off proved just as hard as she fell twice, but we finally got her situated, strapped into her board, standing on top of the smallest hill besides the bunny hill because she,” I raise my hands and do air quotes around the last bit, “didn't need to warm up with babies.”

I take my chances, glancing to Mia who is shaking her head in disapproval at my story. If I had to guess though, the gleam in her eyes makes me think she secretly enjoys that I remember.

“Did she go down?” the red-haired kid asks.

I nod. “After a lot of convincing and holding both my hand and her brother’s halfway down. It took her the entire day to go down by herself, but she did it.”

“Really? Does she still ride?” the Barbie girl asks.

“She does, and you know what?”

They all stare up at me.

“She's sitting right next to me.”

“I knew it!” the red-haired boy screams, his two hands clapping.

“It was you?” a child in the middle row asks Mia.

She nods, knocking her shoulder into me. “I think Grady may have embellished the story a tad, but I pumped myself up for weeks and I thought I was ready. But standing at the top of the mountain is intimidating. It's okay to admit you're scared, but try to push through it because you might discover something great. Something that will change your life. I can't imagine my life without snowboarding now.”

“Mia should be an inspiration to all of you. Sometimes fear can be your biggest motivator.” I look to my left only to be caught by surprise.

Mia's staring back at me. Her mouth hanging open in surprise and her eyes holding softness I haven’t seen directed my way in over four years.

Maybe it would’ve been better if I acted like I didn't remember.