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I may not have inherited her hazel eyes or her silky hair or her curvy body shape, but the one thing my mother gave me was her temper. And with that, the dreaded art of the silent treatment.
—
"Where are we going?" I giggle into Kyle's shoulder, entranced by the way his eyes seem to glow in the dark.
My heels click-clack along the cobblestoned square as Kyle's arm tightens around my waist. "I told you, it's a surprise."
The June breeze, cool and unyielding, ruffles through my blond hair as Kyle smiles down at me. My heart beats faster, my cheeks heat, butterflies flutter in my stomach.
"The Gondola?" I say in disbelief when we stop on the edge of town, standing in front of the popular lift. "But it's closed after dark."
"Unless you know the owner," he grins.
We walk up the concrete steps, into the steel building where the red and blue cars hang on thick black cables. In the summertime, tourists and locals are carted up the mountain all day long to see the stunning views, do high-altitude yoga, and have picnic lunches. During the winter, the lift carries skiers and snowboarders hunkered down in snow gear to the top of the peak. Then, they glide back down the snowy mountain and do it all over again.
As often as it climbs the mountain, the Gondola never runs at night.
Ever.
"This is Walter." Kyle introduces me to a tall, middle-aged man in overalls and a dirty Broncos hat.
"Nice to meet you," I say as I hold out my hand to shake his.
"So, you're the girl he arranged this for, huh?" Walter pretends to size me up after releasing my hand. He rubs his wild, grey beard. "Well, I gotta say, son," he looks to Kyle, "she sure is pretty."
Kyle looks down at me, his eyes filled with so much affection my heart feels like it might explode in my chest. "She is."
"Are you ready?" Walter asks.
I nod at the same time Kyle says, "Yes."
Kyle holds my hand as I step inside the car, feel the velvety material of my navy dress swipe across my thighs as I climb in. I take a seat on the black bench and wait for Kyle. He exchanges a few words with Walter while I take a deep breath and try to calm the blood thrumming through my veins.
"I'll meet you guys at the top around 10," Walters says.
Kyle steps into the small space and sits right beside me. When his arm wraps around my shoulder, pulling me closer to him, everything feels light and airy, kind of fuzzy.
Walter smirks at us before closing us in. There's a brief pause before we hear a whirring sound and the car sways forward, cloaking us in darkness as we begin our ascent to the peak of the mountain.
The night sky is clear and the moon nearly full, letting off enough light to make out the dark shapes of pine trees as we pass by them. I can vaguely see the dirt ski path, usually covered in snow most of winter and spring, beneath us. There are a few patches of white scattered along the mountain. Chunks of icy snow that haven't melted yet. Once we get further up, the peak will be covered in a thick layer of snow, and it'll stay that way until late August.
Kyle presses his lips to the side of my face before saying, "Look behind us."
He loosens his grip on me as I turn to face the valley. The dark landscape below is speckled with golden lights. They flicker and glimmer as we drift further away.
"It's beautiful," I profess.
"I thought you'd like it."
"I do." I reach for his hand, slide my fingers between his. We sit in silence for a few moments before I ask, "Why?"
He furrows his brows. "Why what?"
"Why me?" I implore. "There's so many other girls..."
All those pretty college girls. He could have any of them.
Kyle lets go of my fingers, runs a hand through his dark hair. It's grown longer in the last few months, curls around his ears and at the nape of his neck. "The first time I saw you, I thought you had the bluest eyes I'd ever seen."
