Page 1 of Ski You Later (Alpine Glow #1)

Not this again.

New York is nothing but an overpriced pit, and I’ll never understand the appeal. Relaxing against the couch, I shovel another handful of popcorn into my mouth and continue to hate-watch the movie I picked for tonight.

My roommate, who doubles as my best friend, sits across from me.

Since she’s an avid action movie fanatic, I had to put on the cheesiest romantic comedy I could find to make her mad.

This particular film revolves around a woman with an avid shopping addiction, which is something I know will drive Aurora nuts.

I can’t help but roll my eyes as the main character in the movie marvels at a city full of greed.

In my opinion, if someone wants the New York experience, I think a stroll through the sewer would do the trick.

Maybe I’m being too harsh, but you don’t grow up in the Rocky Mountains and then yearn to travel to the concrete jungle.

I grimace when the main character does something embarrassing, but quickly school my features so Aurora doesn’t know I hate this just as much as her.

“She doesn’t need to buy another scarf,” Aurora screams at the movie as pieces of popcorn fly from her mouth. She doesn’t seem too bothered by the mess as she mindlessly reaches into the bowl for another handful.

Her indignation is palpable at this point as she flails her arms at the television, causing more popcorn to fly all over the floor.

When the movie gets especially cringy, she tries to use the long strands of her curly black hair to cover her eyes.

But eventually just gives up and eats more of her snack.

My sigh reaches her ears, and she shoots me her most vicious glare. “You don’t have to make such a mess,” I complain and look pointedly at her.

“Maybe if we watched a movie that didn’t suck, I wouldn’t be forced to ruin our beautiful couch!

” Her words immediately bring me joy, and we both can’t help but smile at each other.

While the giant U-shaped couch is our best thrift find to date, it’s still lumpy and old.

It’s another one of our many fixer uppers, but now a crucial member of our Friday movie night.

Knowing how to rile up Aurora more, I can’t help but complain about one of the many flaws in this film in an attempt to ignite her rage.

“She doesn’t need a single thing we’ve watched her buy; this is insane!

” Casting a side long glance as I say it, I see the vein in Auroras temple start to pulse as she tries to keep her feelings to herself.

“I hate this movie! I hate it! Imagine having all this stuff in your home! I can’t keep watching Rho… it hurts me,” she screams into the room.

“Don’t call me Rho,” I deadpan back.

“Rho, I’m dying here!” Aurora throws her hands over her eyes and slouches into the couch cushions. An evil smile graces my face as I look at her hunched over form.

Last Friday when I had begged her to turn off that intense robot fighting movie, she had a fit about how I don’t care about her interests.

Since I patiently waited a week for this revenge, I savour in her distress and go back to watching this stupid movie.

“Get ready Rora, we’re just getting started! ”

Aurora’s groan fills the living room as I turn the volume up and enjoy every minute of sweet justice. As I’m about to pester her further by asking who her favourite character is, our attention goes to our phones as they simultaneously buzz on the table .

Locking eyes across the sectional, I lunge for my phone as I pray it didn’t happen again. Aurora’s at my side in a second and a stream of curses flows out as she reads the message over my shoulder.

New Teamchat update: Training tomorrow at 8:00 am has been scheduled.

“Roman, you suck!” Rora screams at my screen as she jumps off the couch and storms towards the kitchen.

I tip my head back and close my eyes in dismay when I see that it’s already ten at night.

We now have eight hours until we need to be awake and in the team van.

“Maybe he had no choice but to schedule it this late. The coaches are the ones who book the training time, you know,” I say defensively.

I can’t imagine Roman would choose to inform the team so last minute if he had a choice in the matter.

It’s common knowledge how lazy our coaches are, but somehow the hate always goes to Roman.

Standing to follow Aurora, it only takes me a couple seconds to join her in our cramped kitchen.

The tiny rental is an open concept, with the living space, dining area, and kitchen all being squished together in one big, cozy room.

No one’s living in this house for the aesthetic appeal; the house’s age shows in every banister and windowpane.

However, filled with plants and thrifted art pieces, Aurora and I proudly call this home.

We were also lucky enough to get the garage, which is basically the equipment room.

Standing on the opposite side of the counter, her brow raises in my direction as she pulls out the sandwich ingredients. “Rhodes, I love you. I really do, but you need to stop defending Roman at every turn.”

Blushing and avoiding her gaze, I drop the subject due to her hostility over the situation. It’s not that I’m Roman’s biggest fan or anything, but I hate bullies, and I have a sick feeling he’s just doing the best he can.

But, since over half the team’s currently out at the bar with the assumption there’s no training tomorrow, it's going to be hard to defend him. It’s not that the training is mandatory or anything, but our race season is approaching fast, and everyone wants as much practice on snow as possible.

With a quick check on the attendance for tomorrow, relief fills me when I see Jasmine has marked herself as not going. Releasing my held breath, I relish in the fact I won’t have to deal with my horrible cousin at training.

I pull out both the lunch bags, and mentally run through a checklist of everything I have to do before bed: pack my ski bag, prepare my skis, make a lunch, lay out my clothes, and set all my alarms. “I’m going to go scrape the wax off my skis,” Aurora grumbles as she saunters to the garage.

It's required that we cover the bottom of our skis with a layer of wax when we know they’ll go more than a couple of days without use. This helps preserve the base of the ski, and the temperature-based wax will react with different snow temperatures. Effectively, this helps us go faster.

My phone starts to ping in my pocket as I frantically fill our lunches with snacks and sandwiches, and I rush to pull it out.

Our group chat is flooding my phone with messages and I soon learn how everyone’s feeling about the situation.

Aurora changing the chat name to Roman is a fuck face isn’t filling me with hope that everyone’s understanding his side of things.

Charles: Is this a joke?

Liam: There’s no way he was ballsy enough for this one.

Aurora: I WANT TO BURN DOWN HIS HOUSE!!!

Charles: Hmm, I don’t think that is the best idea, Ror. I’m not a lawyer yet, so no burning down anyone’s house until I pass the BAR .

Liam: Nah, let’s set her free. Burn it down Ror!!

Rhodes: How about we just give him the benefit of the doubt. There’s no way he took pleasure in booking a training session this late. He must know the team will hate him for that!

Charles: Oh precious, little Rhodes. I know you believe the best in everyone, but I thought we learned our lesson in that.

I can’t stop the hurt that suddenly shoots through me. The shock of Daniel being mentioned so casually causes my whole body to freeze until I force myself to relax. Only a select few know how bad he hurt me, but mentioning him in passing seems like a low blow, nonetheless.

Aurora: You better count your days Charles if you are going to mention that dick head in this chat.

My smile helps ease my shock as I see the chat name change to Charles better count his days .

This’s just another reason Aurora will forever be my best friend, as she drops her previous conversation to defend me at a second’s notice.

As the texts start to ping in again, my eyebrows rise as Isla jumps into the chat.

Isla: Y’all I am sloooshered rigft noe lk .

Liam: Ahh, you can always count on Isla to diffuse the situation.

Charles: Girl, did you get the update we have training tomorrow morning?

Isla: *video of her screaming and dancing in the middle of the club*

Liam: UGH, I’ll handle this one, guys. Isla! I’ll be there in 10 minutes! ISLA, DO NOT CHANGE BARS.

A laugh escapes me at Liam’s text, but I somber up quickly when I remember that their dynamic is somewhat of a trouble spot in our group.

Isla’s the newest member of the ski team, and Liam has shown obvious interest in her.

But the whole situation is only awkward for the ones who know how long Aurora has liked Liam.

The entire dynamic is balancing on a fraying thread, and I fear it’ll snap sooner rather than later.

I hear a forced laugh coming from the garage and marvel at the bravery of my best friend.

Even though I know she’s hurt from their obvious flirting over the group chat, she tries to play it off as if it’s no big deal.

Completely ignoring her feelings and putting on a brave face s another classic Aurora move.

Even though she infuriates me with her obvious disregard for her own emotions, she’s one of the most important people in my life.

Becoming friends the instant we clipped into our skis at three years old, our parents both love to remind us how it was an instant bond.

Who would’ve thought we’d reach the point where we attend the same university, compete on the same ski racing team, and occasionally have the same thoughts at the same time.

The latter sometimes scares us to the point that we mutually decide to spend the next few days apart.

Aurora meanders back into the room with a facade of impassivity plastered on her face.

“I made you a sandwich and also added the last of your mom’s homemade dim sum to your lunch,” I tell her and hope the mention of her favourite food will help calm her.

Since Aurora’s parents live a couple of hours away, they always ensure to leave us with a fridge full of traditional Chinese dishes whenever they visit.

“You’re a queen, Rho. I scraped the wax off your skis for you,” she replies instantly.

I hear her move, and before I can recognize what’s about to happen, my best friend swallows me in a hug from the side.

Aurora’s not the best female ski racer in the country because she’s petite and delicate.

As a result, I fall hard against the counter as she wraps me in a bear hug.

Knowing this is more for her benefit than mine, I return her embrace and hold her for as long as she needs.

After a couple minutes, I get a goodnight kiss on the top of my head, and Aurora dashes to her room as I swat her away.

Since she’s almost a head taller with fifty pounds of muscles on me, there’s not much I could do to stop her anyway.

Although, that doesn’t mean I am small by any means, my lower body is stacked with muscles that only seem to grow by the day.

I just happen to live with one of the only girls that could physically destroy me if she chose to.

Her lip balm now leaves an oily residue in my freshly blow-dried hair, and I groan in frustration as I finger comb the top of my head. The blonde bangs that currently fall into my eyes make this even more frustrating, and after a while, I just give up on the entire endeavor.

Finally retiring to my room, I light up the lamps scattered across the space and welcome the organized chaos that greets me.

Ski goggles litter my desk, candles and lip gloss are scattered around the space, and numerous sketch pads stack up on the bedside tables.

The colour scheme of pink and white are exactly to my taste as the glow of the yellow lights casts a peaceful ambiance to the space .

Getting ready for bed as fast as possible, I check the mirror as I apply my night creams. The green of my eyes seems electric against my ghostly pale skin, with the winter sky definitely not helping any colour to develop on my face.

I check that everything’s set for this last-minute training session, and then I plop into bed and prepare for a small amount of sleep.

The group chat’s still popping off with anger.

Aurora’s now choosing to only type in capital letters to show the extent of her rage on the situation, while Liam and Isla are having their own conversation.

Liam’s begging her to drop a pin, but she just keeps responding about how she wore her hair down tonight.

Shaking my head at the whole lot, I silence my phone, and set numerous alarms for five hours from now. Crying internally at this, I toss my phone onto the duvet and snuggle deeper into the feather soft warmth that surrounds me.

Against my wishes, sleep seems to elude me as my thoughts continue to circle back to Roman.

The ease at which everyone’s spreading negative rumours about our team captain are plaguing my mind more than I thought they would.

He’s by no means a perfect person, but having known him for almost seventeen years now, I know he’s a good guy.

Roman might be the only person that can crack through my calm demeanor, but that doesn’t change the fact that I know he has a kind heart.

It’s just buried deep underneath his grumpy exterior.

Feeling sleep start to pull at my edges, I make a mental note to start defending him more. I can’t control what the team says about him, but I can try to stop all this negativity from being spread around.