Page 68 of Ski You Later
“Well, for starters. The fact that you slept the day away with a head injury.” He motions to the window, which I now notice has the setting sun staring back at me. “As well as other reasons,” he adds quickly.
Brushing off the realization that I slept the entire day away, I turn to face him again. Latching onto the other part of his comment, I focus all my energy on that. “What other reasons?”
“They aren’t important,” he deflects.
“I would argue the opposite actually.”
Locking my gaze to his, I make him understand that I’m not going anywhere without an explanation.
There is a myriad of emotions that cross his face, but a look of pure determination is the one he finally settles on. His two strides eat up the distance that was slowly growing between us and I move in an inch as I look right back at him.
“Because Langley.” His hands lightly cup my face, bringing our noses just inches apart. “When we kiss again, there’s not going to be one bone in your body that thinks this relationship is fake.”
Silence infests my brain, not on neuron firing that would help me find words to respond with
Whether it’s from the lack of sleep, food or just because of this startling information, I slightly sway in place and Roman steadies me. With concern flashing in his gaze, his arms grip me under the elbows, he walks us back to his bed and lightly guides me to take a seat.
He grabs a cup of water on the side table, putting it right into my hand and watches me drink the whole thing. “Listen, we need to talk about this more, but I have to be at the team meeting soon and you need rest. I’ll come back for you in a bit and get the ski patrols to look you over. But rest will go a long way for helping you in the meantime.”
He pulls back the covers and my overwhelmed brain has no objection about getting into a cozy bed and getting more sleep.
His hands are gentle as he tucks me in, and I chuckle as his overbearing nature. There is a hope that shines bright in his eyes, and he looks down at me withsuch unbridled joy in his face. I can’t help but smile back just as big, feeling like the luckiest girl in the world.
“I’ll be right back, Langley,” he says as he gives my brow a quick kiss. Standing to his full height, he looks back at me once before he’s out the door.
CHAPTER 26
This was all part of the plan.
The rest of the race weekend went by without a hitch. On Sunday morning, after I decided to race, the coaches both coldly greeted me. They might as well have held up a sign saying,One more stupid mistake will be your last.
I was able to lock in for my race run, and land myself in fourth place for the slalom event. Being two hundredths of a second off third place usually would have stung, but finishing the race was all I wanted from today.
Aurora won the slalom race on Sunday, making her the female champion for the entire weekend. Whereas Roman just lost the top male to Calvin after taking a time penalty in the Sunday race.
Everyone else placed within their usual standings, and no one on our team placed any lower than the top twenty. The Polar team prides itself on havingsome of the best Canadian ski racers, and it’s important that every race reflects that.
Now, after a quick awards ceremony and a couple hours of packing, we all huddle around the trailer and get ready to depart. Half the team walks towards the van after cleaning up the rental unit, while the other half is responsible for playing Tetris with everyone’s luggage.
Since the race ended a couple hours ago, it’s essential that all the skis were put away with no snow lingering on the binding. Letting our precious race skis soak in water for the long drive home is a huge no for everyone.
Roman’s deep into the trailer, switching out bags with Landon and Rhys, as the three of them make sure everything will fit. Aurora stands at my side, as the jingle of the medals in her pocket causes a smile to form on her face whenever she moves.
I think my voice is still raw from the sheer amount of cheering I did for my best friend. People looked at me like I was nuts, but that is the price you pay for being supportive.
As our teammates mill around, everyone prepares themselves for the drive home, but I keep my eyes glued to the man in the trailer. Roman barks outorders, pointing so everything’s done in a certain way and ensuring this process gets wrapped up quickly.
While everyone is seeing him as the team grump, I can’t help but see him the way he was last night. The way he kissed me as if it would fix all his problems. The way his touch lingered on me at all times, and the way he wanted it to end as little as I did.
When we kiss again, there’s not going to be one bone in your body that thinks this relationship is fake.Damn him. Getting the last word while simultaneously making me weak in the knees. It’s not fair.
Half of me wants to walk right up to him, give him a good shake, and demand to know what is going on between us. But a bigger part of me relishes in the fact that this isn’t real yet. I can’t get hurt by a relationship that isn’t actually real.
Crossing my arms over my chest, I’m only half listening to Aurora talk, but mostly focusing on Roman work. Kai and Grayson join in and help in passing the bags to Roman and Landon, then the lot of them start arguing over where everything needs to go.
He’s in the middle of yelling at them all and then stops suddenly. As if sensing my gaze, he looks up and meets my eyes directly. I lift my brows in his direction and nod towards the bags, as if I had half a mind to goover there and help. Knowing full well what happened last time I tried to do that, I’m met with an exasperated expression and a quick shake of his head.
Rolling my eyes, I turn back to Aurora, hoping her problems will distract me from mine. “Look at her being completely useless. Go help the team or something, you know?”
