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Danica laughed, reaching to place a hand on her shoulder. “Okay, okay. Don’t go all ‘shred some gnar’ on me. I believe you. No last runs.”

“It’s shredthegnar, but… sure. Wanna go on afewmore runs with me?” Pete asked, biting her lower lip as her mouth pulled into a smile.

Danica’s ocean blue eyes stayed on her. “Fine. We can do Galloping Goose and see how we feel at the bottom. But we’d better invite Kiera and Izzy or else I think they might riot.”

Pete pretended to pout. “Fine.”

“And I’m showering first,” Danica added.

Pete grinned. “Can I join?”

Danica glanced at her watch, pretending to consider the offer. “If you must,” she said with a long sigh, but Pete could tell she was teasing. Pete pushed herself up and wrapped her arms around Danica’s middle, dragging her off in a fit of laughter and protest.

CHAPTER 19

DANICA

Galloping Goose wasa long green run that skirted the far edge of the resort, starting near the top of the top edge of the Black Iron Bowl and Bald Mountain. It had taken nearly an hour to get to, with the three chairlifts they’d had to take just to get so far near the boundaries. Mercifully, none of the lifts had broken down while they were on them, though they had shared a lift with teenage boys who had graciously offered them weed. They’d both declined with amusement.

Finally, finally they began Galloping Goose, and Danica was almost surprised by how flat it was, its beginning stretching wide and open with spots of trees in the middle that she and Pete wove around. She could relax on a run like this, not overthink every little bump, and enjoy herself. The view from the trail was stunning – all tall, skinny trees dusted with snow, and reaching mountains with white caps and dark rock.

She felt the exhilarating lightness of flight as she skied, her breath even and steady, a comfortable rhythm established between her and Pete as they continued to pass one another.The trail felt amazingly isolated from the resort, and this late in the afternoon, it wasn’t busy. The sun was still bright in the expansive blue sky, making even the narrower stretches of the trail feel open, where they navigated between two sets of trees or a small rocky outcropping. She could almost imagine that she and Pete were anywhere, just the two of them. And most of all, she liked that feeling.

She hadn’t been too sad when Kiera and Izzy had said they’d rather ski some intense black runs for the afternoon. After the moguls of Allais Alley, Danica wasn’t quite in the mood to try anything more difficult than the easy, long green run Pete had suggested. More so, she was grateful to have one last run alone with Pete — or rather, one more run.

Danica stole a glance at Pete, the robin’s egg blue of her jacket and bright orange pants making her easy to find, even with the glare of the sun on the snow. Danica's heart leaped when Pete glanced back at her with a warm and inviting grin, and she couldn't suppress the answering smile that stretched across her lips. Danica had promised herself that she wouldn’t let the past two days let her grow too attached to Pete, but she’d been a fool. The familiar feelings started subtly, like a gentle snowfall, each flake a memory, but the accumulating weight threatened to become an overwhelming avalanche, burying her under the weight of the past.

The run veered toward the left, winding past ski chalets and mansions. Pete pointed toward a stone behemoth with a five-car garage. “Let’s buy this one.”

“Sure,” Danica answered. “We’d never have to leave. An entire grocery store could be in there.”

“Which is perfect, because then I could spend all my time at home with you, completely naked, never having to bother with clothes again,” Pete whispered.

“Wow, you’d just never let me leave or get dressed?” Danica teased. “What makes you think I’ll put up with that?”

“I can be very convincing,” Pete called back over her shoulder.

Danica snorted in amusement, shaking her head. “I think we might need something slightly smaller.”

Pete shrugged playfully, letting Danica ski past her. “Nope, it definitely has to be that big.”

“And why is that?” Danica asked, slowing so that she and Pete were side by side.

“There are many, many places I’ve daydreamed of fucking you,” Pete said with a tone that made Danica’s toes curl in her boots. “And I intend to see those plans though.”

Danica’s face flushed behind her balaclava. Pete was just saying that, right? Her insides twisted as she tried to judge whether or not Pete’s suggestion had a hint of seriousness behind them. Was she really suggesting a future together? Or was it just their physical connection she meant? She could see Pete’s sly smile as the two of them slowed upon approaching the junction of multiple runs, working to avoid being barreled into by other skiers.

Danica quelled the thought, anxious to turn the conversation safely away from the reality of what tomorrow might bring. “Want to go back to the condo and make good on some of those plans?” Danica asked.

Pete nodded emphatically toward the Chondola lift, where both chairlift seats and gondola cars used the same line. “What do you say we get in one of the gondolas and start right away?” She bent to unstrap her bindings.

“You’re shameless,” Danica said, unclipping from her skis.

Pete stood and grabbed her around the waist, playfully knocking their helmets together with a gentle tap. “I just want to soak up every moment I have with you.”

The muscles in Danica’s cheeks were pleasantly sore — a testament to the hours spent smiling. “Me too.”

She tried not to note how Pete had used the present tense.