Page 7 of Ski You Later (Alpine Glow #1)

The wind howls through my helmet as the flurry of snow continues to pour down, and I try to move my fingers for warmth. The only thing keeping me distracted at the point are the people skiing underneath me. From other ski racers to beginners, none of them are safe as I pretend to squash them all.

I hit a record of pretending to squash thirteen people in a row when a cluster of neon red skis in my direction at the same time.

I first notice the distinct helmets of Charles and Aurora, with the pair spotting me at the same time.

Our course today is just above this chair lift, and I’ve been waiting for them to come by .

“No! You got stuck! Girl, that sucks!” Aurora yells up as she sees me. “Coaches said we could head inside until the chair started again,” Aurora screams up.

“Sister, you must be freezing up there!” Charles then unhelpfully adds, “I would give you my jacket, but I’m also freezing.”

I give him a thumbs down, both his statements being completely useless to me. Aurora turns to her side, pushing Charles into the pile of snow behind him without a second thought. Sending my best friend two thumbs up, she chuckles as she starts to unzip her ski jacket.

“Alright, girl, you ready?” Rora yells as she bunches up her jacket and crouches down, preparing to throw.

I fail repeatedly to catch this silly jacket.

Each time the whole thing unravels, and blows away before it reaches me.

Eventually, Charles attempts to throw it a couple of times, which is even sadder than watching Aurora do it.

The jacket doesn’t even make it to the height where I could catch it with my skis.

The wind really starts to pick up suddenly, and with everyone already inside, I beg them just to head in and leave me. With some arguing and a sad wave, they both ski toward the lodge .

I accept my fate and decide to use this time for resting my body and focusing on my training. I’m unsure if it counts as rest if your limbs are numb from the cold, so I swing my legs to keep the blood flowing.

The constant sound of the wind, mixed with my overtired brain, slowly starts to lull me to sleep.

These past couple of days seem to hit me all at once, and my eyelids become heavy as my head rests in my hand.

I can hear someone yelling my name in the back of my head, but the haze of sleep impairs my other senses.

That is, until a ball of snow smacks me in the mouth, and my exhaustion evaporates in the blink of an eye.

I whip my head below me to see Liam looking up at me, with his hands covering his mouth in utter shock. Isla stands beside him, her hands covering her mouth in the same expression.

“Liam, what the heck man,” I yell down at him. I’m cold, tired, and now have a raw face from the snowball. There’s only so much a girl can take in one day, so I don’t even try to hold back the tears welling in my eyes.

“Well, it’s kind of your fault, Rhodes. I called your name, and you didn’t answer.” He phrases his sentence as if I had this whole thing coming, and I just glare down at him.

I like to present myself to the team as calm and collected, and I work very hard to maintain that reputation. Currently, I’m using every ounce of peace I possess to maintain that facade. Liam’s my friend; there’s no benefit from screaming at him for his actions.

Closing my eyes and taking some deep breaths, I quickly open them again when I hear a pair of skis coming to an abrupt stop below me.

Roman’s standing beside a snow-covered Liam, leaning in close and stabbing him in the chest with his finger. Even leaning over the bar, I can’t hear a word they’re saying, but I can see Isla’s wide eyes.

It isn’t until Liam turns and skis off in a huff that I realize they didn’t have a friendly conversation.

“Are you okay?” Roman calls up to me, a touch of concern worming its way into his neutral tone. I don’t think I’ve ever heard him talk in any manner that isn’t similar to a bored robot’s way of speaking.

“I’m alright,” I yell back.

“Rhodes, you’re bleeding.” His hand gestures to his mouth as he says this.

I rip off my glove and gently touch my hand to my lip, red saliva sticking to my fingers as I pull it back .

Well, dang it to heck. I’ve had so much dental work in my life that if one single tooth is even slightly loose, I’ll be killing Liam. My decision is final.

“Rhodes, are you hurt?” That concern I’m not used to laces his voice again. I’m slightly taken aback as I reassure the team grump that I’m completely fine.

As team captain, he must feel obligated to check up on me. This being another aspect of him that makes me believe everyone’s harsh words less and less.

“Hey, Langley. Catch!” Did he just call me by my last name? I don’t have time to dwell on it as I look down and see a huge, neon-red bundle flying towards my face. The scream I release is purely out of self-defense as I close my skis together, safely securing his jacket.

Praying that I didn’t rip this extremely expensive team coat with my sharp skis, I reach down and wrap it around myself. It’s the perfect kind of oversized where my arms can stay together in the middle, securing all the warmth.

I lean over the bar to look at this beautiful man below me. “Roman, I’m buying your butt a coffee. I owe you my life!” I yell this down to him, looking ridiculous with the empty arms of his jacket flapping in the wind .

There is a whisper of a deep chuckle that reaches my ears, the sound being dulled by the wind surrounding me.

The red dots that slowly form on Roman’s skis confuse me, but I quickly realize they’re all due to me leaning over the bar.

I had completely forgotten about the snowball that shook my entire skull until now.

Red creeps up my neck as I think about how embarrassing that was. I almost bled onto his helmet—ugh!

A loud clank echoes in the air, and the whirling of machinery thrums through the chairlift. With a jolt, the lift hums to life and starts to make its steady way to the top.

Moving past Roman, I turn back to see his hands cupped around his mouth, but I can’t make out a single word he’s saying. With my arms wrapped around my body, I have no chance of moving, so I just shake my head vigorously, and hope that conveys the message to him.

As the chairlift whirls away, the last thing I see is an exasperated Roman putting his head in his hands.