Page 30 of Full Send

It’s a moment like this where I would normally head out to my workshop with Rex and toil away on a knife. Most nights, it would be exactly what I need to clear my head. But tonight, I’m just tired and my head won’t be in it. The ones I’m working on now are a bit crazy, a ten inch k-tip chef’s knife with a Damascus steel blade and matching petty knife.

I haven’t tried this particular combo of metals before though. I’m using the same typical high carbon steel I’ve been using lately, but trying some salvaged milder steel I found around the barn as the second part of the Damascus mix. My first attempt at forging this into something good enough for a blade went nowhere, but I think I have an idea on how to make it work now. Either way, I’ll get back to it soon enough.

While I try to wind down, I grab another beer from the fridge and turn on the TV for a bit to check the weather forecast. Looking like snow again.

Hell yes. I could use a powder day.

The thought of being knee deep in pow, bobbing along through the turns down a steep bowl, chasing Ronni. Ok, well maybe she’s chasing me but that’s not the point. The thought of a ski day like that after tonight sends fire through my skin, my heart racing.

Fuck it feels good to… feelthisagain.

I click off the TV and head towards the door with my beer.

“Ok, Rex. Let’s go bud.” I grab Rex’s ball and crack the door. Rex leaps off the couch, eager to start our nightly routine.

For the last few years, waiting for the times Collin comes to town, Rex has practically been my best friend. Sure I know people in town and see my grandparents, but it just gets lonely here. Rex is the best sidekick I could ask for. Always there. Always happy to see me. You just have to love dogs.

“Alright boy. Go!” I toss the ball towards the barn. Fucking dogs I think as I laugh out loud into the cold night air. I could watch Rex sprint across the path in the snow covered ground he’s worn out forever.

Playing toss with Rex, beer in hand, watching my breath in the frosty night, is exactly what I need to refocus on what went down tonight and what’s ahead for me.

I’ve buried this hope, this dream, in me for so long. The idea of making a plan to make it come true is a startling, but oddly grounding feeling. Something that, for years, was just a dream is now a real, actionable thing. I just can’t believe I’m here right now. These feelings deep inside me are scary as fuck.

Hope, happiness, optimism, but also the fear of losing all of it.

But still, there’s a chance I can do this and get to have what I’ve wanted for so many years. My skin tingles at the thought, goosebumps up and down my arms, hair standing.

I take a deep breath. Ok. Girl of your dreams, Chap.

Let’s make it fucking happen.

Full send.

Chapter 15

Veronica

Thunderous Explosions

Iwake up to an all too familiar, yet comforting sound in Teton Village. The distant, thunderous explosions of Ski Patrol’s avalanche control work. To some tourists and those unaccustomed to life near avalanche terrain, the sounds might be unsettling and frightening. Others might even mistake it for fireworks or thunder.

But for me, the sound of explosives high in the mountains brings a sense of excitement. The harbinger of a powder day and fresh deep snow on the slopes. This is something I crave, something I look forward to with wide eyed excitement when I hear these sounds in the morning.

Looks like the weather forecast was right. I start to think about the prospect of a day hitting steep and deep powder lines, a true treat for any Jackson Hole diehard.

Before I get anywhere with that train of thought, my mind is taken somewhere else, a different kind of excitement.

Are you kidding me? I’mturned on? How in the — Tanner. Oh my god.

The thoughts come racing back. Those abs. Those arms. That kiss! It was all a blur, but a steamy one that’s clearly been in my dreams. I think about how I was eyefucking Tanner the night before, running my hands all over his body, grinding myself into him, his tongue in my mouth teasing mine.

Yes. I’m definitely turned on.

I bury my face into my pillow, biting it while letting out a desperate, muffled moan.FUCK. Is Collin still in bed above me? Wait, no. He slept on the couch last night. Thank god.

On cue I hear Collin and Lizzy distantly chatting away. I roll myself out of bed, trying to ignore that I’m wet right now and don’t have the time to give myself a desperately needed release. Nope. Certainly didn’t include that on my morning itinerary for this trip.

I don’t know what last night was. It was certainly hot. Likereally hot, but what the actual fuck. Kissing Tanner Chapman? I can’t even begin to process that right now.

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