Page 52 of Kiss Me

I don’t have to think about it. The past few days with Taehyun have almost extinguished the ache in my heart, but it’s still there. Being surrounded by so much snow and not getting on my board at least once has left me feeling a little empty.

“Yes.”

His smile widens as if he knew my answer before I opened my mouth. He takes my hands in his, lowering to press a kiss to my lips.

“I knew it. Which is why we’re here. I pulled a few strings. Behind the cabin are private slopes.” He gestures to the door with his head. “The family of the guy out front owns this property, and they run private ski and snowboard classes.

“And the slopes are ours for the day.”

My eyebrows raise. “Ours?”

“Yours,” he corrects. “It’s not nearly as big as the slopes of our resort, but it is private and?—”

“It’s perfect,” I say at the same time I leap into his arms, wrapping my arms around his neck.

He bursts out laughing.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” I’m so excited I can barely contain myself. “I don’t even know what to say.”

“There’s nothing to say,” he replies. “Except, which board do you want to ride?”

The question sends a thrill of excitement down my spine. I select one of the longer boards and am grateful to see that my boots fit right in.

“Ready?” Taehyun asks as I carry the board underneath my arm.

“More than anything.”

Five minutes later, I’m strapped in, with my sunglasses lowered over my eyes, and the rest of my winter gear on.

We come to the top of one of the hills, and I gasp at the sight of an actual snowboard ramp. It’s smaller than most of the ramps I train on but my fingers twitch in excitement as I picture myself doing a couple of one-eighties on it.

“Have at it,” Taehyun says. “It’s your day.”

I jump up and kiss him again before settling into my board. Once my boots click into place and I start to get a real feel for the snow beneath my board, I feel like I’m at home.

The past few days with Taehyun baking gingerbread cookies, decorating, dancing to Christmas music, and just being able to be me—Tania Casey, a girl who loves Christmas, snowboarding, and to laugh—feels like I’ve been transported to a time in my life I felt like I would never get back.

I didn’t even want to imagine it could get any better.

But Taehyun creating a safe space to give me the freedom to move in a way that I’ve been craving is more than I could even ask for.

I allow my giddiness and cheer to carry me down the hill and onto the ramp. I give myself a couple of tries at some small jumps just to get a feel for the ramp. It takes no time to warm up, however.

Before I know it, one drop in from the top of the ramp turns into a front three-sixty.

My first three-sixty feels weightless. The familiar feeling of flying that I only get on my board takes over. The next thing I know, I’m in the air doing a backward three-sixty. When that trick lands beautifully something clicks in my brain.

I start to replay the trick that I’ve been working on lately. The new trick that I failed to land in my last practice, which is what led to me making the split decision of faking my ankle injury.

My desire and persistence in pushing boundaries and doing new tricks is one of my advantages in my sport.

As I sail down the ramp and center my body, the urge to try the new trick overcomes me. Before I know it, I’m sailing in the air. The sky becomes my ground, and the ground is my sky for what feels like seconds, before my body automatically braces itself for the landing.

“Hell yeah!” I clap and cheer for myself once I’ve landed the trick.

For fun, I complete another backwards alley-oop and come down on my board perfectly. Not one slip, not even a wobble as I land the trick in style.

“Hell yeah!” This time it’s Taehyun who’s cheering.

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