Page 6 of Ski You Later (Alpine Glow #1)

Liam better count his days.

“Only that slime ball could possibly stand to be in her presence for more than twenty seconds,” Carlos yells.

Carrying all my equipment into the house, I chuckle at his rage and press the phone between my shoulder and ear.

Due to today’s events, I fell asleep the second I entered the team van and woke up to seven missed calls from Car.

My brothers’ feelings help justify the rage simmering in my chest at this whole situation, but the exhaustion is quickly taking over.

Chuckling into the receiver, I dump my gear in the entry way and bee line straight for my room.

All my gear will be slightly damp tomorrow morning, but that’s a price I’m willing to pay.

The swishing sound of my speed suit rubbing together reminds me that I was too tired to even remove it.

This whole day was too cold, long, tiring, and just too much .

I turn on my multiple lamps, the warm light welcoming me like a hug, and nicely contrasting the blizzard raging outside my window.

The small space is filled to the brim: my desk, clothing rack, and bed taking up the entire room.

Not to mention all the art supplies, books, trinkets, and rings that are placed around.

Seeing my room in all its organized chaos causes a weight to lift off my shoulder.

Car’s chattering carries on as I fight to remove the damp spandex suit that’s currently glued to my skin.

“I hate to speak ill of others, but she’s a raging bitch.” A laugh bursts out of me at his statement, and the lengths he’s going to just to comfort me isn’t going unnoticed.

Jasmine has been nothing but a bully since we were all kids, but I was lucky to have Carlos at my side during every family gathering.

While Carlos and I were two peas in a pod, our oldest brother Henry was always more of a lone wolf. The one thing connecting us all being the face that we are basically mirror images of each other. We were blonde hair, pasty white skin, and piercing green eyes times three .

“Did you see her stupid ass at training today?” Carlos’ question jolts me back to the present as I find the energy to keep discussing this.

“Yeah, I just avoided her. I’m pretty sure she was hungover today, so she didn’t have the energy to talk with me. I should’ve just made loud noises all day, to give her a killer headache.” Chuckling at my own deviousness, I wait for Carlos to laugh with me.

“My dream is for her to crash in the course and break her leg,” he says immediately after.

“Carlos! You can’t say that!” The shock of his words mixed with the intention behind them almost cause me to drop my phone.

Even if she has single-handedly caused every problem I’ve ever had, it goes against everything I believe in to wish harm to her.

Wishing ill will towards someone else will do nothing but cause someone bad karma and even worse skin.

“Hmm, alright, that was a little harsh. It’s just annoying how there’s never any repercussions for her actions! It’s infuriating, sister!”

“I know brother! But that is life sometimes. Just focus on yourself, and everything will be okay.” My words help center me and remind me of my beliefs, which successfully calms my anxiety filled body .

I can hear his grumbling on the other end, since he hates when I shut down his trash talking of others. His statement isn’t wrong though; Jasmine does whatever she wants without a care in the world. She always has and always will.

Come to think of it, the only person I’ve ever seen get mad at her was Roman, and the coaches later punished him for that. That’s just another point for Roman in my books.

“Ugh, I can’t stand even thinking about her right now. Okay, I have to go. Bye.” The line goes dead as I receive the classic Carlos goodbye.

My brothers’ goodbyes are always sudden and direct, but I’m just happy they call at all. The next time we’ll all be together again will be at the wedding.

The wedding where I’ll be bringing my boyfriend and introducing him to my entire family…

The boyfriend that I don’t have.

“UGH, I’m a disaster,” I yell into the empty room.

Rolling myself into a blanket burrito and trying not to cry at the ridiculous situation I’m in.

A knock sounds at my door and with my luck, Jasmine might be on the other side.

She probably heard that I’m bringing someone, and she thought it would be appropriate to laugh in my face rather than over the phone .

“Come in,” I say weakly.

The logical side of my brain knew it was Aurora, but seeing her walk through the door was a relief nonetheless. She sulks in with a furrow between her brow, and flops onto my bed while wrapping her blanket tighter around herself.

“She beat me today,” she blurts out.

A confused expression crosses my face at this. Someone on our team was able to beat Aurora?

“Who beat you?” I ask quickly. Sitting up fully to look at her, I pray that it isn’t who I think it is. “If you say Jasmine then I’ll throw up on you.” I point my finger sternly in her face, so she knows I mean business.

“Isla! She beats me at everything. I just hate her and her stupidly beautiful face!” Aurora’s voice rises as she starts to strangle the air in front of her.

Everything being the fact that she stole the heart of the guy Aurora’s been crushing on for the past couple years now. She has never explicitly told me she likes Liam, but it’s the most obvious thing in the world.

I don’t want to push her on this because I firmly believe her hatred is misplaced, but tonight is not the time to discuss that.

“Do you want to watch the movie with the robots that fight those aliens?” Knowing that it’s one of her favourite movies, and I hope it will be enough to make her feel better.

A frown takes over her cute face as her watery eyes look up at me. “How do you not know the name at this point. I watch every week.” I can’t help but fully laugh at that, since I hate every part of that movie and refuse to remember the title.

We both start laughing at this point, and I decide that telling her my garbage news will take her mind off of her problems. There’s really no better way of doing it then just blurting everything out.

“Jasmine announced to the family that she’s bringing her boyfriend to Julian’s wedding. So, I told my mom that I’m bringing my new boyfriend.”

I can feel Aurora bolt upright beside me, the shock basically pouring off of her in waves. “NO,” Rora screams in my face.

Covering my ears from that attack of volume, I look her dead in the eyes as I purse my lips and nod.

“Rhodes, you don’t have a boyfriend.” She acts as if I didn’t know that fact, so I give her the most unimpressed glare I can conjure.

“Oh, really? I was under the impression I had one!” My voice rises with mirth as Aurora howls with laughter. Clutching her stomach, she flops back onto the bed and absolutely cackles at the situation.

“There’s no way you actually told your mom you’re bringing your boyfriend, and she believed you!” Rora can’t contain her laughter at my expense, but at least the tears in her eyes are ones of joy.

“Okay, chuckles, I’m dealing with a serious problem here.” There’s no harshness to my voice though, as happiness at Aurora’s uplifted mood overtakes me.

“You’re going to have to come clean girl. There’s no way you can get away with this one. The wedding is in what, like five months?”

“Three,” I say dismally.

Another fit of laughter bursts from her as I sink deeper into my comforter. I have about three months to figure out what to do about this whole mess, and I can only think of two things.

Either find a boyfriend in three months or admit to everyone that I lied, and just show up alone. There’s always the option to call mom before she submits the invitations, but something holds me back.

The thought of seeing my ex attend Julian’s wedding with the girl he cheated on me with shoots a familiar pang of betrayal in my chest .

As I sit with this feeling, I realize there’s something else there too. A burning that simmers low in my gut and is more intense than my hurt.

I realize that I’m not mad. I’m furious.

I let out a huge yawn on the chairlift, as I mindlessly adjust my forearms guards and relax.

Today we’re training giant slalom, meaning the gates are farther apart and we’re able to go much faster than in normal slalom. It also requires less protection, the only guards we need for this discipline are strapped to our forearms.

Yesterday has been running through my mind all day, and I channel all those emotions into my training. The only upside to this whole disaster is that I can use these feelings to push myself like never before.

My strategy seems to be working flawlessly since both Liane and Rachel radioed me at the end of my run. Telling me how impressed they are and giving me feedback I actually found useful.

I now dangle my feet high above the ground and reach to pull out my phone, just as the chair lift jolts violently.

The entire thing swings forward as my body swings back, and I quickly grab the bar with both hands.

I hold steady when the chair gives a stomach-churning swing in the other direction and wait for it to settle down.

Muttering breaks out from the chairlifts surrounding me, since most people aren’t accustomed to the frequent stopping of this crappy lift. Luckily, I was the third chair out of the station, so I’m positioned right above the flat cat track that leads back to the main lodge.

“This is going to be a little while, folks.” The liftie’s voice reaches me from the station, and I can’t help but groan into the wind. Not only am I stuck on one of the most unreliable chairs ever, but I’m also only wearing my race suit.