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and falling…maybe even breaking my neck.
    For me, snowboarding and failure went hand in hand. I’d tried to conquer my fear of it numerous times before, and the only thing I’d succeeded in was getting various bruises on my knees, butt, and the heels of my hands. Snowboards and I just didn’t get along. Every time I strapped my boots into the bindings, I felt like I was giving up control. Facing a downward slope of a hill as both of my feet were bound to a board made me feel completely and utterly helpless. On skis, perhaps simply because I’d started lessons when I was very young, I could at least feel somewhat in charge.
    “Come on, Dee,” Maddie coaxed. “This is our crazy anything-goes vacation. I even managed to talk your brother into being Adventurous Adam for the next two days. He’s gonna conquer a glacier!”
    Adam chuckled. “Funny you should say that,” he said, flashing his phone at us. “Mom just sent a text to remind me to keep away from all black diamond runs.”
    “My jacket pocket just buzzed too,” I groaned. “Can’t wait to see what my friendly reminder of the day says.”
    Adam read the second text. “She kindly suggested I stick to the bunny hills.”
    Maddie rolled her eyes. “God forbid something happened to her prized piglets.”
    “If we’re going to snowboard, not even a bunny hill can save my ass,” I said. “I need an ant hill.”
    “Does that mean you’re in?” Maddie asked hopefully. “You’re gonna live a little, Dee?”
    My mom’s texts set my teeth on edge. Even though I was in another country, she still had a way of worming herself into my life and trying to control it. Her behavior was nothing new. While I was away at Stanford, I’d gotten daily texts advising me to study hard, stay away from parties, and even remember to floss. I could’ve dealt with the messages if they happened to be usual parental care reminders, but what she did was constant and overbearing.
    I was suddenly eager to do something I knew she wouldn’t approve of, so I made up my mind about snowboarding. I was going to rebel. Sure, my mother would never know what I was doing, but it felt good to stand up to her—at least in my head. I just hoped that I wasn’t going to die in the process of exploring this newfound courage.
    “I’m in,” I said. “We’re going snowboarding!”

    By the time we’d finished getting fitted for the boots and boards that would be ours for the week and purchased our chairlift tickets, it was almost ten-thirty in the morning. Since it was a warm January day—and a Saturday at that—the rental place and the hills were swarming with excited skiers, snowboarders, and snowskaters. Maddie and I decided to sign up for full-day snowboarding lesson with a private instructor, as there was no way that Adam could teach us both at the same time. For his sanity and our safety, we had to go with a professional.
    Maddie pouted when it was time to part with my brother. I was pretty certain that she’d envisioned the two of them snuggling in the chairlift as they played footsies with their snowboards. Thankfully, this arrangement ensured that I didn’t have to bear witness to that. She brightened slightly when she found out that our instructor Connor was a twenty-five-year-old Australian with sandy blonde hair, a seductive grin, and dimples. I, on the other hand, had only one guy on my mind.
    Ever since our kiss—okay, more than kiss—I couldn’t get Sawyer out of my head. It wasn’t just the steamy pool session that had me riled up, though there was no denying that it had been the hottest thing I’d ever experienced. It was the very fact that he was here.
    Right now.
    He was back in my life, if only for a brief moment in time, and I was freaking out. I was also slightly ashamed to admit that Preston hadn’t even crossed my mind the entire time I’d been with Sawyer. But then again, Preston rarely crossed my mind and I was certain that I never made any appearance