Golden Girl by Mari Mancusi

the cross like a boss, baby!” He bumped Logan. “Booyeah!”
    â€œSorry, man,” Logan said, waving him off. “I’m out.”
    â€œWhat?” Todd cried. “You can’t be serious, bro! The Burton rep is going to be there. He’s handing out next year’s boards to the winners—they’re not even in the stores yet.” He gave Logan a look. “And you know you need a new board.”
    Logan shrugged helplessly. “Yeah, well, tell that to Green Mountain’s finest.”
    â€œOh man!” Todd groaned loudly. “Do not tell me you got yourself banned from the mountain again.”
    â€œWhat can I say? I have a gift.”
    â€œDude! How are you ever going to make it to pro if you keep getting yourself kicked off the mountain?” Todd shook his head. “I guess I should be thanking you though. It’s going to be a lot easier to win without you at my heels the whole way down.”
    â€œTodd! There you are!”
    I glanced behind the snowboarder to see Olivia running up the porch, her cheeks flushed from the cold. Or maybe just too much cherry-colored blush. With her hot pink ski jacket and face plastered with makeup, she looked as if she was about to hit the clubs instead of the slopes.
    â€œOh, hey, girlie,” Todd said, putting out his arm and wrapping it around Olivia. Were they a couple now? Ugh. “You need to tell your old man to stop kicking Logan off the mountain, or I’m going to die of boredom during my next race.”
    Olivia shot Logan a disdainful look. “If he’s banned, then why is he here?”
    â€œI think that’s pretty obvious,” Todd replied, giving Logan a knowing wink. “After all, what guy wouldn’t risk the wrath of Masters for a chance to hang out with the lovely Lexi here.” He shot me a grin. “By the way, welcome back, Lex.”
    â€œThanks,” I said, unable to help a giggle. He was too much.
    Olivia’s face turned purple. “That’s all well and good,” she spit out. “But this porch is for paying customers only.” Her eyes drilled into Logan. “No staff rats allowed.”
    â€œBut evidently mean girls are fully welcomed,” Todd shot back playfully, causing Olivia to scowl even harder. He laughed and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Oh, come on, Cujo. Put away your fangs and buy me that hot chocolate you promised me.”
    He grabbed her and dragged her down off the porch and toward the Waffle Hut. Before they left, Olivia shot Logan a lethal look, as if to say, I’ll be back—and you’d better not be here when I am. Bleh. What could a nice guy like Todd see in a girl like her?
    â€œI should go,” Logan said. I noticed his ears had turned bright red. He stood up so suddenly he knocked over his chair.
    â€œNo!” I cried, panic surging through me. “Don’t listen to her. She’s only trying to—”
    Logan waved me off. “I know. But she’s not wrong. I’m not supposed to be here. And if she says anything to her dad, my mom might get in trouble.” He gave me a wry smile. “It was nice to see you again though,” he said. “I’m sure I’ll catch you around.”
    And with that, he stepped quickly down off the porch and walked past the ski lodge. For a moment I stood stock still, not sure what to do. Should I let him go? I didn’t want him to get into any more trouble because of me—I’d already ruined his life enough. But at the same time, if he walked out of my life now, I might never see him again.
    And I really wanted to see him again.
    I spotted him in the parking lot, trudging toward the public bus stop at the other end. He was walking slowly, his steps heavy. It wasn’t hard to catch up.
    â€œLogan!” I cried as I approached. “Wait up!”
    He stopped, turning back to me, a small smile playing at the corner of his lips.