Page 26 of Wedlocked

For a moment, I’d forgotten I wasn’t alone. I’d forgotten I’d been “racing” Win. Tugging away the goggles, I blinked, looking around. Elite was standing nearby, all of them cheering and whistling, varying levels of surprise on their faces.

Snow crunched and the air shifted, and I glanced over in time to see Win glide right into me, arms going around my waist. Our skis clashed and tangled, nearly pitching us into the snow, but it was like he didn’t notice.

“Oh my God, babe!” Win exclaimed. “When you said you could ski, you didn’t sayyou could ski!”

My nose wrinkled. “That’s exactly what I said.”

He laughed. “You went airborne!” he hollered. “I almost had a damn heart attack watching you run right for that divot, and what did you do? Fucking jumped it!”

“Is that okay?” I asked, observing the excitement playing on his face.

“Hell yes! You’ve got to teach me how to do that.”

“I thought you were a demon on the mountain.”

“Maybe I should change your name from angel to devil because, damn, Lars, that was fucking fantastic!”

“I’m a little rusty.”

His eyes widened. “You mean you can ski better than that?”

I shrugged.

“Take your skis off.”

I froze. “What?”

He pulled away. “Take them off.”

I glanced around, noting all our friends still there, hanging back a little to give me space with Win. I caught Prism’s eye, and he smiled.

I snapped the skis off and stepped in the snow in just my boots. Win’s were already off, and he grabbed me and fell backward, both of us tumbling in the snow. After he hit, he rolled, pinning me into the icy fluff.

“Win!” I shouted.

“I’m so lucky,” he said.

Stilling, I looked up into his face and the floppy chestnut hair falling into his eyes. “What?”

“I’m so fucking lucky I found you. That you love me. That you let me love you.”

“Did I beat you?” I asked.

He threw his head back and laughed. “Are you kidding? I didn’t stand a chance. I damn near fell on my ass watching you.”

“You-you liked it?”

“Fuck yes. Let’s go do it again.”

I smiled.

“There’s my angel,” he said, pecking a quick cold kiss to my lips. “I love you.”

Before I could reply, he was up and pulling me with him.

Elite converged, all of them telling me how awesome my run was and how they wanted me to do it again. My stomach bounced, my heart beat unevenly, and my cheeks hurt, but not from the freezing temperatures. From smiling.

I realized then that Win was right. The memories we were making today would far outshadow any I had from the past.

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