Page 34 of Ski You Later (Alpine Glow #1)

I’d give anything in the world to never see her like that again.

I didn’t win today’s race. I didn’t even finish.

Sleep was the last thing on my mind last night. After Roman walked me to my room and said goodnight, the only logical thing to do was join my friend’s downstairs and continue drinking.

It was later on, when I saw that Xander had wandered back downstairs, that I knew it was time to call it a night.

Surprisingly, I was one of the few athletes that retired early, and the blaring music did nothing to help aid in my sleep. From there my mind wandered, and all I could think about was Roman.

What will remain ingrained in my brain for the rest of my life is the feeling of him pressed up against me.

The warmth radiating from him as every inch of our bodies touched and I just felt encompassed in a blanket of safety.

I’ve never had that feeling before, not even for one second in my past relationship.

The feeling of falling and knowing without a doubt he’ll be there to catch me.

The revelation of this caused even more turmoil to course through me, and then three hours of sleep later, I wasn’t the happiest of campers.

The entire team was plastered last night, so I fit right in with the crowds as we all groggily got ready for the race.

The only exceptions to the hungover roster on our team were Roman, Aurora, Rhys, and Calvin. They’re all on strict diets in the race season and won’t touch a drop of alcohol until the last race.

Turns out, I should’ve adopted their philosophy because then I might’ve been able to ski more than five gates. My race run ended before it even started really, the tip of my suddenly ski hooking inside the fifth gate, and brutally throwing me onto the ice.

Due to the length of giant slalom skis, they truly have a mind of their own and need to be controlled at all times. I lacked this control severely as my ski yanked me backwards, my whole body rotating to the side, and then everything came in contact with the hard ground.

As I lay upside down on the hard snow, my mind spins as I register the past couple seconds. I narrow my eyes in confusion as the world seems upside down, and then it all clicks into place.

I crashed. I crashed in the second race of the season and there’s no way for me to save it.

Pushing up from the hard ground, I look around in a daze and watch some course volunteers rushing towards me. Their volunteer tags blow in the wind as they surround my fallen form.

The left side of my face seemed to take the brunt of the fall, the ice being so cold it burns.

Realizing I am still face first on the ground, I flip myself towards the downhill of the slope and carefully place my race skis on the sheet of ice.

It’s surprising to see that I only have one ski on, and thank the volunteer that hands me my other one.

Getting up is easy enough, and I push myself up as I brush off all the concerned parents asking to take me to ski patrol.

I can feel the bruise on my knees forming as I tuck my metaphorical tail between my legs and ski to the side of the course.

Taking stock of myself quickly, I feel that my knees are slightly sore, and my head is throbbing but everywhere else feels fine.

I shake off the physical pain and try not to dwell on the hit my pride is about to take. It’s the second race of the season and I couldn’t even make it five gates. I can’t help but repeat my failure as I kick myself on such a stupid mistake.

Roman cheered for me at the start, and probably raced to the bottom to watch the end of my run. Him and the rest of the team will all be there as they announce my DNF.

It’s not that I actually thought I would win, but Roman’s words just instill so much confidence in me.

Even though it’s stupid, a tiny part of myself thought I could do it.

Although, spending the night before drinking my brains out wasn’t the best choice if that was my goal.

Roman’s words just stuck to me like loose glitter, the only way I could think to get rid of it was to drown myself.

Messing up on a run is one thing, but making a silly mistake that takes you out of the race entirely.

I am going to get a talking too about this one.

I slowly slip down the side of the course, sticking close to the netting that encompasses the whole race.

The volunteer waves me down once I get over one of the small pitches and pulls the netting aside for me.

I see concern light up his face for a second, but I just wave and ski past him.

Skiing one run over from the racecourse is the ski racer equivalent of the walk of shame. Wearing your full race suit and bib outside the course is as good as wearing a cape that read, I FAILED.

It isn’t until I reach the rest of the team at the bottom of the course that I really have to fight back the tears.

Aurora turns around at my approach, striding to my side and wrapping me in a bear hug.

My best friend is exactly what I need with her comforting presence threatening to unleash those tears I am keeping at bay.

Race day is always operating at such high intensity, and the emotions swirling in my system demand to be released. Her embrace seems to intensify the pounding in my head, but I brush it aside in favour of comfort from my favourite person.

The few tears I allow myself to shed freeze to my skin before they become visible, so I’m just not going to count those ones. Anyway, having frostbite on my eyes is more preferable than having the others see me cry. Aurora’s hold on me tightens when a sniffle escapes, and she rubs my back lovingly.

After another minute of comfort, I pull away from my best friend, and try my best to put a smile on my face. “Alright, enough of this. It isn’t a big deal,” I say dismissively. Keeping my head down more due to embarrassment that anything else .

I turn to look at the trees while I compose myself and ask how her run went. “I pushed really hard that run and I won again.” Her words bring the first feeling of joy to my face and I turn to her and give a congratulations.

I watch an array of emotions filter over her face from joy, to shock and finally landing on concern. “Rhodes, oh my gosh. Are you okay? I didn’t know you were injured!” She yells and I don’t miss the multiple heads that turn our way.

Confusion wrinkles my brow as I look at her and the fear on her face starts to spread to me. Grabbing her goggles on the rim of her helmet, I gently direct them down and my eyes widen as I look at the mess that is my face.

The adrenaline must have been blocking out this pain, but as I glimpse the blood that covers the left side of my face in a sticky mess. Thinking back to it, I hit the ground hard with my elbows and knees, but the left side of my face took the rest of the crash.

Lightly tapping that side, I wince slightly at the throb I feel there, but I’m pretty sure that it is a surface wound.

The wave of dizziness I feel immediately after is more concerning, but I can’t help and fixate on the fact that I’ll have scabs all over my face.

I guess it’s just the risks of being an athlete, but I’m just thankful the wedding is still over a month away.

As I release Aurora’s helmet, I’m about to tell her it’s fine and I’m in basically no pain, when someone shouts my name from close behind me.

Rushing over, his ski boots eats up the distance between us, and Roman’s face is alive with worry. His rushed walk turns into a flat out run as he notices the red that takes up the entirety of my cheek and chin.

“Rhodes! Holy shit, I saw you didn’t finish on the board, and I was so worried.” His words come out in a ramble as he completely ignores Aurora and steps directly into my space.

His widened eyes scan every inch of my exposed skin, and his mouth purses as he tips my chin up to look at my neck. I flinch when his finger lightly prods my cheek, and his worry only intensifies.

“Aurora,” Roman’s authoritative tone immediately snaps her attention towards him. “Can you keep track of the rest of the women’s team? Make sure everyone’s times and places are documented, then help organize the start of the men’s team.”

He doesn’t even check that she heard him, just turns back to me with a tender expression on his face. “Let’s get you cleaned up, Langley.”

The concern in his voice threatens to bring the tears back, but I can’t let him ignore his captain duties because of me. “Roman, don’t worry about me. I’ll just ski to the rental and sort myself out. “

He proceeds to ignore me while he pops his boots into his bindings beside me.

Lifting his eyes to meet mine, a dazed look is on his face, and he starts to wave his hands in front of me.

“I’m not listening to you say ridiculous things as long as that blood stays on your face. I can’t even think clearly right now.”

Putting his poles and mine to the side of the course,he grabs my hand and slowly skis us down the hill. Nothing about my body hurts more than a throb, but he refuses to listen as he holds us both in a snowplow down to the rental.

It takes five minutes longer than it should by the time we ski to the house. Roman grabs my skis before I can as he puts them both on the rack for us. It doesn’t take another five minutes after that until I’m flopping on the couch and resting my body.

Once I’m settled on the couch, Roman leaves me to take off my gear, and I cringe at the blood on my helmet and gloves. I can’t help my groan at seeing all the red splotches that litter my pink and white suit. It’s hard enough to clean them, let alone getting blood out .

Roman comes back to the room, and I avoid looking him in the eyes.

Not only did I hurt myself doing something stupid, but I also bet the coaches told him and he needs to lecture me on it now.

Please inform Rhodes that her fall was completely avoidable and maybe she shouldn’t drink the night before a big race.

A warm towel touches my face, startling me out of my spiral and I jerk away from the contact. “Sorry, I said I was going to start cleaning off the blood.” Roman’s voice brings me back to this moment, and I try and fail to keep my head downward.

His crooked finger rests under my chin, but he doesn’t put any pressure on it. I guess it’s time for me to start lifting my own head when I fail.

After another quick breath, I look into his face and cherish the small smile I get from him. He sits on the coffee table right in front of me, hunching his body so that it is level with mine.

“Oh, I can do this,” I mumble and try to take the towel from his outstretched hands.

His other hand quickly catches both of mine, moving them to my lap as he returns his focus to my cheek. “Let me do this for you. ”

I give him a small nod and look around the room as he takes his time. I only wince a couple times and feel so cherished when Roman immediately pulls away.

All the poking and prodding causes a small pain to start in my temple, the feeling only spreading as time goes on. I notice Roman lightly shaking my shoulder, but it’s too hard to focus on him as the room spins.

“Rhodes. Are you alright?” His voice seems far away as I look at his fuzzy form.

“Yeah, I just think that I’m going to lie down for a bit.” My words suddenly feel heavy on my tongue, and I push myself off the couch.

“No, hold on.” I hear, but it’s from an even farther distance now.

“Roman?” I say with a hint of fear as I stop feeling my body and start to lose my balance. There’s nothing stopping me as I fall sideways, and I fear for the moment I’ll hit the ground again.

A jolt goes through my body as my descent is rapidly stopped and I feel arms around me now.

“Hey, hey. No, no.” Light taps on my uninjured cheek wake me up slightly, and I realized I closed my eyes .

“There she is, let’s keep those eyes open.” There is pressure at my back and under my knees, as I find myself cradled tight to Roman’s chest.

“Rhodes, please stay awake. Stay up for me, love.”

I have nothing left in me as I nod. Hoping the motion distracts him for the minute as I close my eyes and drift off.