Page 15 of Ski You Later
Without thinking about it, I find myself studying him as he watches me. His dark hair is just long enough to frame his face, and the strands compliment his paler complexion. The freckles on his nose are stark and make his glare look less menacing. None of us have seen thesun in months, so everyone on the team shares the same sickly pallor.
Roman decided to battle the cold weather today in a dark green cable knit sweater, and black corduroy pants. I’m slightly astonished at how well he dresses; the outfits being simple and flattering.
Focusing back on the situation, I clear my throat as I realize how obvious it was that I’ve been staring. I start to panic and just grab for the loaf at my side.
“I made this for you.” I push it toward him, praying that this will take his attention off me.
“Um, thank you,” he says quizzically. Slowly taking it from my hands and inspecting it all around. “Why do I have a loaf of bread?”
“It’s a banana loaf and it’s an apology for my behaviour yesterday,” I state.
“Well, then, I can’t accept this.” He extends this stupid loaf back to me, waiting for me to take it.
“What? Why not? It took me an hour to make that.” I promptly push it back in his direction, not letting him have an opportunity to give it back.
“Rhodes,” he says on an exhale. Placing the loaf beside him, he puts his arms on his knees as he looks at me. “I won’t accept this because there’s no reason foryou to be apologizing. I’m the team captain; it’s my responsibility to tear the course down.”
I narrow my eyes in suspicion, he’s being weirdly nice, and I don’t trust it. “Why are you being nice to me?”
“I’m always nice,” he responds with indignation.
Raising my eyebrow at him, I smile as if we are sharing an inside joke. “Now, that is just not true.”
He lets out a frustrated breath, sitting up to his full height as his expression turns serious. “Alright, well, I hope that I’ve always been nice to you. I like to think I’m nice to my friends.”
My eyes widen a fraction, his casual use of the word friend surprising me. Sure, we’ve never been unfriendly towards each other, but I wouldn’t have gone so far as to call us friends.
Although, Roman has always been someone who kept to himself. In his brain, I bet our pleasant interactions must have been friendship to him all these years.
A twinge of sadness goes through my chest, and how I was unaware of the friendship he thought we had all this time.
“Well, no matter. I should’ve never yelled at you; that was extremely rude of me, and I’m sorry,” I say meaningfully. Giving him a small smile, I stand to leave, and hope he can accept my apology.
In no world did I plan on being here for so long, and Aurora’s going to die when she hears about this afternoon. “I’ll see you later,” I say and wave at him as I make my way towards his door.
“Did you just apologize because I’m your team captain?” His voice is small, and he keeps his head down as he stares into the banana loaf.
Something about this doesn’t sit right in my brain, obviously being more to this question than he’s letting on. Either way, I answer him honestly. “No. I apologized because you’re my friend.”
He looks up at that, with his eyes expressing more emotion than his face ever will. “Thanks, Langley. I’ll see you later.”
CHAPTER 7
I need to put ice melt on my grocery list.
My body presses deeper into the kitchen table as my eyes try to understand the jumble of equations in front of me. Notes are splayed everywhere, and I furiously scribble down another equation.
When I applied for a science-focused kinesiology degree, I had conveniently forgotten about all the science I would have to do.
My workload has done nothing but increase since my first year of university. The hours seeming to pile on top of each other, sometimes to the point that I have to study on the drive to the ski hill.
Reaching over a pile of paper to grab my formula sheet, I remember why I’m doing this in the first place. It took years of sprains, muscle tears, and cracked bones, but a physiotherapist was always my calling. The idea that I can assist future athletes and help them on the road to recovery, now that sits right with me.
Ski racing isn’t my life, and I just don’t have the passion that’s required to succeed in the sport. Someone like Aurora will go the distance. She has a craving to hop on skis the second she wakes up, the desire to train flowing through her blood.
Being able to watch her fall deeper in love with the sport as we grew up has only made me realize how I don’t have that desire. But I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to compete while I pursue this degree, so that’s exactly what I’ll do.
Although, that’ll only be possible if I’m able to solve this ridiculous equation. Grumbling to myself, I pull out a fresh piece of paper and scribble down a new answer.
