Page 10 of Ski You Later (Alpine Glow #1)

I need to put ice melt on my grocery list.

My body presses deeper into the kitchen table as my eyes try to understand the jumble of equations in front of me. Notes are splayed everywhere, and I furiously scribble down another equation.

When I applied for a science-focused kinesiology degree, I had conveniently forgotten about all the science I would have to do.

My workload has done nothing but increase since my first year of university. The hours seeming to pile on top of each other, sometimes to the point that I have to study on the drive to the ski hill.

Reaching over a pile of paper to grab my formula sheet, I remember why I’m doing this in the first place.

It took years of sprains, muscle tears, and cracked bones, but a physiotherapist was always my calling.

The idea that I can assist future athletes and help them on the road to recovery, now that sits right with me .

Ski racing isn’t my life, and I just don’t have the passion that’s required to succeed in the sport. Someone like Aurora will go the distance. She has a craving to hop on skis the second she wakes up, the desire to train flowing through her blood.

Being able to watch her fall deeper in love with the sport as we grew up has only made me realize how I don’t have that desire. But I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to compete while I pursue this degree, so that’s exactly what I’ll do.

Although, that’ll only be possible if I’m able to solve this ridiculous equation. Grumbling to myself, I pull out a fresh piece of paper and scribble down a new answer.

“There’s steam coming out of your ears right now, girl.” Aurora’s voice startles me. She rests her body against the door frame as I whip my gaze towards her. I frown at my best friend, she’s watching me with a bored expression and munching on some black licorice.

“How long have you been standing there?” I ask, narrowing my eyes in her direction. She casually shrugs and makes her way into the kitchen, flopping into the chair beside me.

Turning to face her, I finally take in what she’s wearing.

Aurora’s long black hair is down, with her natural curls on full display.

The makeup she wears is subtle, but perfectly highlights her features.

She then completes the whole look with a maroon two-piece set.

The short skirt perfectly hugs her figure, and the crop top compliments the look with one strap.

Realization dawns on me, and I dive across the table to snatch my phone. Messages have flooded my home screen, everyone talking about their excitement for tonight and asking where Aurora and I are.

Looking up, I see Aurora’s expecting gaze locked onto me, and her left eyebrow slightly raised.

“Rora, don’t be mad,” I say gently. The tone of my voice conveying the message I don’t have the nerve to say.

“No! You promised you would come this week!” She yells as she shoots out of her chair and rounds the table towards me.

There’s a decent number of bars on campus, but The Cave is the main spot for all the student-athletes.

They offer a huge discount for winter athletes on Thursday nights, so naturally, everyone will be there.

The bar found out that a majority of the training is scheduled on the weekends, so offering the discount on Thursdays always brings in a huge crowd .

This includes the Polar Ski Team, who all go almost every week. The team decided a while ago that dancing and drinking was the best way for us all to bond, and the tradition just stuck over the years.

The whole night is a nice break from competing against each other, and we’re all able to act like a real team.

Unfortunately, this week has been crazy with school, and the whole thing slipped my mind.

“This stupid assignment is due at midnight, and I still don’t even have half of it done,” I say apologetically.

Her face falls as she hears my argument since she knows more than anyone how I have to put my academics first.

That doesn’t mean I don’t feel terrible, especially with Isla and Liam becoming even closer lately, I know she was relying on hanging out with me tonight.

“No worries, I totally get it,” she says. The hurt is evident in her voice as she heads towards the front door. I can’t help but see her as a puppy walking away with her tail between her legs.

Tipping my head back, I let out a silent scream that expresses my exact feelings. “I’ll be at the bar no later than nine.” My voice is full of defeat as I put my head in my hands .

A scream from the other room forces me to smile, and Aurora’s excited form quickly rounding the corner. “You’re the best, most amazing, beautiful friend a girl could ever have!” I can’t help but smile bigger as she skips around the table, giving me a quick hug before she’s out the door.

After an hour of intense focus, I finished the last question of my assignment. Through grit, dedication, and random people online, the entire thing came together easier than I thought. I owe my life to the anonymous man who decides to teach organic chemistry on his channel.

Closing and organizing all my papers, I rush to my room to get ready. Cringing as I see the time, I plug in my curling iron and scramble around my room.

Aurora’s contact pops up on my phone repeatedly, her texts letting me know that my absence has been noticed.

With a natural makeup look and a quick curl to my hair, I quickly settled on an outfit. My cream-coloured tank top has lace trim that wraps around the edges, and I pair it with my dark red skirt.

I then quickly rush towards the front door, but make a necessary kitchen detour for a tequila shot.

I’ve never arrived to The Cave sober, and I won’t start that today.

Pouring the cheap alcohol into my princess mug, I can’t help but wince as I shoot it.

Putting down the bottle as I contemplate another one, I brace myself for the late night before me.

Ignoring the constant buzzing in my pocket, I put on my oversized leather jacket and matching dark brown boots.

It feels like a miracle I managed to get everything done. Finishing my assignment, getting ready, and having a drink with barely any time to spare. I can’t help but smile smugly to myself as I finish another day of managing my insane workload.

Grabbing my purse off the hook, I barely pay attention as I whip open the front door and walk straight into Roman’s chest.

His hand darts out to steady me, and his grip is essential as my balance becomes precarious. Whipping my head towards him in surprise, I notice the same emotion reflected in his gaze. “What are you doing here?” I sputter out.

My words jolt him out of his shock, and his hand quickly releases me. “Sorry, I just came to drop off your tin.” He raises the loaf tin in his other hand as he steps away from me .

His gaze travels down my body as he steps away, the outfit I’m wearing seeming to catch his attention. Whether it be because he likes the style or because he only ever sees me in athletic wear, he continues to take me in with a look of admiration on his face.

It's been a little over a year since I broke up with Daniel, and that means it’s been just over a year since I’ve felt appreciated like this.

Nerves quickly take over me. That nervous feeling I always get whenever a man is near, except this time it’s not with fear, but rather excitement.

I start bouncing from foot to foot, Roman’s silence doing nothing but stress me out. “Everything okay?” I gently ask. His eyes finally meet mine again, and they freeze me to the spot. The last thing I expected to see was such raw want written all over his face.

As if realizing what he’s doing, he blinks, and his expression returns to his bored mask.

“Here,” he says quickly. Pushing the loaf tin towards me as if it burns him.

I suppress a smile at his bluntness and take the dish from his outstretched hand. Carefully putting it on the shoe rack beside me, I turn back to see his eyebrows furrowed in my direction .

“You’re dressed very nicely. Why?” He states plainly.

“What do you mean why?” I immediately respond. My stance becoming defensive from his stupid question.

He crosses his arms over his chest and manages to look down at me, even though I’m a step higher. “I mean, why are you all dressed up on a Thursday night?”

Tilting my head down but keeping my eyes up, I lift a brow at him. “Come on, you know. The team always goes out on Thursday nights.” I realize my mistake immediately as his eyebrows lift in surprise, but he quickly masks his face again.

“Oh right, I forgot,” he says as his voice betraying nothing. “Where’s the team going tonight?” His question immediately plays his hand since the team goes to the same bar every week.

“The Cave on campus! You should come tonight,” I respond enthusiastically.

Turning around so I can lock my door, I can hear his footsteps retreating behind me.

“Wait, where are you going? I yell at his back.

Rushing down my stairs to catch him, I awkwardly jog as I see he’s already made it to his car. Lightly jumping down the last stair, I take one more step and feel the ice under my boot too late. I don’t manage another one before I feel that full impact of my butt hitting the hard ground.

It would be a flat-out lie to say that this hasn’t happened before; I always forget about the black ice patch at the wrong time. Closing my eyes, I tilt my head back and try to process the pain throbbing through me.

“Rhodes, holy shit! How did you even manage that? I didn’t even know that was there. I am so, so sorry. Shit, shit.” I can hear Roman’s rambling, his tone becoming more frantic as he keeps talking.

“Ouch, ouchie,” I close my eyes and whine. I’m not proud of the whimper that follows my statement, but my tailbone is shooting pain throughout my whole body.

Opening my eyes after a couple of composing breaths, I see Roman’s kneeling right in front of me. His hands lean on his knees as he looks at me with the most concern I’ve ever seen on his face.

“Rhodes. Are you alright? You haven’t talked in a whole minute, so I’m getting concerned here.” My pain morphs into anger as I shoot him my most withering of glares.

“You. Aren’t. Funny.” My statement comes in segments as I try to breathe through the sharp discomfort in my tailbone .

“I’m pretty funny,” he retorts. Worry is evident in his voice, but his joke makes me feel a fraction better.

The embarrassment of slipping quickly overtakes that good feeling. It’s the first time Roman has ever been to my house, and I fully cartoon slip in front of him.

“I’m alright; I just need a second,” I inform him. After a couple more calming breaths, I aim to push myself up, but Roman’s already there. Both arms lightly grasp my elbows, and he uses his strength to pull me up.

He remains right in front of me as I stand, clasping both my arms and looking me over with worry. “You’re a disaster, Langley,” he whispers. The words hanging in the air as neither of us attempts to pull away from each other.

I can’t help but smile at him and allow the tiniest bit of confidence to enter into my tone. “You look like you could use a little disaster in your life, Huxley.”

His small smirk causes a full one to bloom across my face, and I can’t help but admit how much I love this look on him. His facial features are relaxed for once and he’s displaying the most genuine smile I’ve ever seen. I make a mental note to do more things that make him smile .

I attempt to step away so he doesn’t get uncomfortable, but my lower body immediately protests. Pain shoots up my back at the movement, causing my knees to buckle without my permission, and Roman’s grip to tighten on me.

I let out a forced chuckle as I gather my bearings, the pain being more manageable as I make small movements with my legs.

“Sorry, that was weird,” I chuckle and try to brush off this situation.

“Did you want to join us tonight?” Standing on my own, I take a step away from him, and his arms fall back to his sides.

“Join you where?” He questions as he moves his arms, not seeming to know what to do with them anymore. After settling on crossing them over his chest, he focuses all his attention on me.

“The bar?” I question back, adding fake confusion into my voice.

“You can’t go out like this!” He practically yells into the dead silent street, throwing his arms up in the air with frustration.

His outburst makes me pause, putting my hands on my hips as I square up to him. I pretend the motion doesn’t hurt terribly as I glare upward.

If there’s one thing that no one can do, it’s dictating what I do with my time .

“Well, watch me, buddy!” Patting his shoulder, I confidently stride away from him, not letting my limp deter my confidence.

I can feel the anger radiating from the man behind me, but I don’t stop as I reach the road and keep walking.

A loud groan echoes through the air behind me, but I don’t give him the satisfaction of turning around.

Usually, this walk would be an easy ten minutes, so I figure the limp should only add another seven to my time.

It doesn’t take another thirty steps before a black truck pulls up beside me.

The window rolls down, and the closest thing to an apology comes out of Roman’s mouth. “If you’re going to be insane and go out, then the least I can do is give you a ride.”

“Are you going to come?” I question as I stop walking and cross my arms. Raising my brow at him, I can’t help but mentally chuckle as I act like I have the upper hand in this situation.

“No, not tonight. But I’ll be driving you there,” he immediately responds.

“Why won’t you come?” I ask, with more than a little frustration in my voice.

“Rhodes, I –. ”

“Roman, just come out for a little while!”

“Rhodes, I wasn’t invited. The team doesn’t want me there, and I have no intention of forcing them.”

His admission startles me a fraction, only because I didn’t expect such honesty from him. It’s been obvious to me that the team has a problem with him, but the fact that he knows as well fills me with sadness.

I start to question whether Landon or Xander invited their own brother, but they must have just given up by now.

Roman probably sees their invitation as pity, and both brothers just stopped trying.

“Well, that’s insane.” I reach for the door, plop into the seat beside him, and look him dead in the eyes. “I’m inviting you, and your attendance is mandatory.”