Page 27 of Ski You Later (Alpine Glow #1)
Project Sandwich was made for moments like this.
We’re going to be ten minutes late to the van and I’d be a giant liar if I said I wasn’t fully freaking out. Not only was I terrified about the race tomorrow, but now I’m even more scared by the fact that I might miss it!
Ski racing is built on schedules; inspection times, forerunner times and race starts are all set in stone. So, being late for anything means you are getting left behind.
The level of leniency for something such as van departure really depends on the coach’s mood. At six in the morning, I can’t believe they’re going to feel too generous.
Last season, when their relationship was going through a rough patch, everyone knew about it. One time when I was ten minutes early to the van, I had found it already pulling away from the lot .
I’m thankful the highway is dead as we make our way, and I can’t stop the rapid bouncing of my knee.
It’s impossible to lean more forward than I already am, but I give it my best shot as I anxiously wait for us to arrive.
Roman’s hand abruptly lands on my knee as I’m about to bounce it for the thousandth time, and I feel the light pressure he applies in an attempt to stop my rapid tapping. “Sorry, I’m just a little nervous,” I admit abashedly as I look out the window stressfully.
A small smile lifts at the corner of his mouth as I turn back, and he lets his hand linger on my knee even after I stop tapping. “Don’t worry, the guys are covering for us.”
Turning fully to face him now, I send him my most skeptical look. “What do you mean by covering for us?”
Stopping at the red light, he dips his shoulder to look at me and sends me his most mischievous smile. “I don’t think you would believe me if I told you.”
My jaw drops as we pull into the parking lot minutes later.
Rachel stands outside the window of Landon’s car, yelling at him through the glass.
In the distance I see that Liane is doing a similar thing but with Calvin in the driver’s seat of his car.
Both their cars have the hazard lights blinking as they sit parked in front of and behind the team van.
The boys have parked so close to the van that there’s no chance it can maneuver its way out. Another laugh barks out of me at this display and I cover both hands over my face.
The team is standing outside, watching the entire thing as they point and laugh at both Landon and Calvin. Turning to Roman, he’s trying his hardest to suppress his laughter, but fails the second Rachel starts throwing snow at Landon’s window.
Of course, the window was cracked open, so now Landon’s cursing as he tries to roll it up.
“How did you get Calvin to help in this?” I ask Roman bewildered.
He starts to unbuckle himself as he leans over and does the same for me. “Apparently, he owed Xander a favour, but I have no idea why. Now, let’s hurry before the coaches catch onto why they’re doing this in the first place.”
I nod in agreement as we hop out, and Roman grabs my overnight bags. Apparently, Aurora and the guys took my skis and other equipment, so I just need to blend in and pretend I’ve been here the whole time .
“I’ll sneak your bags into the van. You need to go give Landon these and say you found them on the ground.” I stare at him in disbelief as he starts to pull something from his pocket.
Somehow, they had this whole thing already planned out, and I cannot get over the fact that they did it all for me. There’s no question in my mind that they’re all getting a banana loaf to themselves when we’re home from this race.
Roman reaches into his pocket and produces two sets of car keys, placing one set in my hand. Glancing down at mine, I recognize the pink pom-pom and bedazzled R key chain anywhere. “Hey! These are mine and Aurora’s car keys!”
His smile turns devious and seems to light up his whole face. “I had to think on my feet, Langley. We couldn’t intact Project Sandwich without extra sets of keys,” he says, making it sound like I’m the crazy one.
“Wait, what are the keys for?”
“You’ll see, Langley. Landon has his keys on him; you just need to make sure Rachel physically sees you giving him a set of keys. I’ll do the same for Calvin. He flashes me a wicked grin as he runs to the van.
As he passes by the rest of the team, I can’t help but revel over how they had this whole plan ready to go. I’ve always been curious how he was able to share a house with his brothers since he’s so different from them both. But, from what I’ve seen lately, they’re all cut from the same cloth.
Roman loves to be just as ridiculous, but only with the people he lets in.
Whereas Landon and Xander give themselves to the world and wait for acceptance, Roman can’t function like that. He treads carefully with his actions, bracing for the next misstep, even when he’s on solid ground.
I let out a sad breath as I watch him carefully put my bags with the rest of the team’s stuff. He’s filled with so much kindness and fun, yet his first instinct toward the world is to scowl.
A resolve washes over me as I watch him finish at the van and run toward Calvin.
Squaring my shoulders back in determination, I know in my gut what I need to do.
This goofy, scheming, lovable man has been nothing but kind, and I’m going to make sure the whole team knows this side of him.
It is completely unfair how he’s treated, and it’s time I actually do something about it.
At this point, it’s the least I could do for him.
Smiling to myself about my idea, I focus on the present and follow the plan .
Running over to Landon, who’s parked his truck so that it blocks the front of both vans, I hear their yelling before I see them.
“I don’t know where they went! They were in the ignition, and next thing I know, poof. They're gone!” Landon sounds baffled as he says this, but I can detect the slightest hint of humour in his tone.
“That doesn’t make any sense, Huxley! You can’t park a truck and then have the keys disappear! Move this car right now!” Rachel screams in his face, and I don’t know how he hasn’t broken character yet.
“I told you, I can’t. No keys,” he says with a straight face as he shrugs his shoulders.
Rachel looks like a kettle that’s about to boil over, and I make sure to intercept before she explodes.
“Hey, Landon. These were on the floor by the van door. Are they yours?” Rachel turns to me with fury lighting up her eyes, and I try my best not to wince away.
His eyes widen in surprise as he dons the most convincing face of relief. “Rhodes. You are an absolute gem. Those are exactly what I lost. Rach, I’ll move this car right now.”
I pass them to him, but Rachel plucks them from my fingers before I can stop her.She inspects the pom-pom and then raises her brow at the R key-chain. Looking back up at Landon, she gives him the most unimpressed look I’ve ever seen on her face. “These are your truck keys, Huxley?”
A wince takes over my expression as Landon stares at her with confusion. ‘Yes? Can I have them back now?”
“There is a giant pink thing on these keys,” she states.
“I love pink. It’s my favourite colour,” Landon responds immediately.
“What about the sparkly R keychain?” Rachel questions with annoyance in her tone as she holds it up for all of us to see.
“Yeah?” He questions as if it’s Rachel who’s not making any sense. “R for Landon,” he says immediately as he snatches the keys from her hand. As she processes the sudden loss of keys, Landon lets out a triumphant cackle and starts the truck.
Ripping away to park in one of the athlete spots, Rachel yells and runs after him. If the coaches didn’t have a special love for Xander and Landon’s antics, I would feel really guilty about what they did for me.
Instead, I let out a full-bellied laugh as I watch our coach start smacking Landon as he exits his truck. I hear tires on gravel and see a similar situation unfold at the back of the van, with Calvin driving away and an angry Liane on his tail.
The entire team is laughing at this point, big smiles on their face as they slowly start loading into the van. An exasperated Rachel storms past me as she beelines it for the driver’s seat, and a firm weight lands on my shoulders.
“That was hilarious. If I weren’t an actor, I wouldn’t have been able to keep it together,” Landon says plainly and pulls me close to him. My eyes widen at the actor comment, but he said it so casually that I’m just going to pretend I knew about it this whole time.
“The coaches are going to be furious with you,” I say with worry since this whole event was to make sure I wasn’t late for departure. “Thank you so much, Landon.” Wrapping my arm around his waist, I give him a quick squeeze as we both release each other.
His expression is sheepish as he brushes me off. “I would take angry coaches over an angry Roman any day,” he states easily.
Turning back to face him, I make sure the curiosity is visible. “Why would Roman be angry?”
Landon looks at me as though I’m being ridiculous. “If the coaches left you behind, he would probably do something much more drastic than just blocking in the vans.”