Page 52 of Ski You Later
The company for the rest of the ride is far superior. My friend group and Roman’s seeming to mesh easily. Landon talks with Isla, Liam, and Charles about who knows what. Then one row in front Xander does his best to ensure Aurora’s attention remains all to himself.
Roman and I sit comfortably in the back again, his arm resting casually around my shoulders. I can’t help but notice Aurora’s gaze constantly flickering back here, and a small uplift to her smile.
I would be embarrassed about being this casual with everyone, but only three people know it’s fakeanyway. Roman’s really smart for keeping up the rouse in front of everyone, and I can’t help but leave it at that.
We aren’t a thing. He’s just a friend that’s helping me out. A friend who’s smell floods my brain when he’s close and I can’t help but be drawn to it. A friend that looks out for me. A friend that seems to care about every aspect of my wellbeing, when it’s the last thing he needs on his plate at the minute.
A friend who’s thumb on her lips sparked the strongest spark of attraction she’s ever felt in her life.
The sudden jostle of the van driving on loose gravel causes my eyes to open groggily, and I realize I must have fallen asleep. Voices echoing throughout the van are louder than their usual volume, and the excitement of getting to the hill is at an all-time high.
I’m nervous to sit up fully, past experiences reminding me about the neck pain that is sure to come. It’s only the feeling of the warm chest beneath me and the heavy weight encompassing my body that causes my senses to sharpen.
Jolting my head upward, I find Roman leaning against the side of the van’s wall as his chest rises and falls steadily in sleep. His arms are wrapped around mystomach, holding me to him as my face presses into his chest.
With a peak out the window behind him, I see that we’re still an hour away from the hill at this point. Before I can think too hard on it, I rest my head back against his chest and close my eyes as I get comfortable.
It’s impossible to stop the sheepish smile that grows on my face as his hand comes up and cups the back of my head.
CHAPTER 19
She really never listens.
Everyone was sore after sitting for so long, but the next few hours will be spent unloading our gear, and that’s a sure-fire way to get everyone moving. Jasmine and her friends mysteriously disappear the second it’s time to do actual work, and the rest of us start to huddle around our giant trailer.
The team is renting a four-bedroom, hillside house that’s absolutely filled to the brim with bunk beds. At this point, we’re all accustomed to the fact that we’ll have no personal space as we enter into the race weekend.
We’re also all aware of the system that we need to form in order to unpack this trailer efficiently. Someone will stand in the gigantic trailer and throw bags down to the people waiting below. Those bags are then passed to the ‘runners,’ who stand at the door of the house and bring the bag to its respective place.
There’s about fifteen people who each have four pairs of skis, ski equipment bags, ski tuning tables, overnight bags, premade food, and enough booze to kill a cow. Long story short, without organization, unpacking this would be a nightmare.
Liane and Rachel have their own condo down the road, so they pass the van, trailer, and house keys off to Roman. He returns to our group and leans casually against the side door or the trailer.
Conversation naturally pauses as everyone creates a half moon around him, and Roman’s eyes scan the crowd. His mouth moves without sounds as I see him counting everyone, and I don’t miss the small wink he sends me when we lock eyes.
“Alright, listen up,” Roman says, speaking normally, yet the team hushes instantly.
Even though not everyone wants to be his friend, he’s still our team captain. More importantly, he’s an imposing figure who’s our only hope of unpacking this mess.
“Aurora, go round back and get the rest of the girls; they’re not getting out of unloading duty.” He points towards the house, and Aurora looks to me with a smile and runs away.
“Okay. We’ll be having a team meeting at six in the living room, so that gives you all a couple of hours to unpack and have some food. I’m meeting with the coaches at five to get all the details for the race. Now let’s get organized and unpack this thing.” Calvin and Roman unlatch the doors to our enormous trailer, and a mountain of luggage stares back at everyone.
Shrieks sound from around the corner momentarily pull away everyone’s attention as Jasmine and her friends rush back to the group. “You’re psychotic!” Jasmine screams at Aurora as she makes a stupid face in their direction.
Rora comes right up to my side, chuckling under her breath and wiping a tear from under her eye. “What did you do?” I whisper to her, not wanting to interrupt Roman while he’s assigning tasks. Aurora just laughs harder and says she’ll tell me later.
The team starts separating into groups as Roman finishes, and I immediately realize I wasn’t listening at all. The sun was hitting the side of his face at just the right angle, making it impossible for me to hear anything coming out of his mouth.
I can see Nico and Grayson going into the garage as they make room for sixty pairs of skis to fit in it.When I look back at the trailer, only Xander and Kaiare catching luggage that the other guys are throwing down.
Roman doesn’t even seem to be paying attention as he mechanically picks up equipment bags and tosses them to Xander. Without overthinking it, I walk up to the base of the trailer and wait for the next bag.
Roman robotically turns around, cocking his arm back as he preparing to toss someone’s bag down. As his momentum swings the bag back and then forward, his eyes lock with mine. His bored expression transforming into shock as his eyes widen dramatically. In one of the most ridiculous moves I have ever seen, he tilts his body to the side and uses the momentum to whip the bag into the trailer wall.
We silently stare at someone’s poor bag as it slowly rolls off the trailer platform and has a loud thud as it hits the ground. The wince is practically glued to my face, and I’m surprised to see a slight smile on his.
“I think that was Jasmine’s bag,” he says with humour in his tone.
