Page 41

He continued to stare at me with the same, incredulous expression, and I feared I had overstepped my friendship boundary. Maybe it wasn’t appropriate of me to make such an assumption. Maybe I should’ve pushed him down the hill and made him take that leap of faith.

“Look,” I said quickly. “I’m sorry if I did something I shouldn’t have. You just looked scared, and I knew that you would never admit to the guys you didn’t want to ski down that hill. I just didn’t want you to be uncomfortable.”

I shifted uneasily from ski to ski.Gah.Why was this apologizing thing so hard?

After a moment, Tamson shook his head with a timid smile on his face.

“I’m not mad. I’m actually grateful.” He chuckled, a surprisingly seductive sound. “I guess I was too embarrassed to admit to the guys that I didn’t know how to ski.”

He blushed at the confession, though it could’ve been because of the cold. Yeah. It totally was because of the cold (said no one ever).

“Why?” I asked.

“Why what?”

“Why would you be embarrassed?”

At that, an almost exasperated expression contorted his features.

“Because they’re...them. And I’m me.”

“And?”

“They’re all charming and athletic and outgoing,” he admitted, his tone bitter. “And I’m not.”

I let out a sigh.

“Why does it matter what they are? You don’t have to pretend to be something you’re not to remain their friend. Is that what this is about? You’re afraid that you’re going to lose them as friends?”

Tam’s cheeks grew as red as his coat, and he plopped himself on the ground. His skis stuck out in an unnatural angle in front of him.

“No. I mean, I know they wouldn’t ditch me. But...it’s hard, you know? Hating who you are.”

I sat down beside him, maneuvering my skis so I didn’t stab him in the eyet. Without speaking, I unhooked my boots from the skis and then reached for his with a question in my eyes. He nodded in answer, and I began to remove his own skis.

“I understand why you said what you said, but you’re wrong though.” I removed his left ski, gently setting it to the side, before crossing over his legs to detach the right one.

“Just because you’re not into the same things as your friends doesn’t make you wrong or less than. Just different. I don’t know you that well, Tam, but from what I see, you’re a pretty great guy.”

Tam’s eyes remained fixed on his zipper as he began to fidget with it. Zip up. Zip down. Zip up. Zip down.

“Tell me, what do you like to do?”

He ducked his head down, that adorable blush rising to his cheeks yet again.

“I like to read.”

I smiled conspiratorially. “So do I.”

“And play video games.”

“So do I.”

“And...” he trailed off abruptly, and I nudged him with my shoulder.

“Don’t be embarrassed. You can tell me.”

“I like MMA.”